A gatekeeper butterfly

One of the things that can make identifying butterflies problematic is the variation within species. I've recently photographed what my eyes suggest is a quite rare High Brown Fritillary but my mind is fairly sure is a much more common Dark Green Fritillary. I've also photographed this Gatekeeper, and even though it looks somewhat different to my previous photograph of the species, both have variations in colour and markings that correspond with fairly common examples of the type.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Pied and White Wagtails

Two relatively common bird species that are difficult to distinguish are the white wagtail (Motacilla alba) and the pied wagtail (Motacilla yarrelli). The former is highly migratory and widespread across continental Europe, visiting the British Isles in reasonable numbers. The latter is, for the most part, sedentary and breeds in the British Isles and adjacent continental Europe. Both species are the same size and shape and both are black, white and grey. Both have plumage that varies with the sex of the species, the season and the bird's age. Experienced birdwatchers are known to disagree about what they are seeing, especially when it is a first-winter or autumn bird. This photograph shows a bird I photographed foraging on a wood shingle roof. It is, I believe, a pied wagtail. Feel free to disagree.

photos © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2