In search of Papillon

When I’m not distilling Papillon Gin…….

I recently attended an All the Moor Butterflies project workshop on identifying and surveying the Marsh Fritillary and Narrow-borderd Bee Hawkmoth. It was an incredible day because I was lucky enough to see a newly emerged Narrow-bordered Bee Hawkmoth.

If you look carefully at the photo you will see that its wings are covered in small scales. These fall off on their first flight so this little chap had only just entered the world.

Armed with this knowledge, a few weeks later I set off to survey a local piece of land for the Marsh Fritillary. Battling through brambles, tussocks and, not surprisingly, marshland I was awarded with several sightings of the very beautiful, if hairy, Marsh Fritillary. There was, also, the added bonus of seeing some lovely orchids.

With these experiences under my belt I had my eyes peeled for that flash of orange whenever out and about. I was delighted to spot a Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary when gorse picking for botanicals for our gin. There is a special connection between Papillon Gin and butterflies.

I am booked in for a training session on larval web surveys in August. I’ll keep you posted on how that goes. If you would like to know more about the project then visit their website https://butterfly-conservation.org/our-work/conservation-projects/england/all-the-moor-butterflies