The Silver-washed Fritillary is the largest and most common of the Fritillaries found in the UK. This is the male, a very bright orange colour (the female is a much less vivid orange, with darker makings). In flight, it can be mistaken for a Comma, but when settled you can see it has relatively smooth edges to the wings, unlike the Comma's torn appearance.

There are many species of Fritillaries in the UK and the best way to distinguish them is from the under-wing pattern, which sadly I haven't been able to capture yet, you can just see from the second image some 'silver' lines washing through the under-wing, which gives this one its name. The male also has very distinct horizontal lines across his forewings - these are where the scent scales are. These Fritillaries are generally found in woodland, which is where this one was, at the south end of the estate.

The name 'Fritillary' comes from the chequered pattern on their wings. (from the Latin 'fritillus', for a dice box). There are also plants given this name, such as this Snake's Head Fritillary, which has the same chequered pattern. This plant can be seen in the Spring (with many others), near the statue of Pan.