The silver-washed fritillary, one of the UK’s largest butterflies, has returned to NWT Foxley Wood. After the first sightings in the wood were reported three years ago, it is now likely that they are breeding here.
The broad, flower-rich rides that the Trust maintains at Foxley Wood are ideal for this beautiful orange butterfly. Their courtship flight is one of nature’s wonders: the male flies in loops around the female, but in his search for a mate he will chase and investigate anything orange, from the much smaller comma butterfly to the much larger forestry helmet on the head of a passing NWT woodman…
Norfolk Wildlife Trust undertakes management practices such as mowing and removing cuttings to improve woodland ride habitats for a diverse range of flora, and in turn butterflies such as the silver washed fritillary can take advantage of the bounty of nectar and sunny, open aspect. The expanding range of these butterflies over the last 20 years is a conservation success story and the small breeding population at Foxley Wood helps strengthen their recovery in this region.