The Gatekeeper.

I have been patiently waiting to capture a Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus) this year and although I have seen the odd individual flying during the past 14 days or so it was only during my recent riverside wander that I eventually caught up with an obliging specimen.

More often than not the only view we get is when our quarry is perched with wings closed .... so below are images of the two species that can be easily confused.

On the left is the Gatekeeper (two white spots inside the black on the underside of the fore wing) and the Meadow Brown on the right (with just a single white spot). It is worth remembering that there can be a wide variance in the colouring of the under wings, particularly on the Meadow Brown.

Now when I said this individual was obliging that was not totally true ... it only remained in one spot for a moment or two before moving to a different location but at least that provided a slightly different background for each shot using the Canon PowerShot S95.

 

 I hope to get out and find some other colourful fliers to post in the near future.  FAB.