Hope you enjoy Spain! Things may be a bit different after the massive forest fires on the hills last summer, and I hope the butterflies haven't been too seriously impacted.

The bumblebees work the foxglove flowers from the bottom to the top, then fly down to start at the bottom of the next plant.

They are back! Small Tortoiseshell today nectaring on winter-flowering heather for prolonged periods, interrupted by short flights and periods of basking. P1020385.jpg A male and a female Brimstone through the garden as well. Neither has quite got the hang yet of being a Brimstone in springtime. We ...

I'm enjoying these photos!

Beehives seem to be quite the entomological hazard in Spain. These ones were in my most reliable area for Spanish Festoon.

A new anomalous blue in Albania:

https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... eille_1804

If I remember right, Lavernock is a good spot for migrating birds, so may be so for migrant butterflies as well. A shame there seems to be no horseshoe vetch on site, as it would make an ideal bridgehead for colonising blues.

Not the best photo, but I do enjoy it. Cajarc (Lot, France), 19 September 2022.

Greylake RSPB today - no butterflies but plenty of birdlife:

The only example I saw this year - Asham Wood, Somerset, 31 July 2022.

A garden visitor - 18 August 2022.

Hi Goldie, the shrub is I think Viburnum tinus, and yes, some early butterflies will nectar on it.

The birds here refuse to feed unless provided with sunflower hearts. Looks like yours are a bit more flexible!

...On the edge of town one evening, I noticed nibbling on the leaves of some kind of Alcea (?), and wondered... I've occasionally found them on waste ground where mallow has been growing, Chris. Seems this species can make a home almost anywhere if the lhp is around. Shame they can't get over the C...

Natural Reserve Moëze-Oléron, Charente-Maritime Hi Chris, I was fortunate in seeing several cardinals nectering on a plant in front of the Reserve's reception at the Ferme de Plaisance as shown 15-09 2011, it seems they were a chance meeting. I frequently return to Moëze in the hopes of seeing them...

I hardly saw this species at home in 2022, but was blessed with considerable numbers of these tough little butterflies in southern France.

The first time I have ever managed to take photos of Small Heath I am happy with - three photos of the same insect (with two different cameras). Marcilhac-sur-Célé, Lot, France, 18 September 2022.

My first garden butterfly of 2022, on 17 January. Nectaring on flowering hebe.

Priddy Mineries, Somerset - probably the best site in the county for this butterfly. 11 June 2022.

In the garden on 28 July. Not quite what I was hoping to attract to the kidney vetch, but I'm not complaining!

Ile de Ré (2) - Mallow Skipper On the edge of town one evening, I noticed nibbling on the leaves of some kind of Alcea (?), and wondered... P1010507.jpg Sure enough there was a little tent... P1010508.jpg ...and inside, the caterpillar. P1010500.jpg Once I had found one, it was not too hard to find...

Ile de Ré (1) - Cardinal This is the one special butterfly on the Ile de Ré, off the Charente-Maritime coast, and as luck would have it, we had timed our visit for its flight period. The butterfly flies in the pine woods that back on to the island's sandy beaches (it's also meant to occur in simila...