continued from part 4 At the cafe-bar I found Sharon with the girls. They had popped in for a drink and were just about to leave. The girls were whingeing about the heat and the walk back. I told them to hang on a few minutes while I had a coke and that I'd give them a lift back to the campsite to c...

Some mint butterflies in that posting Wurzel. Love the female Common Blue and chocolate specklie

The OFSTED helicopters were out looking for you Wurzel

Phil

Sorry for the delay. Yes Saturday the 28th should be fine for me

See I told you your haul would outweigh mine - and now you're adding more and more :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :D Not so sure about that :? I reckon you'll have quite a few aces up your sleeve :) Cracking shots especially the Cloudy and PSTB :mrgreen: :D Thanks Wurzel :D I agree, those cloudy close-ups tur...

Thanks David. Have put it to the test and got away with 30

Another surprise. Thanks Guy :D . I've done a cursory check in my Collins book and tinternet and malvae malvoides appears to be one of those that raises debate about whether it should be given specific or sub-specific status. The male genitalia and some of the DNA differ from malvae malvae but the t...

The next morning I woke up with the memory of what had happened the night before :shock: . On the long journey home from Canet et Rousillon I got so tired, I needed the pick-me-up of a coffee or two and the girls needed dinner. So we stopped off at Foix around 18km from home for a bite to eat. Rathe...

generally means family first, butterflying fitted in and around wherever possible Indeed it does :) Still, to continue with the cliche's, be prepared for more 'wheeling and dealing' :wink: in the next installments. BTW, can anyone tell me what the number of pictures per post limit is? (have looked ...

Thanks Chris If anythng it's the other way around, the kids getting less interested as they've got older. Still it's no real problem. I emphasize it on my postings simply to provide a litle of the give and take cat and mouse ducking and diving aspects of these situations which I'm sure other members...

It was midday before I'd dragged myself away from the roadside verges and checked up on the others to see if they had any idea on what they wanted to do. Fortunately a plan had been hatched to go to the Lombrives Caves and afterwards time permitting do some canoeing. The drive to the caves at Ussat ...

Hi Chris I've had another look at my female (Southern) Gatekeeper and it's compelling to believe it might be cecilia .... the more extensive orange on the hind-wing, the lack of any hint of an eyespot on the hind-wing too, plus the indent next to the forewing large eyespot. The habitat though was wh...

Great shots and report Philzoid and pretty jammy - from one to three species in one posting well .... perhaps :? :wink: and as an impetus to get my arse in gear and sort my own foreign foray. half term coming up ...perhaps a chance for a break? Whenever you do get around to doing it it's going to b...

Hi Phil. I'm generally wary of identifying Melitaea sp. from ups alone - especially in the South of France, where some athalia ssp. celadussa can show a lot of the characteristics of deione. Thanks for your assessments on the fritillaries Guy :) . I agree with your comments and as I suspected one i...

Charles Nicol wrote:nice pic of the Cité

I took that when we were leaving from the N113 road bridge

Charles Nicol wrote:i often walked across the stone bridge there, or took the Petit Train

never got the chance to walk across the stone bridge. A lot to do in one day and a place I'd love to go to again

Phil

Despite a worry about a camera flash when approaching Mirepoix on the way home from Carcassonne (a hidden speed trap: I think I've changed my mind about French roads :? :wink: ) I had much more important things on my mind as Tuesday (25th) was the first morning I'd awoken to sunshine :D . Time to ch...

Looking forward to finding out what you saw, Phil. 6 more postings to come :shock: (possibly 7 depends on what the picture limit is within a posting :? ). This is an area I know quite well from my student days in Toulouse. You must have some fond memories, a very beautiful area. We visited Foix mor...

Setting the scene After only being able to get 1 week's holiday to Tenerife this year during May, my better half Sharon decided that we needed a second week's holiday during the school summer break (with a premise to keep it cheap) and started searching European campsites on the internet. Unfortunat...

Nice Bustards Wurzel, I've never seen a true wild one. Its great to have these magnificent birds back in our countryside Definitely! You'll have to show me them when I'm next over your way :) Lovely pictures of the Adonis Blues warming up in the morning sun .... best way to see them I reckon :) . H...

The first caterpillar may be Toadflax Brocade (similar to Mullein which is commonly seen being gregarious and feeding on verbascum).

The second is definitely Vapourer.

Can't help you with the slug Colin

Phil

Sunny day so decided to visit Sheepleas meadows between Guildford and Dorking. Was hoping for Small Copper and possibly Clouded Yellow like last year, but it wasn't to be. In spite of the summer feel with it being mid September there were fewer butterflies, the Meadow Brown being the most numerous. ...