Day 266 - Magnificently Beautiful and Brilliant Meadow Brown Butterfly

Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina)

Hey everyone today's Day 266 and anyone that saw yesterday's post will know that I went to Little Beck Woods. They are a beautiful place to go to, and if you are ever around Whitby, see if you can find the lovely village of Littlebeck and it's quite easy to find the sign. There is so much wildlife there and in yesterday's post I included a picture of the lovely Speckled Wood Butterfly. I saw another butterfly on my way there, and on the way back, which I haven't covered so far, the Meadow Brown. So that's what we'll be covering today. They were hard to photograph yesterday so the pictures here are from Askham Bog Nature Reserve.

So, here are the facts:

• This Butterfly is one of the most common and wide-spread Butterflies and is found throughout the Summer Months. So being this common you'd think they'd be easy to photograph! Not for me they always seem to fly off when I get close enough!

• They are very common throughout England, Wales and Scotland. They are found a little bit in Northern Ireland and not at all in the Republic or the Shetlands.

• They are found from April to October, but not commonly but between June and September the peak. They also can be seen out flying in dull weather even in light rain.

The closet I've been to one with my camera at the ready

• They are found in Grasslands, Heathlands, Coastal Dunes, Road-Side Verges, Woodlands, Hedgerows, Parks, and Large Gardens and Meadows. Anywhere with tall grasses.

• The caterpillar food plants are mainly grasses and they seem to be able to feed on fine grasses when little and the more rough or coarse grasses a they get bigger.

• They don't form breeding colonies on places like Road-Side Verges or Parks if they are regularly mown as this removes Nectar Sources.

• It is a medium sized Butterfly with Males having 40mm - 55mm wingspan while the Females have a 42mm - 60mm wingspan.

• They are Brown, obviously, and velvety with orange markings on their fore-wings...

• There are regional variations of these markings with the sizes of Orange Patches and Black circles varying. In Northern Ireland and Scotland, the Butterfly itself tends to be larger than in the South of the country.

Here are some links to some more information:

British Butterflies - Meadow Brown Butterflies

UK Butterflies - Meadow Brown Butterflies

NatureSpot - Meadow Brown Butterflies

Hope you enjoyed,

Z