France/Spain Early 2016.

[LancsRover]

Tuesday 29.3.16.
A last short trip up the dry river bed at the side of our camp site
I was hoping the Plain Tiger numbers had increased from last week, I wasn't disappointed, I saw at least 12 in the space of my 30 minute trip from only 2 or 3 last visit, so it's looking promising for a "good" tiger year.
Russ
Photo's higher up the report.

[LancsRover]

Wednesday 30th March 2016. Sunny and warm 20c. Pm
A final trip to the very productive Ribamar area of the Sierra de Irta, nature reserve.(I start for home on Saturday)
The main objective was to see/photograph Provence Orange Tip and Spanish Festoon which I had seen in this area last Saturday(26.3.16)
I did see;
Swallowtail 10+,
Cleopatra 10+,
Mallow Skipper 2,
Wall Brown 4,
Speckled Wood 10+,
Provence Hairstreak 2,
Holly Blue 1,(not seen since my 1st week here, 22nd Feb.)
and a Black-Eyed Blue,

but alas, no sign of the Provence Orange Tip or the Spanish Festoon this visit
I can't complain it's been a very enjoyable trip this year.

Russ.

[LancsRover]

A few last photo's of flora & fauna from S. de Irta.
Any help with the 2 bird ID's would be very much appreciated.
Russ

[Chris Jackson]

Can't help you with the dicky birds, Russ. However, photo No. 2 - the flower could be Smooth Golden Fleece (Urospermum dalechampii (Asteraceae)).
The last birdies may be perched in a Cade Juniper bush (Juniperus oxycedrus).

Chris.

[Mark Tutton]

Hi Russ
The last bird is a lovely Woodchat Shrike.
The third plant looks like a Broomrape or Toothwort?

[bugboy]

Bird one: whilst I wouldn't put money on it, I think it is a small warbler going by the wonderful name Zitting Cisticola Cisticola juncidis

[Padfield]

Bird one: whilst I wouldn't put money on it, I think it is a small warbler going by the wonderful name Zitting Cisticola Cisticola juncidis

I think so too, but I always called them fan-tailed warblers! They fly with a bouncy motion and say 'tsit' once a bounce.

Guy

[LancsRover]

Thanks to Chris, Mark, Bugboy and Guy for your interest and comments.
So, Bird 1 is a Fan-tailed Warbler(Cisticola juncidis),
and Bird 2 is a Woodchat Shrike, a very unusual bird from all accounts.
Thanks again,
Russ.

[LancsRover]

Saturday 2.4.2016.
We left Alcossebre today and drove 230 miles north to San Pere Pescador on the Bay of Roses, some 25 miles short of the French border.
We stopped at Aquarius camp site where we come to in Sept/Oct usually, I've never been in this area at this time of year before, we just stopped 2 nights(I day).
Everything was very green in this area compared to Alcossebre, so I guess they'd had a lot of rain, in fact it was raining when we arrived.
We had a look around the usual butterfly spots, but we only turned up plenty of Clouded Yellow's, Whites(including Green-veined, 1st of the year), a Painted Lady and a Speckled Wood and nothing else, probably because the ground was still wet???
Russ

[LancsRover]

Photo's from San Pere Pescador.

[LancsRover]

Tuesday 5.3.2016.
We drove another 300 miles today to Saint Pere-Sur-Loire, some 30 miles due east of Orleans, mainly through heavy rain and 8c temp.
but when we arrived the sun had come out and the temp. was around 14c.
So after I had sorted the van & pitch out I escaped for about 40 mins. just after 5pm, it was still quite warm with little wind. I walked from the camp site onto the small nature reserve adjacent to it where I had seen b/f's in the past, the sun was coming and going but I came across Small Copper, Brimstone(1st this year), Large White, Comma(1st this year) and a battered Large Tortoiseshell(1st this year) so not too bad for 40 mins after 5pm.
Russ

[LancsRover]

Wednesday 6th April 2016.
Saint Pere-sur-Loire.
After a dull & overcast morning the clouds broke in the afternoon to allow a little sunshine every now and then, so we took a walk through the nature reserve at the side of our camp site.
Almost immediately we came across a couple of male Orange Tips, they were in mint condition and they settled down to nectar on the grape plant(??)
In total we saw 5 male Orange Tips on the reserve, all flying slowly in the overcast conditions, very subdued for Orange Tips and they were the only butterflies we saw, nothing from what we had seen the day before but at least another first for 2016.
Russ

[Chris Jackson]

Nice shots of the OT on Grape Hyacinth, Russ. It is surprising you didn't see any further South.
Chris

[LancsRover]

Hi all, this is my final report for France/Spain early 2016, I've really enjoyed the trip, it's different every year and I've learned so much again .
I've seen 29 different butterflies, quite a few moths, as well as new birds and beautiful flora.

Friday 8th April 2016.Sunny 12c, cool wind.
Baie de Somme(70 miles south-west of Calais).
This is a beautiful coastal area of northern France and I recommend it for a couple of days stop-over, if time permits.
Whilst looking around this coastal area, which is brilliant for birds, especially water fowl, I came across a very small nature reserve in the dunes east of Le Crotoy. I'd seen brimstones flying along the verges as drove down the narrow lane to this area, so I had a wander down the rides of this mixed shrub reserve, where I found brimstone, green-veined white and speckled wood(P.a.Tircis, our English type).
There are small lakes along the coastal road with hundreds of birds feeding/resting on them, so I've enclosed a few photo's of them as well.
All the best,
Russ.

[Chris Jackson]

Hi all, this is my final report for France/Spain early 2016, ...... Russ.

Thank YOU Russ for keeping us nicely entertained these last few weeks. It has been a pleasure following your travels and exploits.
You can now go home and relax and sort out your photos.
Bring on retirement for me.
Keep an eye on my summer South of France posts. I'll try and post something worthwhile.
Cheers, Chris

[LancsRover]

Cheers Chris for your kind comments.

Keep an eye on my summer South of France posts. I'll try and post something worthwhile.
Cheers, Chris[/quote]

I always do Chris, you're having a great year to date, I'm taking notes for a trip down your way sometime in the future, all being well.
Keep up the good work!
Russ