Thank you guys for the kind words - the style of the photos was more out of necessity than any particular artistic disposition, I, like David and Guy, experienced the heatwave in the Alps, which meant things were difficult to approach for close ups, nevertheless, I was delighted with how some of them turned out
David - Collins suggests that Glandon colonies are small and often over-looked, and since much of my butterflying was done on family walks, I probably walked straight through suitable habitat without seeing the blues, hopefully I'll be able to go back with a bit more time some day!
Foreign Fling - Whites (or whitish things)
One of the big targets of the trip, for me, was to finally get a photo of an Apollo, and to put 3 years of hurt behind me
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
. Having seen them in the Cevennes in 2012 (many distant fly-bys) and again in the Alps in 2014 (more distant fly-bys), it was a case, I hoped, of 3rd time lucky!
With this in mind, the first place that I visited, was the site that I had seen Apollos at last year, pursuing them hopelessly round a meadow in a woodland clearing as they skimmed effortlessly over the flowers. They are stunning butterflies just to watch in flight, with an amazing mixture of glides and powerful wingbeats that are clearly audible when they fly quickly past. For me, they are perfectly suited to their upland habitat with its stunning scenery, and certainly deserve their name, with all its divine connotations.
In the end, it was third time lucky, and my visit co-incided with the only cloudy spell of the trip, meaning that the Apollos were marginally less active, and I could finally get those photos! The first one I spotted, was perched on an Oxeye Daisy, and being courted by a frantic Black-Veined White.
![Alps 7.JPG (991.68 KiB) Viewed 1137 times Apollo and Black - Veined White](./files/thumb_13033_8738b35455f74ef567e108d37f7cf3fa)
- Apollo and Black - Veined White
![Alps 3.JPG (1.97 MiB) Viewed 1137 times Apollo](./files/thumb_13033_8d6e92284e4d624571cc019e6aa76867)
- Apollo
![Alps 4.JPG (1.46 MiB) Viewed 1137 times Apollo](./files/thumb_13033_0373cd9769d77bae1a758bae20d43c50)
- Apollo
![Alps 6.JPG (1.46 MiB) Viewed 1137 times Apollo](./files/thumb_13033_d5e6a62c6b4f066feee118753b112b76)
- Apollo
After moving on, I enjoyed several more, still active despite the cloud, before another posed, basking on a rock.
![Alps 5.JPG (3.2 MiB) Viewed 1137 times Apollo](./files/thumb_13033_16fb9293c09390a9219c22b2bbd82d25)
- Apollo
Having finally settled my score with the Apollos, I was delighted, but it seems I have not yet lifted my curse, the only Clouded Apollo that I saw zoomed past me and was halfway up the mountainside within 30 seconds - one for another time!
On our brief Loire stopover, I did manage to find a couple of Scarce Swallowtails, sadly without the camera, but whilst walking in the Foret d'Orleans,
gorganus posed beautifully!
![Alps 41.JPG (2.2 MiB) Viewed 1137 times Swallowail](./files/thumb_13033_da9d5f94b724fbad1f6c9c57119ca832)
- Swallowail
A good variety of whites was also seen: Black - Veined, Green-Veined, Small, Large, Wood (in the Loire) and Mountain Green-Veined at higher altitudes, a new one for me. I was particularly pleased to catch up with a couple more species of Clouded Yellow: Moorland and Mountain, the former very obliging and seen at a mixture of medium to high altitude sites, and the latter, generally above 2000m, far less so. Pale, Berger's, and 'our' Clouded Yellow were also seen - a full house
![Alps 25.JPG (1.15 MiB) Viewed 1137 times Moorland Clouded Yellow](./files/thumb_13033_425033380ca2be0d30a0c9b3f34ad314)
- Moorland Clouded Yellow
![Alps 26.JPG (1.56 MiB) Viewed 1137 times Moorland Clouded Yellow](./files/thumb_13033_e2e575be033676636a2f5eec9c12789f)
- Moorland Clouded Yellow