White Admiral - Target Species

White Admiral Butterfly (Limenitis camilla)

Last year in the woodland reserve that I visit, I had a very brief sighting of a White Admiral and there was no chance of getting one photograph. So this year it was designated my 'Target Species' especially as I had not seen one for several years.

I visited the reserve earlier this week and as has been the case recently, I observed plenty of the Silver-washed Fritillary which I have featured already in the Blog. So I was busily shooting away at the Fritillary on some Bramble flowers and suddenly from the trees above I  noticed a different butterfly dropping down and landing on the Brambles. I instinctively knew straightaway that it was the White Admiral. I moved into a position to take the first shots, thinking all the time that it was going to fly away, but it didn't hence the images below. I couldn't get any really good shots of the underside which is very pretty, but you can't have everything.  

Note how more brown it looks when the bright sunlight is shining on it.

There is not much difference in appearance between the male and female apart from the wingspan which is 60mm and 64mm respectively. It frequents woodlands and likes shady spots to pitch for feeding. It is mainly restricted to Southern parts of England, but can be found in East Anglia. It flies between July and August.

Another shot below in the shade.