Marsh Fritillary & Clubtails

Sunny, 15°, light W.

More about the Insects today with 3 Clubtail Dragonfly and a few Banded Demoiselle found in Cholsey today.

Clubtails are a much localised species and are found on slow moving rivers but are prone to disturbance, pollution and habitat loss. We are quite lucky to have them here.

And 2 Marsh Fritillary butterfly found. This butterfly is very rare in this part of Britain and more confined to western parts and Ireland.

Its caterpillar food plant is Devil’s bit Scabious but will feed on other Scabious species.

One was found last year by Alan and we thought it was either an escape or a deliberate release but we found some of the food plant nearby, so who knows?

Marsh Fritillaries are fully protected under the Wildlife and Countryside act.

My Daughter reported several Swift over her garden in Crowmarsh.

Thank you to Alan Dawson and Geoff Wyatt for their observations and photos.