HI Mikhail and thank you for your comments.

The SSW id was from Mario , they all look the same to me....

Glad you managed to find iolas - the Kerkini site is a good bet, but you have to be lucky for any photographs.

Tony.

We moved on to Monodendri and our species count was rising rapidly. Our snake man found a couple of Nose-horned Vipers: 3-DSC07187_edited-1.jpg There were a number of Little Tiger Blues flying among some boulders. Most were pretty worn, but I did find one fresh one: 5-Little Tiger Blue - u.jpg 1-Lit...

Many thanks, everyone for your input. John, I don't think baeticus occurs in Northern Greece, where this was found. Also, orientalis is quite common in the area and, I believe, rather earlier than flocciferus.

Tony M.

Could someone kindly ID this Skipper for me? Shot early May in Northern Greece.
Tony M.

The second stop was near Siatista and our trip was considerably enlivened by one of the members, who was a reptile and amphibian man. While most of us looked for butterflies, he was turning over stones looking for snakes. Most days he found something interesting, such as this beautiful Leopard Snake...

Hi Guy, It really was an astonishing sight. There were 3/4 good sized trees along a cart track and each looked grey and brown - hardly a trace of green. Thousands of caterpillars - some hanging , pre-pupation, and pupae on every branch. Must be one of the butterfly sights of the planet... The origin...

Just back from a brilliant tour with Spatia to Bulgaria and northern Greece. We started near Kerkini lake, where we found several fresh Large Coppers: 3-Large Copper - f.jpg Also around the lake was a small area of Bladder Senna, where several Iolas Blues were flying. Most were fairly flighty, but w...

Pleased to find my first Green Hairstreaks on Cannock Chase today. About a dozen individuals seen, all very fresh.
Tony M.

Thanks, Guy and guys for the input. Looks like a bit of practise in the garden on hoverflies... It would be tough to miss a good butterfly shot, messing about with kit

Does anyone regularly use fill-flash for butterfly photography? I would like to try it in dull conditions, hopefully thereby keeping the ISO low. Any tips or info?

Tony M.

A few more pix from the Seychelles (sadly, not butterflies :( ): An Ensign Wasp ( Evaniidae ) found flying around our room. Apparently, they are parasitoid on Cockroach eggs and come into houses etc, looking for egg cases. 1-DSC06670.jpg A Seychelles endemic - the Seychelles Bulbul ( Hypsipetes cres...

Many thanks, Guy - I'm ever in awe of your encyclopaedic knowledge. .

Tony.

A visit to the Seychelles seemed an ideal occasion to bite the bullet and start a blog. Actually, it's not the best place, as the islands are something of a butterfly no-go area. There are about 39 species on the country's all time list and five of these are extinct! Several others are only known fr...

For me, too... How long did you have to wait for the Psyche to land? . Club Silverlines were very common in Manila, when I was there, but you were lucky to find a Fluffy Tit with all its tails. A welcome post in the middle of a drear February - many thanks.

Tony M.

Hi LCPete, Another brilliant place for Grizz in the area is the Swynerton Army Base near Stone. The West Mids butterfly group usually has a visit there in early June. It's not normally open to the public, but John Bryan (johnpbryan15@aol.com) generally organises a visit. Last year, we saw more than ...

Finally caught up with this wonderful butterfly in Bulgaria last year. It had long been on my ' wish list'.
Tony M.

andy brown wrote:What next Geranium Bronze supporting the long tailed blues

Andy

It won't be long, I'll bet...

Tony M.

Hi John and very many thanks for the crib-sheet - I'd actually done better that I thought ...

I shall be in Mercantor in July and hope to see some for myself. If Winter comes...

Tony M.

Lovely video - many thanks. Would someone kindly volunteer a list of the species in order of appearance for dummies like me, who could only I.D. about half of them with any certainty

Tony M.

If you want to see really mind-blowing examples, take a look at the photomacrography site (www.photomacrography.net) and search 'stereograms'. Most are of the 'cross-eyed' type, which are a little more difficult to access, but well worth the effort. Some of the insect photography is also pretty stun...