I remember it well, Pete! In fact, these pictures were taken at the same place. Although
cynthia flies on most, if not all, of the high mountains in the Alps, I know no better site than this for watching the males hilltop.
You're right, Wurzel, this is a very special fritillary. It is distinctive on the wing but not necessarily what you would expect - until you know the butterfly, of course. It has a fast, low flight and the colours do indeed merge, but they produce a colour that has no name and is unknown to anyone who hasn't stood on a mountain top watching a vibrant bunch of
cynthia enjoy their long-awaited and all-too-brief summer in the sun (they have a two-year life-cycle).
And yes, David, peak whites are rather hard to catch grounded!!
I went up to check on my local
rebeli today. At first it was 100% cloud cover and nothing at all flew. Then little by little warmth and sunny spells teased the butterflies out. Eventually, the
rebeli flew. It seems their season is mostly past, as there were lots of eggs around and rather few butterflies. The males I saw were largely very worn and flew incessantly. Most of the females were flying incessantly too but this one took some time out to lay a few eggs:
Large blues were flying too. In the Alps these are often very dark and can be confused on the wing with
rebeli. On the whole, though, they were in better nick. I only saw one of these stop long enough for a quick shot:
Other blues flying included little, Osiris, silver-studded, Damon, turquoise and Chapman's. It is late in the season for Osiris ...
... but the start of the season for Damon:
As I cycled back down afterwards I spotted a rather fine male tit frit:
Nectaring on the same flowers was this more typical female:
Other fritillaries flying higher up included Queen of Spain, silver-washed, dark green and false heath. Here is a pair of Queens:
Guy