Greenwings: French Pyrenees 24 May - 2 June 2016

[David M]

So, if it's not Spanish Fritillary then there can only be one contender for the number 1 spot.

I have craved an audience with this species for many years now, and I almost felt like crying when I finally saw it in flesh and wing.

It ticks all the boxes - it's beautiful, it's rare, it's precious, it's a habitat specialist and is hard to find....

1. Violet Copper

Here's a male underside view:

...and an upperside:

If anything, the females are even more attractive with their more striking violet-beaded borders:

I don't think I've ever felt so humble to enter into the domain of a single butterfly species. Granted, their favoured terrain isn't human-friendly - boggy, grassy, damp areas in the middle of nowhere (a bit like Large Heath in the UK). However, like all Coppers, once you've found them, they are welcoming and accommodating, with the insects keeping to their preferred spots and rarely straying far. What's more, with so few other species around in these places, they don't get accosted too much so their little 'niche' works very well for them.

A real highlight and a moment I shall never forget.

[mattberry]

Had to be! And you were in heaven rather than helle

A fitting number 1 and I am pleased you achieved your goal on this trip to see them.

I must admit to being envious though as it is high on my butterfly bucket list too. Maybe next year!

Matt

[David M]

Had to be! And you were in heaven rather than helle

That imaginative little quip just about sums it up, Matt.

[Chris Jackson]

Wow, thats an amazing butterfly David.
It is on my wanted list for the next time I venture to the Pyrenees.
Did you not get near Bog Fritillary country ? The Pyrenees is a big place, I admit.
Chris

NB: having looked at the distribution maps and flight periods, helle may not be far from eunomia. Bistorte hey ? Something worth looking in to. Another reason to return to the Pyrenees.
Tactically, you are on the front foot, David.
Ho ho

[David M]

Bog Frits hadn't emerged when we visited, Chris. Second week in June is apparently their flight period.

General species check

Hesperids

The following skippers were seen:

Dingy Skipper (a few dozen)
Mallow Skipper (just one)
Marbled Skipper (just one - I missed it!)
Tufted Marbled Skipper (4 or 5)
Red Underwing Skipper (20-40)
Southern Grizzled Skipper (50 or so)
Oberthur's Grizzled Skipper ( two to three dozen)
Large Grizzled Skipper (2 positively identified - possibly a few more of them)
Safflower Skipper (only 1 seen for sure)
Lulworth Skipper (a single female at a low altitude site)
Large Skipper (single figures)

Here's an Oberthur's:

Large Grizzled Skipper:

Red Underwing Skipper:

[Matsukaze]

Meadows full of bistort in flower are a remarkable sight in themselves, irrespective of any exotic butterflies that might be on the wing there.

[David M]

Papilionidae

Clouded Apollo (at least 50)
Apollo (12-18)
Scarce (Spanish) Swallowtail (half a dozen or so)
Swallowtail gorganus (I only recall seeing 2)

Apart from Clouded Apollos, there were a dozen and a half 'normal' Apollos seen too. These were clearly at the beginning of their flight period as all appeared immaculately fresh:

Shamefully, I made no concerted attempt to photograph the local form of Scarce Swallowtail in this region. A few of the guests got good images but I complacently thought they'd be commoner than they actually were. I DID get a gorganus image though:

[David M]

Pierids

As you would expect, there were lots of this genus:

Wood White (common - 100+ seen, given the context of many, perhaps some/the majority were Real's Wood Whites)
Black Veined White (3, to my knowledge)
Large White (20-30)
Small White (maybe a dozen or so)
Green Veined White (5 to 10)
Bath White (only one for sure)
Orange Tip (100+)
Provence Orange Tip (about 40)
Berger's Clouded Yellow (around a dozen at mid-altitude)
Clouded Yellow (10-20)
Cleopatra (3)
Brimstone (around a dozen)

Here's a Wood White roosting at head level:

...and a Clouded Yellow:

[David M]

Hairstreaks

Disappointing. Only three species seen:

Green Hairstreak (about a dozen)
False Ilex Hairstreak (3, maybe 4)
Blue Spot Hairstreak (one of the group photographed this species but I didn't see it personally)

Coppers

Again, rather disappointing save for the appearance of helle:

Small Copper (20 or so)
Violet Copper (about a dozen)
Sooty Copper (common. Males very ubiquitous and females not hard to find either)

Here's one of many male Sooty Coppers:

And the females here were 'proper copper' instead of the dark subalpinus variety:

[David M]

Blues

Quite a variety. Here goes:

Short Tailed Blue (into double figures, probably no more than two dozen)
Provençal Short Tailed Blue (about 50)
Small Blue (fairly common, 80-120)
Osiris Blue (unexpectedly large numbers. Certainly 30+)
Holly Blue (4 or 5)
Green Underside Blue (about 10 or so seen in isolation)
Chequered Blue (20-30)
Mazarine Blue (20-30)
Turquoise Blue (only 1 for sure)
Amanda's Blue (2)
Chapman's Blue (small numbers - both male and female seen)
Common Blue (cropped up almost everywhere)
Adonis Blue (very common - 200+)
Provence Chalkhill Blue (one was sighted in a scrubby field but I missed it)
Brown Argus (20 or so positively identified)
Baton Blue (just one, rather faded)

