Maximus

[David M]

I'm surprised you'd never seen Black Veined Whites before, Mike. They're pretty common in many parts of France and extremely so in the Pyrenees & Alps.

Lovely, photogenic species though, easy to spot and very approachable. It'd be nice if they recolonised the UK (though I'm not sure the fruit farmers would agree!)

[Maximus]

Thanks, Wurzel, yes the Black-veined Whites and the Glandon Blue are very lush indeed, and I see what you mean about not finishing the colouring in of the Garvarnie Blue

I’ve just never bumped into Black-veined Whites during previous trips to France, David. I agree, it would be nice to have them back in the UK.





Another butterfly we were hoping to see for the first time during our trip to the French Pyrenees, was the Scarce Copper. We need not have worried as we found some beautiful examples of this stunning looking butterfly. We did not see a large number, and those that we saw were all males, not sure where the females were hiding?

This butterfly had his forewing stuck behind the hindwing. It didn't stop him flying though!

Purple-edged Coppers appeared to be more common than the Scarce, and we found good numbers of them, including some lovely females. The Purple-edged Copper is another beautiful butterfly.

Purple-edged Copper male

Purple-edged Copper male

Purple-edged Copper male

Purple-edged Copper female, showing a hint of blue

Purple-edged Copper female

Purple-edged Copper female

We saw only one stunning example of the Purple-shot Copper, a male, of which we got just two shots of before it took flight and disappeared towards the horizon. I’m not sure why they’re so scarce, did someone get the names mixed up?

The grass stem could not be removed or it would have been no shot at all!

[Maximus]

Almost forgot, this is a shot showing the typical habitat where we found the Coppers (and others)

[bugboy]

Those coppers are all stunning, impossible to pick a favourite. They are all high on my to see in the flesh list

[ernie f]

A Copper Bonanza, all the pics are fantastic - its so good to see other species that I am not familiar with and in such wonderful countryside too.

[David M]

Aah! That looks like heaven on earth to me, Mike!

Yes, female Scarce Coppers live up to their name. They keep themselves to themselves, unlike the males which can be very common in good years.

2018 was a BAD year for them, and I saw just three males and NO females. Shame because it is my favourite Copper of the ones available in SE France, and your images are extremely good so you should be well satisfied.

[Andrew555]

Fantastic shots of some beautiful butterflies Maximus. Love it.

[trevor]

Lovely Scarce Coppers, Mike. That orange has be seen to be believed ( see page 72 of my diary ).
We came across some very fresh ones, including females, in the French Pyrenees last year.
No Purple Edged Coppers though, so it's good to see yours. .

Trevor.

[Janet Turnbull]

A stunning set of photos of French lovelies, Maximus - I'm tempted to book a holiday there for next year!

[Maximus]

Thanks, Bugboy, I’m not surprised those Coppers are on your see in the flesh list. I need to see them again too, this could well become addictive

Thanks, Ernie, it’s really great to see stunning new species in beautiful surroundings.

It is heaven on earth, David, and you’ve visited a few others too. It’s interesting what you say about the females. Lets hope that next year’s a good one for French Scarce Coppers.

Thanks, Andrew, I hope you can get to see them too sometime

Thanks, Trevor, I’ve just looked at page 71 and 72 of your diary, stunning shots of stunning Scarce Coppers both male and female looks like 2017 was a good year for them. I like the shot of the two males on the flowerhead. I somehow missed those posts! I guess you’d have to be on this site 24/7 to see everything during the peak emergence months

Thanks, Janet, it’s well worth doing





I’ve now reached the point where I begin to run into a little bit of difficulty in our Pyrenean trip species report with the skippers. The reason being is that I understand that correct identification of some species of Skipper is not always straightforward, and having only upperside shots compounds the ID issues, as certain Pyrgus species appear quite similar on their uppersides.

Tolman and Lewington and several web sites have been of great help, but it has taken me a while to establish what I believe to be the correct ID’s. I have added the approximate altitude that we found each species, where appropriate (and have checked their flight times) as this may add relevance to the ID’s.

