A needle in a haystack

[Medard]

A needle in a haystack

Certain butterflies for some reason I can't explain have captured my imagination, the Violet copper is one, when I first became aware of this little beauty I had not a clue where to look other than France,a rather large country, the Internet was the first port of call, information was sparse, the Pyrenees was suggested, that reduced the odds considerably !!! , fine , so a trip was arranged to the Pyrenees orientales , it must have been one of my Mr Micawber moments , something will turn up, and indeed it did.
We had arrived at a location previously visited in the hopes of again seeing the beautiful Spanish fritillary, regrettably none were seen but I had the good fortune of  making the acquaintance of Mr J Aymar a fellow enthusiast, when asked if he could help with a location for my target L Helle his response was immediate and very helpful, you will need to be lucky he said, I was already lucky having met him.
We continued our journey and made base camp at Llo,
The following day we set out to the location my new friend had described, hours were spent searching damp meadows that offered the right conditions for Helle , by mid afternoon, disappointed I abandoned my efforts, my wife then declared "I am going for my walk",she had been gone little more than ten minutes when I saw her return carrying her hiking stick in a horizontal position, strange behaviour I thought, " is this what your looking for " she asked, I looked at a small butterfly perched on her stick, for a moment I stared in disbelief, it was Helle, a Violet copper no less, I quickly grabbed my camera to record this phenomenon , where did you find it I asked excitedly, oh down the lane there are lots was her smug reply, Helle was carried back to join her friends.
Is this not stranger than fiction ? I ask.

In my opinion Helle is high on my list of the most beautiful butterflies I have seen in France, the photos hardly justify the magic of the violet sheen on the upper wings, truly a gem of nature.
https://jamesgibbs6929.zenfolio.com

Violet Copper (Lycaena helle)
Pyrénées-Orientales

Violet Copper (Lycaena helle)
Pyrénées-Orientales

Violet Copper (Lycaena helle)
Pyrénées-Orientales

[essexbuzzard]

A stroke of luck for sure, but what a wonderful, uplifting story.

And a cracking set of images, too!

[Goldie M]

Fantastic shots and I love the story It never happens to me when I take my walking stick out. Goldie

[Tony Moore]

Not in the same league, but my first Purple Emperor sat on my monopod...

Tony M.

[Padfield]

I agree - violet coppers are utterly delightful little butterflies. Males sparring in the sun over bistort and aconite-leaved buttercups are a sight never to be forgotten.

Sometimes you need a little help from the lep gods. The biggest stroke of divine providence I ever had was when hunting Warren's skipper - the tiniest of the Pyrgus skippers - in 2012. It was a site I had discovered myself - very inaccessible except by a very long walk and then a climb onto a perilous, 45°, shaly slope where you risk falling every time you take a step. I had seen just two unconfirmed possibles that day, when suddenly the sun went in and a freezing wind blew up. All butterflies dropped into the grass and shivered a moment before crawling deep into the tussocks (it was at over 2400m, so very cold out of the sun). The wind became gusty, the sky black and it was clear not only that my butterfly day was over but that I was in a dangerous place; so I started back down the slope, disappointed. Then amazingly, one of the chilly gusts of wind dropped a tiny, torpid butterfly - smaller than a baby fingernail - at my feet. It couldn't fly and would have been been blown away again if I hadn't popped a specimen box over it and picked it up. It was Pyrgus warrenensis. Completely flabbergasted, I took it to a more sheltered part of the slope, warmed it up in my hands just enough that it could open its wings and fly, and released it to choose its own place to tide out the cold spell.

The warrenensis slope on a better day:



My little friend before warming up ...



... and after:



Guy

[David M]

Thanks for posting that, Jim. In many ways, that's what butterflying's all about.....precious efforts being made seemingly to no avail only for a serendipitous surprise to turn up without warning.

Love the image of helle on the stick. I can imagine what your thoughts were when your wife returned with such a gold-plated cargo.

