24 JULY 2026 - BS CEMETERY
On
24 July 2026, Andy Saunders (a friend from the Bishop’s Stortford Natural
History Society (now Stort Valley Nature Group) told me that he’d seen a
possible Dark-Green Fritillary at the Bishop’s Stortford Cemetery on 23 July;
so, I went over to check it out, eventually finding a fritillary-type butterfly
very near to the location he’d seen his; so, I assumed it was the same
butterfly.
I
have to confess, I really wasn’t sure, but from my limited experience of
Dark-Green Fritillaries - given that I’ve only seen a handful in Therfield
Heath, Herts; Trosley Country Park, Kent, and Heddon Valley, Devon (the last
being in Devon in 2019) - I thought it was in fact a female Silver-Washed
Fritillary. I took several photographs before the butterfly was disturbed by a
member of the public, but using these, together with two guides (one of them
photographic) I came down on the side of Silver-Washed, but not before I’d
consulted other friends, who confirmed my initial identification.
But it was still a good record, and a first for me for the site - indeed, it was the fifth new butterfly species I’d recorded at the site this year - the others being Painted Lady; Marbled White; Brown Argus and Small Heath; arguably an indication the unusually hot and dry conditions since the end of May 2026, not only in the UK but the whole of Europe, with some species of butterfly (and dragonfly too) occurring much further north of their normal ranges, for example although Painted Lady and Clouded Yellow usually occur every year in the UK, their numbers this year have been truly exceptional.
The same morning I must have seen well over 12 Painted Ladies; over 15 Common Blues; 5 Brown Argus (new for me for the site) and 3 Small Heaths (also new for the site). In addition a Red Kite was seen circling over the cemetery in full moult.
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