Arriving at the start of the numerous tracks, leading up into the hills, large numbers of Cleopatra Gonepteryx cleopatra were seen around the flowering edges alongside a plethora of Spanish Gatekeepers Pyronia bathseba and the very attractive Pearly Heath Coenonympha arcania DSC02302.JPG DSC02276.JP...

June 10th On arrival we had an exploratory walk around the town. Tossa de Mar is a very attractive little town, a world away from other more popular Spanish resorts. Its main draw is the beautiful old town with its fortifications and Roman ruins. The ‘new’ town is also very attractive with fashionab...

Unlike Pete Smith and his excellent report on his pursuit of False Ringlet Coenonympha oedippus I’m still at the stage where, using Pete’s analogy, I’m grateful to have a chance to pluck any low hanging fruit in the European butterflies’ department! However, one particular low hanging fruit I most d...

Another cracking report with excellent photos. Well done Pete

Sorry to hear the trip wasn't what was expected David but I guess this why you have to do the recces.

Great read nevertheless.

A couple of firsts for the year for me today.

Meadow Brown and Large Skipper. Bewley Common, Wiltshire

Very enjoyable read Pete. Thanks for posting

First garden Holly Blue of the year this afternoon. Nearly a month later than last year! Melksham, Wiltshire

So sorry I'm late commenting, Steve (been leading a tour in Spain since last Saturday). Really pleased you nailed the endemics (and got such good images of Canary Brimstone). Couple of places in there I will have to visit when I next go. :) Well done! Many thanks David and many thanks, once again, ...

Padfield wrote: ↑Wed Apr 26, 2023 5:48 am I'd just like to add my congratulations, Steve. Really fantastic shots of amazing insects, animals and birds.

Guy

Many thanks Guy. I'm glad you enjoyed them

What a beautiful selection of butterflies, Steve. You are absolutely right about quality. The Canary Brimstone in flight is the standout for me - the upperside is the distinctive feature, and you have captured it splendidly. The Canary Blues come a close second! :) And :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:...

Amongst the other fauna I saw over the past few days, apart from the birds, my favourites have to be a beautiful male Tenerife Lizard in his breeding finery and a dazzling Scarlet Darter. DSC07620.JPG DSC07563.JPG The remaining two days of the holiday were spent lounging around the pool enjoying the...

On entering the gardens, the first thing you immediately notice are the hundreds of African Grass Blue around the site. DSC07518.JPG DSC07372.JPG DSC07390.JPG DSC07277.JPG Thereafter it was a bee-line to the milkweeds and some very showy Monarchs. DSC07436.JPG DSC07434.JPG DSC07444.JPG DSC07455.JPG ...

Other species seen at this cracking little site included Geranium Bronze, Canary Speckled Wood, long-tailed Blue and Painted Lady DSC07005.JPG DSC07085.JPG DSC07061.JPG DSC07043.JPG All the available Tenerife endemics had now been accounted for after just three mornings searching. The Canary Graylin...

This waste ground was filled with butterflies and it’s here that I got my one and only Canary Red Admiral of the trip. Unfortunately I didn’t get the best of photos due to the Red Admirals position but at least I got a couple of record shots. DSC07093.JPG DSC07098.JPG Much to my surprise I also enco...

Being rather precarious, after a few photos, I decided that a better course of action would be to move onto Zona Recreativa Barranco de Ruiz, just 1.8 kilometers down the road, where hopefully they should be flying too. DSC06997.JPG After climbing the steep steps to the terraced cliff, I headed off ...

I still had plenty of time so decided to hang around and hope that the Green-striped White would re-appear. After about 30 minutes it did indeed make another appearance and I was able to get some better shots of my third endemic butterfly of the trip. DSC06782.JPG DSC06783.JPG DSC06787.JPG DSC06790....

As I drove back down the TF-21 the sun began to make an appearance, so I made the decision to re visit the Área Recreativa Las Lajas. This proved the correct decision as on arrival the sun was warming up the area nicely and this encouraged a plethora of Canary Blues to start flying around the lavend...

A supporting cast of Bath White, Small Copper and Long-tailed Blue were also present. DSC06590.JPG DSC06592.JPG Two endemics in the bag on morning one. Back to the hotel to join my wife around the pool for the remainder of the afternoon. Day 2 . This morning saw me head up the TF-563 and TF-21 to Mo...

Eventually the sun made a brief appearance, although still cool. More butterflies started appearing with good numbers of Clouded Yellow, a few Long-tailed Blue and a couple of Small Coppers. Unfortunately, no sign of my much sought after Canary Red Admiral despite David having seen a few at this sit...