Nick Morgan

[Goldie M]

Hi! Nick, I was sorry to hear about your dog and you have my deepest sympathy, I've had to have two dogs put to sleep and the worse part about that was my last dog who was only 8 year's old. I love dogs but I couldn't go through the heart ache again i'm too old for that, so we share our daughter's dog now, At least you've still got a dog to take some of the hurt away, all the best for the coming BF year Goldie

[NickMorgan]

Thank you Goldie. Dogs are such great companions and always seem to want to please you.

On 1st July I was walking our coastal path on a cloudy and windy day and I saw my first Red Admiral of the year. As I walked a little further another Red Admiral flew in from the sea and over the path. In the short distance that I walked a further five Red Admirals blew in from the coast. I thought this rather unusual and wondered if it had been the same butterfly that had been flying in circles!

When I arrived home I received an e-mail from a recorder who had seen seven Red Admirals flying or blowing in from the sea a little further up the coast and over the next few days I received various similar reports suggesting that thousands of them arrived around that time.

A couple of evenings later I drove along a local farm track and eleven Red Admirals flew up in front of the car. So, the next evening I returned at the same time with my camera. There did not appear to be any on the track, but as I walked into a slight dip a Red Admiral flew up next to me.

It flew up into the trees and was joined by a second butterfly. Then, as I watched, two other Red Admirals flew out of the tree and spiralled up into the air together. There turned out to be at least eight Red Admirals in those trees.

Occasionally one would fly down and land on the road, or on a plant next to the road, but as soon as another flew past they would spiral up into the tree again!

It was fantastic watching so many butterflies in such a small area. There were also four Speckled Woods in those trees and they would join in the aerobatics each time the Red Admirals flew close to them!

It wasn't until I enlarged this photo that I noticed how many flies there were amongst the branches of the trees!

I am still surprised by the number of Red Admirals that arrived here in such a short period of time. They all seemed to come in over the sea from the east. We had particularly strong south-easterly winds at the time, but it wasn't warm or sunny. I wonder if something triggered this mass migration in Europe?
This invasion of Red Admirals produced many offspring which were seen here in great numbers until the end of October, when they all mysteriously disappeared! Strangely, they weren't accompanied by any Painted Ladies, which were quite scarce up here this year.

[Wurzel]

Cracking shots and an interesting record of an 'invasion' Nick

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Chris Jackson]

.....Our old Labrador and my butterflying companion Jimmy was put to sleep earlier in the year .....

Sorry to hear about your dog Jimmy, Nick. He does look like a gentleman dog, and he is so stoic in his photo.
RIP Jimmy.
Chris

[Pauline]

Just catching up on the diaries Nick and have to say I feel for you. Had 2 black Labs myself at one time and have a real soft spot for them. I know how special they are and your old boy looks amazing so I am sure you will have amazing memories tho not much consolation at the moment.

[NickMorgan]

Thanks, Wurzel, Chris and Pauline.

In July we had our family holiday in Cyprus. We were based in a villa on the outskirts of Pegia, about five miles from the coast at Coral Bay.

Normally, before we go anywhere on holiday I spend ages researching what butterflies I may see, but this year my life was made so much easier by Eddie John's fantastic web site - http://www.cyprusbutterflies.co.uk/. This has all of the information anyone would need about the butterflies of Cyprus. Eddie runs the butterfly recording scheme for Cyprus and he was kind enough to send me the grid squares they use to record butterflies along with some tips on good places to look for them.

I also bought a copy of "The Butterflies of Cyprus" by Christodoulos Makris. This is a large book with details of every species of butterfly that has been seen on Cyprus along with distribution maps.

I was advised that July isn't a particularly good month for butterflies in Cyprus because much of the vegetation is dried out at that time of year. However, as I discovered, if you pick your spots then there were plenty of opportunities to see butterflies.

53 species of butterflies have been recorded on Cyprus, but five of those are very rare migrants, so it is probably more realistic to say that 48 species occur on Cyprus. 38 of those species occur in July.

Near the villa was an area of waste ground where there were two large Thyme plants growing. Every time I visited them there were about ten butterflies in that small area. The most common was the Cyprus Meadow Brown, Maniola cypricola.