Red Underwing Skipper

Marbled Skipper. 1700 mtrs.

Tufted Marbled Skipper. 1540 mtrs.

Large Grizzled Skipper. 1540 mtrs.

Grizzled Skipper (P.m malvoides) 1700 mtrs.

Carline Skipper, 2 facing each other in the shot. With Marbled Skippers, Mazarine and Turquoise Blues. 1700 mtrs.

Large Skipper

Small Skipper

Essex Skipper

Marbled Skipper Group with 2/3 Oberthur's? And 2x Turquoise Blues. 1700 mtrs.

[Maximus]

This is one of the locations at 1700 mtrs. where we found Skippers.

[Wurzel]

A fantastic array of Copper and Skippers Mike, my cup filleth over with Mr Greens

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

I just love the multiple butterfly shots, Mike.

Dave

[David M]

Hi Mike,

Lovely sequence of images. Looks like you had a productive time.

Your Oberthur's looks more like either Olive or Large Grizzled Skipper, depending on size, which is something I can't gauge from an image.

Any undersides?

[Maximus]

Thanks, Wurzel, I'm sure you've a few up your sleeve for a later date

Yes, Dave, it's was nice to see lots of butterflies in one small space

Thanks for your input, David, no underside shots unfortunately. I originally thought Large Grizzled as I remember thinking at the time it was a relatively large Skipper.
I’ve had a look this morning at ‘Butterflies of France’ website and found a page showing broadly typical Pyrgus upperside photos. large Grizzled and Olive both appear to have obscure upper hindwing markings, as does the Skipper in my shot, whereas Oberthur’s appears to have slightly stronger markings in these areas. The ground colour of ‘my’ skipper seems closer to the Large Grizzled than Olive, which appears paler, but I appreciate that these points are variable. The author does say that alveus is perhaps the most difficult of the French Pyrgus species to identify with any degree of confidence!
I also looked on Guy’s European Butterfly site and the second shot down in his Large Grizzled Skipper section looks a pretty good match to the one I photographed.

Mike

[trevor]

You have done well naming those ' Grizzled type' Skippers.
We saw many different Grizzled Skippers, some similar to our own.
But none would be seen in the UK, and some could easily be confused with other types.

I gave up !.
Trevor.

[David M]

Thanks for your input, David, no underside shots unfortunately. I originally thought Large Grizzled as I remember thinking at the time it was a relatively large Skipper.

If it was noticeably large, Mike, then with those markings I think it has to be alveus. The only others of similar size are Safflower and Oberthur’s, and it’s clearly neither of those.

[Maximus]

Thanks, Trevor, Identification of these Skippers is not clear-cut and there seems to be plenty of variation, even within the same species.

Thanks for your help, David, much appreciated. Can someone please advise me how to edit the caption under a photo



During our week in the French Pyrenees, we probably only saw about half a dozen or so Large Blues. We only ever saw one or two individuals in any one day, possibly because their habitat is so vast and their numbers low. They must cross paths sometimes however, as one day we found a female egg laying.

This was the female egg laying 30secs before this shot.

We also only saw singles of Turquoise Blue, all males, but what a stunning looking butterfly it is, a first for us.

Mazarine Blue was another first for us, what a pity they don’t now fly in the UK as they’re a gorgeous shade of blue.

I think this is an Amanda's Blue female.

This a shot contains half (of the eight) Garvarnie Blues that we saw during our week.

Gavarnie Blue, a very sociable butterfly

Also seen in most places were Common, Small, Silver-studded and Adonis Blues.

[Wurzel]

More cracking Blues Mike That last shot is a real cracker as are the Mazarines - I wish I'd gotten shots like that of the one I saw

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

I agree with your statement regarding Turquoise Blue, Mike. It is possibly my favourite in this family.

Like you, I find that they usually crop up singly, although in the Pyrenees last May I saw many dozens at a single site so they can be communal when they want to be.