Greenwings: Alpes Maritimes and Queyras regions, June 27th to July 13th 2018

[petesmith]

Hi David,

Female Alpine Blues are lovely aren't they! In fact Alpine Blues are just delightful all round - especially their underside. Glandon are also one of my favourites.

I
Your photo of the male Damon Blue looks remarkably like a Silvery Argus to me

[David M]

Oops! Thanks for pointing out my faux pas. Image description duly amended! Now I just need to find my real Damon Blue image amongst a couple of thousand others!

[David M]

Nymphalids - Aristocrats

I actually did quite well with this group (for a change). Normally, they are thin on the ground but the later season clearly had some influence as Large Tortoiseshells were around in reasonable numbers (by that, I mean 10-20)!

Even more exciting was an appearance by (an albeit elderly) Camberwell Beauty during the mid part of the first week:

[essexbuzzard]

Not surprised you found it hard to tear yourself away, David! A lovely fresh female as well! And a Camberwell Beauty. Might be aged, but certainly identifiable.

[Padfield]

I would say that Camberwell beauty is in amazingly good condition for the end of June. Even at the beginning of June the ones I see have almost no white border. I suspect it was a very late start to the season there - as evidenced by the green-underside blues you were still seeing.

Guy

[David M]

I'll take your word regarding the condition of the Camberwell, Guy. After all, you see many, many more than I do.

Nymphalids - Aristocrats cont.....

Southern Comma is a rare creature in France, but it is fast becoming a faithful friend at the first site I visit. Yet again, it availed itself to us all, with sightings being made on lime tree blossom (thanks to the venerable Roger G), on the GR5 track (which is a favourite territory for the males) and a residential garden's lavender bush (which, again, is becoming something of a regular occurrence).

Here's one defending airspace in late afternoon on a rock face:

Here's a poor image of the moment when egea met c-album and a fight ensued:

....and finally, an image of egea chilling out and enjoying a feeding break:

[Roger Gibbons]

It was (and maybe still is) an exceptionally late season, Guy. We were seeing Green Hairstreaks and Orange Tips into July, and my last sighting of an OT was 15 July.

I got very lucky with the Large Tortoiseshell as it opened and closed its wings - hope you don't mind me posting on your thread, David.

Roger

[David M]

I don't mind at all, Roger. It looks like that's the same Large Tortoiseshell I photographed only my best image was obscured by that blade of grass just to the right in yours!

[David M]

Nymphalids - Aristocrats cont....

Another of this group to turn up was Poplar Admiral. I'd only hitherto seen two in four years however three were seen this time, but sadly only one settled for an image, and that was a very hastily taken one after I'd stopped my car at the roadside having seen something huge flutter by me. This was the best I could do:

Southern White Admirals occasionally popped by, and they are very interested in items of human clothing, especially hats:

In spite of all these heartstopping encounters with this family of butterflies, probably the biggest shock was, for the FIRST time ever during these Alps visits, seeing a Peacock nectaring in the gardens below the terrace of the first hotel!!!

[David M]

Nymphalids - Aristocrats

41. Poplar Admiral 3
42. Camberwell Beauty 1
43. Peacock 1
44. Small Tortoiseshell 30-50
45. Southern White Admiral 10-20
46. Large Tortoiseshell 10-20
47. Comma 20-30
48. Southern Comma <6
49. Red Admiral 20-40
50. Painted Lady 40-60

[David M]

Nymphalids - Fritillaries

After Coppers, probably the biggest casualties of the poor season were the larger Fritillaries. In 2017 they were about in near plague numbers. This time the 'Big 4' (Silver Washed, Niobe, Dark Green & High Brown) numbered fewer than 80 between them.

The thistle patch behind the second hotel wasn't doing great business this year. Although the odd High Brown put in an appearance, Dark Greens were notably absent as were SWFs.

Only Niobe was about with any kind of regularity:

Given that other Frits were fairly numerous, one wonders whether violet growth was badly hit by the cool and wet spring.

[David M]

Nymphalids - Fritillaries cont....

The smaller Frits were around in generally good numbers. Heaths were (as ever) the most common, with several hundred seen:

Whilst I occasionally see the odd Marsh Frit at altitude, this year they were still around (albeit faded) at 1,000m:

Spotted Fritillaries were also commonplace. Here's a male:

and a female (the sexual dimorphism in this species is notable):

...and, this butterfly possesses one of the most attractive undersides of all Frits:

With such a busy schedule to keep, I'm guilty of ignoring some species, and I'm ashamed to admit that Knapweed and Glanville Fritillaries never got onto my radar. A few Provençal Frits also evaded my lens, but on one day at a puddling site, I photographed these two individuals side by side. My belief is that one is a Heath Frit whilst the other is Provençal (I confess I didn't 'pot' the latter to confirm definitively via the colour of the underside of the palpi):

[David M]

Nymphalids - Fritillaries cont....