The upper side of the females has lovely orange markings.

The males are less boldly marked and I noticed that both males and females can be quite variable.

There were also a number of Large Wall Browns, Lasiommata maera, in the area. Superficially these looked quite similar to the Cyprus Meadow Browns and I would have to wait for them to land before I could positively identify them!

And in amongst these two were the occasional Wall Brown, Lasiomata megera.

As well as seeing these butterflies in this area, these three species would also regularly drift through the garden of the villa we were staying in. Several times a day we would also have a Swallowtail, Papilio machaon, fly into the garden and spend several minutes flying around the orange trees. It seemed to be attracted to the trees, but never landed on them.

Long-tailed Blues, Lampides boeticus, were very regularly seen in the garden, but again they never landed or fed on any of the plants.

On our first day a Cleopatra, Gonepteryx cleopatra, flew into the garden and landed on a Hibiscus plant. They are so well camouflaged that I couldn't find it until I disturbed it and it flew off. I realised that I had been staring at it all along thinking it was a leaf! That was the only one I saw in the area.

Meanwhile, back at the patch of Thyme I regularly saw Holly Blues, Celastrina argiolus, and Lang's Short-tailed Blue, Leptotes pirithous. These are becoming much more common on Cyprus than they once were.

Further down the track there was a dried-up stream where I was lucky enough to see a Millet Skipper, Pelopidas thrax. This was the only one I saw on my holiday.

I also saw two or three Pigmy Skippers, Gegenes pumilio, there.

I saw the occasional Bath White, Pontia daplidice, here. It used to be thought that it was the Eastern Bath White, Pontia edusa, that occurred in Cyprus, but recent genetic research has proved that it is P. daplidice that occurs there. The Small Bath White, Pontia chloridice, also occurs there, but I don't think I saw that!

Later on our holiday I was surprised that I hadn't seen any Dark Grass Blues, Zizeeria karsandra. Up until recently these were considered to be a sub-species of Zizeeria knysna, which I regularly see in Spain and the Canary Islands. There they are commonly found on irrigated grass, road sides and by water courses, but for some reason I didn't find them in similar habitats on Cyprus. Eventually I spotted some flying next to a bin in Coral Bay when I had driven in to buy my morning croissants!

There was a thunder storm on our last night and the next morning it was still cloudy. So, I decided to pay a quick visit to the Thyme bushes to see if there were any different butterflies flying in the overcast conditions. The usual species were still flying as usual, but on the track I spotted a Grass Jewel, Chilades trochylus, on a plant in the middle of the track. These are Europe’s smallest butterflies and they are almost impossible to follow when in flight.

I had seen a Grass Jewel earlier in my holiday on a trip up to the Troodos Hills. I will try to add posts about what I saw in Troodos, Larnaca Salt Lake and the Movrokolympos Dam over the next few days.

[David M]

Great images, Nick. I particularly like the Pigmy Skipper which, sadly, appears now to be extinct in France.

[Wurzel]

Cracking shots Nick and that Grass Jewell is just that, a real gem of a butterfly

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Paul Harfield]

Hi Nick
Just catching up. I really enjoyed reading the piece on your Red Admiral encounters, I really felt like I was there experiencing it with you
Nice selection from your Cyprus holiday, that Large Wall Brown is lovely

[NickMorgan]

David - it is sad to hear that the Pigmy Skipper no longer occurs in France. I wonder why that is. I think they are still found in Spain and other parts of southern Europe.

Wurzel - I was so pleased to spot the Grass Jewel. It is an amazing little butterfly and I guess that many are mistaken for flies they are so small!

Jack - the Red Admiral experience was really something special. I have heard about people seeing Painted Ladies coming in from the sea on the south coast, but I would never have believed they would arrive in Scotland from the east!


Mavrokolympos Dam, Cyprus
A couple of days into our holiday to Cyprus I walked up the road towards Mavrokolympos Dam. I had been told that this road was a great place to see butterflies, but I had also been told that July was not a good time of year for butterflies in Cyprus.

