So … at the apartment we had an early lunch of baguettes with various fillings ‘bits and pieces’, ‘weird combinations’ basically, trying to use up our half eaten packs of purchased food before flying back the next day. Then we set off in the car for Andy’s Beach.
As soon as we got our loungers and bedded in, the ladies were very keen to get on with reading their books while I was itching to get over to the dunes … sorted!
The first area I checked out was the area where I’d seen the Small Copper and it didn’t take long to find myself another
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
. The butterfly’s hindwings had a dark blue hue to them. In addition, it was visiting a plant which looked like the garden bedding plant, alyssum (which when I was a kid, just about everyone who had a garden would grow it in their lawn borders alternating with dark blue lobelia … but I digress somewhat
![Neutral :|](./images/smilies/icon_neutral.gif)
)
![B 2016.01.01 IMG_9867 Small Copper, Dunas de la Artola, Cabopino.jpg (559.2 KiB) Viewed 1526 times Small Copper on Alyssum?](./files/thumb_10062_b17672d71882c941cad4ba2281519896)
- Small Copper on Alyssum?
The butterfly didn’t like me getting in close with the macro and took off, zipping about before eventually settling deep into ground cover plants. After that the butterfly then went walkabout but I didn’t see it oviposit. After a couple of minutes, it surfaced and went back to nectaring
Lovely little butterflies like Small Coppers can hog a lot of attention but it was time to move on and try and get a close-up shot of a 'Small White' as examples of this butterfly kept passing on by, keeping fairly low to the dune surface and occasionally dropping down into the flora. However, as on the dunes two days earlier they proved difficult to photograph, never keeping still for long and alert to any approach.
Although my pictures are not very detailed from what I could see through the lens I’m 90% certain that they were all
rapae not
mannii.
As on my previous visit to the dunes, it was tiring work trying to keep up with the Small Whites treading through loose sand and with two DSLR’s hanging around my neck. So in the end I shifted my attention onto the clumps of
Lotus creticus Broad-leaved Bird’s-foot Trefoil as this was the plant on which I’d found my Lang’s Short-tailed Blue.
![Idea :idea:](./images/smilies/icon_idea.gif)
Some of the trefoil was in flower and I figured I might have a good chance of finding another Lang’s. In actuality it proved better than I expected as straight away I was into a male Long-tailed Blue (it wouldn’t be a proper holiday for me without LTB wouldn’t it Wurzel
![Wink :wink:](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)
?). My 8th species of the holiday
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
.
But it wasn't one for very long as a female
boeticus hove into view
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
In fact, there were numerous small lycaenids and the next one I focused on was female
Leptotes pirithous (Lang’s Short-tailed Blue) looking to and then ovipositing
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
.
I was in my element and spent the next 30 minutes taking pictures of these butterflies. Both were happily using the same food plant without displaying any territorial behaviour … the Yin and Yang of Long and Lang’s (I'll get me coat
![Embarassed :oops:](./images/smilies/icon_redface.gif)
). From what I saw
pirithous was commoner than
boeticus out-numbering it by about 3 to 1. On the website that Chris Jackson sent me a link to, it stated
pirithous as being the more abundant (of the two) and my own findings appear to bear this out.
http://diatheo.weebly.com/papillons-agr ... mbre1.html
Other interesting flora and fauna seen: -
![W 2016.01.01 IMG_9363 Dunas de Artola o Cabopino Blue habitat.jpg (586.83 KiB) Viewed 1526 times Lang's Short-tailed Blue and Long-tailed Blue habitat](./files/thumb_10062_95f30105973e901865e2df1ea9dabcd8)
- Lang's Short-tailed Blue and Long-tailed Blue habitat
![X 2016.01.01 IMG_9361 Eryngium maritimum (Sea Holly), Dunas de Artola o Cabopino.jpg (356.14 KiB) Viewed 1526 times Sea Holly an endemic plant](./files/thumb_10062_be43d463b12cf8baa0a9642f82568e37)
- Sea Holly an endemic plant
![Z 2016.01.01 IMG_9970 Wasp, Dunas de Artola o Cabopino.jpg (326.25 KiB) Viewed 1526 times ?](./files/thumb_10062_10f7406f19a97283c68134fb4b3096db)
- ?
![ZA IMG_9859 Goldfinch, Dunals de Artola, Cabopino.jpg (523.79 KiB) Viewed 1526 times One of many Goldfinches seen in small flocks around the dunes](./files/thumb_10062_1a94290790baae7be85fba1e5c6053b5)
- One of many Goldfinches seen in small flocks around the dunes
Finally satiated with my findings it was time to get back to the holiday. A swim in the sea, more chilling out to the Steve’s music and a late lunch/early dinner of Paella for 4 on the beach
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
. Then as the sun began to set we were treated to a wonderful sunset amongst a wide strip of Altocumulus clouds
![Cool 8)](./images/smilies/icon_cool.gif)
. Pictures of the sky and more to follow in (final) part 5
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
.
Phil