Higher altitude Frits were a little more commonplace, although still disappointing compared to last year.

Around 30 or so Titania's Fritillaries were observed:

False Heaths probably just hit three figures:

Grison's Frits were about in surprisingly good numbers though:

Cynthia's Fritillary was tough to find during the first week, but numbers built slowly during the second:

Shepherd's/Mountain Frits were completely absent until week 2, whereupon they exploded into life in the last few days. Here's a selection of those photographed:

[David M]

Nymphalids - Fritillaries

51. High Brown Fritillary <10
52. Dark Green Fritillary <10
53. Niobe Fritillary 20-30
54. Silver Washed Fritillary 10-20
55. Weaver's Fritillary 20-30
56. Pearl Bordered Fritillary 30-50
57. Mountain Fritillary 30-60
58. Shepherd's Fritillary 30-60
59. Titania's Fritillary 20-30
60. Marbled Fritillary 40-60
61. Lesser Marbled Fritillary <10
62. Marsh Fritillary 10-20
63. Cynthia's Fritillary 20-30
64. Queen of Spain Fritillary 10-20
65. Heath Fritillary 300-500
66. Glanville Fritillary 40-60
67. False Heath Fritillary 80-120
68. Spotted Fritillary 60-100
69. Meadow Fritillary <10 (none in Week 2, which is astonishing)
70. Knapweed Fritillary 100-150
71. Grison's Fritillary 40-60
72. Provençal Fritillary 10-20

[David M]

Satyrids - Heaths

A good range of Heaths were about. Small Heath was, as ever, very common, but even that was eclipsed by Pearly Heath:

The delightful Dusky Heath was about in small numbers:

Chestnut Heath was quite scarce this year:

Darwin's Heath could be found at medium altitude:

However, Alpine Heath was around in the multi-hundreds, possibly even the commonest butterfly on the trip, even though it doesn't occur in the more southerly parts of the French Alps:

[David M]

Satyrids - Heaths

73. Small Heath c.200
74. Pearly Heath 500-1,000
75. Dusky Heath 20-30
76. Darwin's Heath 40-60
77. Chestnut Heath 20-40
78. Alpine Heath 1,000-1,500

[David M]

Satyrids - Browns

This family is not terribly well represented in this region. For sure, Meadow Browns are common, but there aren't too many other species that occur in great numbers.

Marbled Whites are always ubiquious, and they are much, much darker than those seen in the UK:

Wall Brown is normally about in numbers, but this year they were decidedly scarce. In fact, their close relative, Large Wall, was seen in greater numbers:

In 2017, the trip was defined by the ridiculous numbers of Great Sooty Satyrs. This year, they were much less frequent, although still into three figures, especially the males:

[NickMorgan]

Looks like a great trip, David. I was in southern Spain at the same time as you were away and I also found that the number of butterflies was lower than I had previously experienced there. They had experienced a cool, damp spring, which I had thought may have been a good thing for butterflies, but it turns out it wasn't. Interestingly some species were more numerous than normal, but most species appeared to be less so.

[David M]

Nick, I was told that in 2017 the hot, dry summer went on into autumn and things dried up. The LHPs clearly took a beating (as they are in the UK right now). Add to this a cold and wet winter and a cool spring and you have a recipe for disaster from a butterfly perspective.

[David M]

Satyrids - Browns cont....

As ever, there were a fair few examples of the impressive Great Banded Grayling flying around:

Less common, but still noticeable, were Woodland Graylings:

There are other, similar species but like the Wood Whites, they are very hard to tell apart. This next one caught my eye because it was out in the open and settling on bare rock, whereas Woodland Graylings tend (understandably given their name) to be found in lightly wooded areas. It looks a bit different too, but short of catching them and making them endure 2 or 3 minutes of handling to inspect the uppers, getting a positive ID is near impossible:

One species that did NOT need any special study was my only 'lifer' of the trip - Alpine Grayling. Two were seen and both were fairly approachable:

The one I 'potted' allowed a view of the uppersides:

It was interesting that the col where they were found had mainly sandy coloured scree, blending in beautifully with the butterfly's ground colour.