I walked for about two kilometres, but there were no butterflies along the side of the road, or along some small tracks leading to the dried up river. So, I decided to drive up to the reservoir and walked along its west side to the small river that feeds into it.

I was surprised that there were still very few butterflies, but in a small gully I found 11 Common Blues, Polyommatus icarus, all but one were males.

In the same area I saw a single Small White, Pieris rapae.

During the course of my walk I also saw a Wall Brown, Lasiommata megera, a Cyprus Meadow Brown, Maniola cypricola, a Mallow Skipper, Carcharodus alceae and another Pigmy Skipper, Gegenes pumilio.

I was surprised to see water running down the river into the reservoir. There were several species of fish swimming in the water including some that looked just like goldfish!

I searched the grass around the river for some time, thinking that it would be a good place for Dark Grass Blues, Zizeeria karsandra, which at that time I hadn't yet seen. Unfortunately, there were none there, but a Swallowtail, Papilio machaon, spent a long time feeding on the flowers of a shrub there.

There were also many different varieties of dragonflies and damselflies there, which I spent some time watching. By this time I realised that I had spent longer than planned here and I was due to buy some bread on my way back for lunch. I rushed back to the car and started driving down the road, only to discover that it had been closed to traffic! Three large boulders had been pushed across the road. I drove back up to the dam where there were two men surveying the dam wall. We all drove back to have a look at the road block and after many very animated phone calls the men told me that the road authority wanted money to open the road again!

One benefit of waiting there was that a Hermit, Chazara briseis larnacana, landed at the side of the road.

The underside was a lovely pattern of beige and brown and the upper side was mostly dark grey with white markings. The butterfly tended to land and immediately close its wings, then a few seconds later flash its wings open very briefly. I was lucky to snap this fuzzy picture of it with its wings open.

We spent some time looking at the boulders and at a fence next to the road to see if we could make a way past. Eventually the men suggested that we should try to drive along a dirt track. They said their truck could make it, but it could be a problem for my hire car! Eventually, after much wheel-spinning, bumping and sliding we made it through to a tarmac road. All along I was thinking of the contract that I had signed with the car hire company stating that I wasn't to take the car off-road! Luckily no damage was done and they were none-the-wiser!

[Padfield]

Brilliant stuff, Nick! Karsandra and trochylus are two of my favourite butterflies - I have very special memories of both. I was surprised daplidice flies in Cyprus so looked it up in the books. It seems the idea of eastern/western is not quite right. Edusa is essentially more northerly, with daplidice flying in Iberia, North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean, and only creeping up further north in the west. I live almost exactly on the boundary - just into edusa territory.

Guy

[NickMorgan]

Brilliant stuff, Nick! Karsandra and trochylus are two of my favourite butterflies - I have very special memories of both. I was surprised daplidice flies in Cyprus so looked it up in the books. It seems the idea of eastern/western is not quite right. Edusa is essentially more northerly, with daplidice flying in Iberia, North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean, and only creeping up further north in the west. I live almost exactly on the boundary - just into edusa territory.

Guy

Thanks Guy. Yes, I am very fond of karsandra and trocylus and galba, which I saw later in my holiday.
It must be very difficult being on the daplidice/edusa boundary, as I am sure they must be almost impossible to separate visually.

[Pete Eeles]

Great stuff, Nick That Hermit is quite something

Cheers,

- Pete

[David M]

Indeed. Nice Hermit images, Nick.

[Chris Jackson]

Lovely photos from Cyprus, Nick.
The Hermit drew my attention because it has recently disappeared from a site near me in the South of France, so I have yet to see one.
I should think that an upperside shot on your first encounter is a 1 in 100 chance.
Chris

[NickMorgan]

Thank you folks. Yes, the Hermit was a thrill for me. I saw some more near the villa too.


Larnaca Salt Lake, Cyprus

My favourite family of butterflies is Lycaenidae - the blues, coppers and hairstreaks. When I was looking at Eddie John's fantastic web site of Butterflies of Cyprus there was one particular butterfly that I decided I really wanted to see - The Small Desert Blue, Chilades galba. Eddie kindly told me a good place to go and look for it, so on 22 July I set off from our rented villa to drive 100 miles to Larnaca Salt Lake.

