 Heath Fritillary Melicta athalia Heath Fritillary Melicta athalia Aberration To celebrate Butterfly Education and Awareness Day, I will take you on a "Virtual Butterfly-watching in Cornwall". Not just for a day but for the WHOLE month of June. My first "Virtual Butterfly-watching in Cornwall" is in Greenscoombe Wood Luckett Nature Reserve to see the nationally rare Heath Fritillary Melicta athalia. Would you believe, I celebrated 3 birthdays here. Even my 40th birthday. That's how special this place is. There's no place I would rather be on my special day than in the company of these gorgeous butterflies. Long walk, steep hill, picturesque and scenic view. Like me on Facebook: facebook.com/wildlifematters8 Follow me on Twitter: twitter.com/WildlifeMatter8 Follow me on Instagram: instagram.com/wildlifematter8 Pair of Heath Fritillary Melicta athalia More butterfly species!  1st July 2012, celebrating my 40th Birthday (2010 and 2011 too) Greenscoombe Wood Luckett Nature Reserve Greenscoombe Wood Luckett Nature Reserve Greenscoombe Wood Luckett Nature Reserve Greenscoombe Wood Luckett Nature Reserve Barry Ofield had made a huge contribution on the wildlife in Cornwall particularly on butterflies. If not for Barry, the Heath Fritillary Melicta athalia would have been extinct in Cornwall. With Barry's successful breeding and reintroduction of Heath Fritillary Melicta athalia in Greenscoombe Wood, we're now enjoying seeing this beautiful butterfly fluttering in Cornwall. Barry’s involvement began in early 2007 when he was asked if he could take part in a programme, which would include his efforts in breeding for release, the Heath Fritillary Melicta athalia. Barry and Tom Sleep has previously released in excess of 1500 imagines into Greenscoombe Wood where it had become extinct due to habitat deterioration over the pass 20 years. Barry’s part in 2006-2007 was to breed more adults for another release at Greenscoombe Wood and in Blanchdown Wood, which is on the Devon side of the Tamar River. Filming started on 8 May 2007 and took two days to complete including the release at Blanchdown. The filming and interviews took place at Barry’s home in Pendoggett. The weather on the first day was fine. The second day of filming, it was pouring with rain. Not the ideal conditions for releasing butterflies. An extract from the 2007 BBC programme "Born to be Wild". This article features Barry Ofield breeding Heath Fritillary butterflies for subsequent release at Blanchdown Woods alongside the Tamar in Devon with Dr Caroline Bulman.
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