and to those who were bored to death with my shameless plugging of a certain book if it's worth writing it's worth plugging Pete. I for one will be getting a copy as from what I have already seen and heard it looks to be a very commendable piece of work and excellent value too :) . I’d also like to...

i enjoyed reading your despatches from the front line Philzoid !! you were certainly taking no prisoners .... sorry, i tend to get carried away when talking about the Fatherland. ahem. :lol: :lol: I know what you mean … difficult not to what with all those barbed wire fences and ‘look-out’ posts. I...

A cracking report throughout Philzoid just a shame it's over . You definitely undersold it that time in a damp car in Shipton Bellinger Yes it is a shame … all good things come to an end :| Perhaps I was drawing comparisons with my ‘days-off’ when I was in France and Spain. In France I had an open ...

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading about your travels and everything you saw, Phil, both butterflies and everything else. Excellent stuff. Cheers, Great report, Phil, and yes that pizza does look tempting.Chris Thanks Dave and Chris ..much appreciated :) Germany might not be an obvious choice for so...

In contrast to our arrival we were leaving Oberstaufen under sunny conditions :) . My daughter manned my mobile as she did on the way in. A 2018.08.04 IMG_7741 Car ready to go from alpenblickhotel, Oberstaufen.jpg The route took us on country roads past Isny and somewhere between there and Leutkirch...

Wurzel wrote:More great reportage Philzoid - just a shame that it's almost all over Good call on the High Brown

Thanks Wurzel . Last part up soon. Hope I'll get to see High Brown in the UK some time

More fabulous images, Phil. You clearly had a most productive & enjoyable trip and I've thoroughly enjoyed reading about it.Where is next in your plans? Thanks David :) . I will be revealing my holiday plans in the final trip to Germany posting. Without saying too much it is very unlikely to yi...

Wurzel wrote:My grand total of Erebias stands at two - Large and Arran both of which came from Czech - so you're well ahead on that front

Yes, 100% with four … . Mind you you’re well up on the Fritillary front .... Spotted; Knapweed and Queen of Spain I can think of

continued from part 6b .... From a butterflying perspective, finding the White-letter felt like my whole day had been rescued :D . It was then that I realised I’d pulled in at the top end of the grazed grass field where I’d photographed the courting Small Skippers a few days ago. I thought best thin...

Fabulous reportage, Phil. I thoroughly enjoyed it and am glad you notched up so many lifers. Still more to come (reportage) ... but it is fizzling out unfortunately :| . My life list has grown a bit but thankfully there are still so many species left to see :) . Yes, the Marbled Whites on the conti...

Your mention of Balderschwang brought back memories of the time my wife and I spent at Balderschwang,a great place for mountain walks Alpine flora etc, Glad to have jogged your memory Medard :) . The scenery was wonderful and under other circumstances I would've spent more time there. In fact I bar...

Brilliant brilliant brilliant :D . Those fritillaries take me back to my time in France … the zombie stagger as you don’t know where to lurch to next :lol: . Cracking photos of the Spotted Fritillary in fact all the fritillaries ..and the Short-tailed Blue :mrgreen: :mrgreen: . Your Skipper may be a...

I think you wildly downplayed your German Holiday Phil 3 Erebia lifers (2 for me), Thanks Wurzel :) . Did you get 2 Erebia lifers in France or is your total of two all your Erebia lifers? ..... you saw 2 in the Czech Republic (Large Ringlet and Arran Brown?) Mind you I'm sure you've got Scotch Argu...

hope y'aall like reading there's plenty in this part. Back at the ranch the others had spent some of their day using the resorts swimming pool; 10-pin bowling alley and playing pool while I’d been doing my butterflying. They said they wanted to go out on another trip somewhere but weren’t too enthus...

David M wrote:So glad you got to see one of these, Phil. They are truly stunning, aren't they?

They are .. and this one in particular which has more extensive red on the forewing compared to the one I saw on Hundle in part 2a

that you also managed to catch the 'tooth mark' on the underside That was a big help with the ID. Pity I couldn't have got a 'tooth-mark' shot for that other difficult genus, Pyrgus :( . Looks like my 'Dusky grizzlie' will be consigned to a maybe :| Those are also interesting marks on the GVW, they...

Continental GVWs are quite different to UK ones (generally being less heavily marked) Yes, I think this is form meridionalis which I also encountered in southern France. but the spots you refer to DO look like the remnants of liquid that the butterfly has come into contact with yes, they have to be...

Another Tabanus sudeticus or Dark Behemothic Horsefly turned up at the apartment but a decent picture eluded me (again) :( . I still had some time to explore so I drove over to the Hochgratbahn cable-car station to see if I could find myself another Purple Emperor along the WeiBach river. As is ofte...

Hi Roger. I suspected the lack of an underside would lead to difficulty in identification. I made my judgement purely on the illustration and text in my Tolman - Lewington guide but I do agree on that basis alone the serratulae female is a good match. I haven't seen any of the three species mentione...

That pyrgus is certainly unusual, Phil. According to the guides, Dusky Grizzled Skipper only flies in the very southern extremity of Germany in the mountains. Hard to see what else it could be unless it's an aberrant of another species. Warren's Skipper, according to Tolman & Lewington, is NOT ...