Eddie had told me to head for the Hala Sultan Tekke mosque and to walk along the track beyond it around the salt lake. This was certainly good advice, as while I was parking the car I noticed a small blue butterfly flying at the edge of the track. I jumped out of the car and was delighted to discover that it was a Small Desert Blue.

The Small Desert Blue, Chilades galba, is small butterfly with a wing span of 17 - 22mm. I noticed that the males are a lot smaller than the females. It only occurs on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean. The books say that it is only found where its foodplant, Prosopis farcta, grows. This is a short thorny shrub, which it turned out was growing along both sides of the track. I believe that it can be quite invasive and it has very deep roots. It was certainly having no problem growing in the hostile environment around the salt lake.

I needn't have been so hasty to look at the first butterfly I saw as it turned out that there were thousands of them on the plants along the edge of the track. Sometimes it was impossible to take a picture without another Small Desert Blue trying to get into the shot!

I have never experienced butterflies in such numbers, they were almost flying up in clouds as I walked along the track.

Eddie also told me that if I walked as far as a flight of steps I would find some Zizyphus lotus bushes. He said if I looked in these I may find Little Tiger Blue butterflies, Tarucus balkanicus. I struggled through the vegetation to the only bush I could see and was soon rewarded with a Little Tiger Blue. This was a real thrill, as I have never seen a butterfly like this before.

According to the books this butterfly is the same size as the Small Desert Blue, but it appeared to be larger to me. The underside of the wings are beautifully marked, but very difficult to photograph, because they either had the sun glaring off their wings or they had shadows from the leaves on them.

As I walked back to the car I realised that there were several Zizyphus lotus plants growing along the track that I had walked past. When I had a look, many of them also had Little Tiger Blues flying around them.

Having learned which plants the butterflies liked I found a perfect area with Zizyphus lotus and Prosopis farcta growing alongside a blackberry bush. Here I also saw Long-tailed Blues, Small Whites and Lang's Short-tailed blues, Leptotes pirithus.

Most thrilling of all for me were a couple of Lesser Fiery Coppers, Lycaena thersamon. These are quite large with a wingspan of between 28 and 35mm.

The first one that I saw was the female above, and later I saw the male, below. The pictures don't really do them justice, as they are a beautiful bright orange/copper colour when they fly.

Among all of the Small Desert Blues there were a few Common Blues, Polyommatus icarus. They looked really big compared to their smaller cousins.

Further along the track my eye was caught by this female Lang's Short-tailed Blue, Leptotes pirithous, which was, I think, trying to fend off the advances of a male. It was vibrating its wings, which made the blue scales shine with a real intensity.

This behaviour continued for several minutes with the occasional male Small Desert Blue joining in! Eventually, the male appeared to give up and he settled close to the female who then closed her wings. Sadly I had to drag myself away. It was 35 degrees Celsius and the sun was very intense and I had a 100 mile journey ahead of me to return to the family. What an amazing day, though. I will never forget seeing so many Small Desert Blues and such a great variety of Lycaenidae. I am very grateful to Eddie John for suggesting I should go there. I would never have imagined that a hot, dry area next to a salt lake would be such a great place to look for butterflies!

[Padfield]

I think we have quite a lot in common, Nick! What fantastic Lycaenids you've seen. The grass blues, Chilades and their kin, are just wonderful little creatures, and you have taken some really good pictures of galba.

I'm sitting in a room several degrees below zero, clinging onto a mobile radiator and feeling quite warm just from looking at your photos.

Guy

[NickMorgan]

Guy, a common interest, but in a different league I think!!
That day has to be the best day of butterflying I have experienced, closely followed by the Sierra Nevada the year before. However, at Larnaca Salt Lake it was all Lycaenids, other than some Small Whites, and to see them in such numbers was something I have never experienced previously.

[David M]

That must have been an exceptional experience, Nick. You did the research prior to your trip so you thoroughly earned your reward.

Top quality stuff!

[Wurzel]

Even more stunning butterflies - I would see one and think that's my favourite and then read down and I'd see the next species and that would be my favourite and then I just got confused in a sea of envy

Have a goodun

Wurzel