The major surprise for me was seeing decent numbers of Osiris Blues. Here's a male:

Mating pair:

This lovely Green Underside Blue was also observed:

This was the only Turquoise Blue seen:

I got lucky with Amanda's Blue, as I was with the individual that spotted the first of only two:

This Chapman's Blue was probably only identified because it was first to appear on a misty morning when butterflies were very scarce:

The undoubted star of the show, however, was the freak sighting of polonus, a hybrid between Adonis and Chalkhill Blue. This insect not only looked remarkably different, its behaviour was eccentric too, immediately marking it out as something very unusual. I pursued it for a good 20 minutes, longer than any other single butterfly on the trip. The wait was worthwhile - these hybrids don't crop up very often:

[David M]

Aristocrats

As ever in these mountainous parts of France, these were rather thin on the ground:

Small Tortoiseshell (mainly at high altitude, but definitely fewer than 20)
Painted Lady (maybe 10 or so)
Red Admiral (half a dozen)
Camberwell Beauty (5)
Southern White Admiral (3)
Large Tortoiseshell (2 seen prior to the guests arriving)
Peacock (just 2)

I was a little disappointed not to see any spring brood Maps, as I've seen them in this region in the past.

Fritillaries

A much better return:

Glanville Fritillary (silly numbers)
Meadow Fritillary (approaching 3 figures. Certainly the commonest 'altitude' Frit)
Provençal Fritillary (quite a few, made easier to identify by the relative absence of Heath Frits)
Marsh Fritillary (maybe a couple of dozen here and there)
Knapweed Fritillary (as the week went on this species became more commonplace)
Pearl Bordered Fritillary (maybe a dozen or so)
Queen of Spain Fritillary (as above, but usually in isolation)
Spotted Fritillary (were clearly just emerging...numbers increased as the week went by)
Weaver's Fritillary (popped up irregularly, maybe 6-10 seen)
Heath Fritillary (just 2 definites)
Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary (just 1)

Glanvilles were the default Fritillary of the week, with hundreds seen:

Provençal was fairly commonplace too:

At altitude, Meadow Fritillary was a regular companion:

QoS were sparse, but fairly reliable:

Knapweed Frits took time to get going, but were hitting their strides by the time we left:

The Spotted Fritillaries were the highlight for me, with some amazing variation. Here's a male:

....and this stunning female:

Marsh Frits were fairly odd-looking too, with a much greater brick red suffusion than ours in the UK:

[David M]

Satyrids

Quite a selection:

Speckled Wood (not especially common but up to 50 seen in total)
Wall Brown (commonplace - 100+ seen)
Large Wall Brown (maybe a dozen and a half)
Pearly Heath (just one; obviously at the beginning of their flight period as this species is usually stupidly common)
Small Heath (never in great numbers, but always around. 40-60 seen)
Dusky Heath (just the one, sadly)
Spanish Gatekeeper (common at a lowland site and a handful of others seen at higher altitude inland)
Meadow Brown (4 on the final full day)
De Prunner's Ringlet (had a monopoly as far as erebia go. At least 100 seen)
Western Marbled White (50ish)

Here's a French version Specklie:

A male Large Wall Brown:

...and one of the finds of the trip - a solitary Dusky Heath, disturbed from its roost in misty conditions:

[David M]

Summary

I'd expected to see 70-80 species and that proved to be correct. Personally, I saw 74 although the guest list was 75.

I missed out on the Marbled Skipper, Blue Spot Hairstreak, Provence Chalkhill Blue & Meadow Brown, but saw Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary, Large Tortoiseshell & Southern White Admiral which none of the guests saw.

The unpredictable weather was an unwelcome drawback, but it DID create conditions conducive to photography, with many species observed very easily in a semi-torpid state which allowed for close approaches.

I have unfinished business with Spanish Fritillary, and I'm determined to revisit the area to try and locate this species along with, principally, Map and Mountain Small White.

[Sylvie_h]

Hi David,

A very good report, thanks for sharing. At which altitude were you staying ? From experience with the northern Alps, I am indeed surprised that your visit yielded so many species at this time of year when the weather in the mountains can be unpredictable and therefore can delay the emergence. But then again the Pyrenees may be different from the Alps...
Sylvie

[Chris Jackson]

Hello David,
Some great photos in your report and a good harvest of 75 species.
Considering the period during which you were in the Pyrenees, you were lucky with the weather.
It could have been quite frankly catastrophic - as is the case now, as I write.
I must now wait till next Spring before I see the Pyrenees again.
Chris

[David M]

Chris - such a shame you had to cancel your trip due to adverse weather. The whole of France seems to have been unseasonably wet and cool lately. I'm hoping things will improve very soon otherwise my Mercantour trips are going to be hard work!!

Sylvie - our base was only about 700m and apart from one visit to a local col at 1,760m, we stayed at 1,500m and below. Some of the sites visited were less than 1,000m, which probably explains why there was a decent range of species to be found. Don't forget, most of these were 'spring' species rather than early summer ones. It was notable that certain normally very common butterflies were barely seen; Heath Fritillary and Pearly Heath to name but two!!

We only saw one type of erebia - DePrunner's Ringlet, which contrasts with my previous visit to the Pyrenees which was in late June which threw up hundreds of oeme and epiphron.