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Ringlet - Favourite Photo of 2024

Week 14

Hopefully the New Year is treating everyone well but am I the only one wishing that the start of the season would hurry up?

Please could I ask that everyone waits until a topic has been opened by me for a particular species before posting photos as then it will be easier to keep track of things? Of course our overseas members are very welcome to fill in the obvious gaps relating to rare UK migrants. As in previous years details of locations, dates, times and circumstances would be welcome as would any accompanying stories and anecdotes or other observations of behaviour and interesting other points.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

I visited my local patch of meadow in Bridge of Don Aberdeen on 21st and 22nd June. There were plenty of ringlet butterfly on the wing. I always find them difficult to photograph as they flit amongst the long grass.

Bert.

The Ringlet was one of the very few butterflies that ended up having a reasonable 2024 season in South Bedfordshire. The first Adult seen on the wing, was at Totternhoe on the 9th June. Numbers then built up steadily, and on the 24th June I managed to get a photo and a video of a freshly emerged Ringlet wriggling its way through the vegetation. The largest daily count of 250+ came on the 28th Junes transect walk at Kingswood. Despite hundreds of photo's, I only captured two shot's this year with the wings open.

The open-winged Ringlet I have posted in my own PD are probably the best for individual subjects, but I chose one of the three couples I managed to photograph in cop as my favourite of the year. This photograph was taken at Lingwood Common where numbers were good like many places throughout Essex at the sites I visited during 2024:

Ringlets appeared to have a good year around my patch in 2024 but the reality is that numbers were actually down a bit and only appeared to be higher in comparison with other species that had a poor year.

My favourite photos were probably of a pathological ab with one pale forewing that I saw at Castle Hills near Solihull.
Cheers,

Neil.

They always do well at Epping Forest, here's a couple adding to next year crop.

Only got to see these later in their flight period. The only one I photographed was this individual in local woodland on 26th July:

Ringlet

With this species this season it felt like if you blinked you’d have missed them! When I came to choosing my Fave there were slim pickings and I found myself contemplating images of less than pristine individuals as there was such a tiny selection to choose from. This one was taken in the grounds of Llanachaeron near Aberaeron in Ceredigion and I chose it for no other reason than I liked the compostion. Sometimes you just know and can’t quite explain and that was the case for this image.
Have a goodun

Wurzel

I saw the Ringlet on the 20th ofJune in East Blean woods , they never seemed to settle long enough to get a decent shot

On the 7th of July I was in Blean woods when one came along and settled in front of me , it was rather tattered because I'd not too many shots of open wings I settled for it any way Goldie

With none to see on my local patch, I found my first Ringlet of 2024 on my way back from seeing Large Blues and SPBF in Somerset, when I stopped off at Cotley Hill. It was very fresh, and as it closed its wings there was a hint of iridescence on the wing sufaces as they caught the light.I always associate Ringlets with the Emperor season, and these two males were warming up down at Chiddingfold before the big boys had woken up. Dave