[Medard]

Hit and run casualty
Returning to my previous post, "A needle in a haystack", I was treated to two new and unexpected sightings, the first happened early one morning as I wandered up to the village of Llo to photograph the handsome chapel from the advantage of a higher position, I happened to glance down and spotted what I at first though to be a butterfly, I was astonished, it was a very large moth that I presumed had been struck by a passing car, I scooped it up and examined it, it showed no sign of life, the Moth was so unusual that I cupped in in my hands and returned to the van, as I walked I became aware that far from being dead as I though it was stirring, by the time I had reached the camper it was showing signs of movement sufficient to crawl up the curtains towards the reading lamps, by now it had become quite active and on the move exercising its wings ,I took it outside and placed it on a rock and returned to the village to photograph the chapel , it had gone on my return, I do hope it survived to complete its life cycle for another generation.
A life long wish had always been to see a Golden Eagle at close quarters,as I was photographing a de Prunner's Ringlet (Erebia triaria) a very large raptor passed over my head at no great distance, what could it be ? I took some shots with my 150 Macro but only on my return and checking bird guides did I realise it was a juvenile Golden Eagle, my confusion was understandably as the juvenile does not resemble the adult bird at all, so much excitement in one day, reason for a celebration that evening ? of course.

Graellsia isabellae.
After Photoshop surgery

[petesmith]

Wow Jim - isabellae must be the most desirable European moth species to see in the wild - stunning! I can only dream of seeing one, one day...

[Tony Moore]

Many years ago on a moor above Inverness, I watched a couple of Blackbirds mobbing a Buzzard in the distance. As the raptor got nearer, I realised that I had the scale wrong and that it was, in fact, my first Golden Eagle being harassed by a couple of Ravens .

Tony M.

[David M]

Beautiful, Jim. Spanish Moon Moth is an insect I'd much love to see. I must keep an eye out when I'm in Llo (though that won't be this year, sadly).

Your triaria is special too. I've looked at all my images and mine have only 5 upf ocelli in the orange band. Yours has six! Very nice specimen.

[MikeOxon]

Many years ago on a moor above Inverness, I watched a couple of Blackbirds mobbing a Buzzard in the distance. As the raptor got nearer, I realised that I had the scale wrong and that it was, in fact, my first Golden Eagle being harassed by a couple of Ravens .

We had a simmilar occurrence in Oxfordshire. Most people think the Red Kites are large birds but then a Sea Eagle turned up - see https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-o ... e-51160718

[Medard]

https://jamesgibbs6929.zenfolio.com
Graellsia isabellae
Hi Pete chance in a lifetime, if its of interest the link will give location details, I was aware it flies in the Pyrenees  but surprised to see the Alpes-Maritimes listed as a location.
https://bmcevolbiol.biomedcentral.com/a ... /figures/1

de Prunner's Ringlet (Erebia triaria)

Near Llo.

[Roger Gibbons]

David M wrote:

Your triaria is special too. I've looked at all my images and mine have only 5 upf ocelli in the orange band. Yours has six! Very nice specimen.

I looked through my records of triaria and could only find one with six ocelli, so they are infrequent.

I, too, would love to see Isabella. You see public pictures of them in the Pyrenees, like they are so common you have to avoid treading on them. A few years ago I stayed in a hotel near the Col de Vars (Hautes-Alpes) and the proprietor told me about a famous butterfly. I couldn't work out what he meant until he indicated the size, and I showed him a picture of Isabella. I asked him if they flew locally and had he ever seen one. No, and I don't think he knew anyone that had.

Roger

[petesmith]

I looked through my records of triaria and could only find one with six ocelli, so they are infrequent.

I have only recently (2019) taken my first photographs of this species, so cannot comment on the frequency of the six-ocelli form, but I must have got lucky in the Maritime Alps, as one of the few that I photographed in early June last year had six ocelli on the forewing. Unfortunately the only ones that I got close to seemed to land very briefly down in amongst the grasses, making it hard to get a clear shot at them!

[David M]

I find this species quite easy to approach by erebia standards, although that may be something to do with the cooler weather in the Pyrenees during May.

I think it is one of the more attractive members of this genus.

[petesmith]

I find this species quite easy to approach by erebia standards, although that may be something to do with the cooler weather in the Pyrenees during May.

I think it is one of the more attractive members of this genus.

I agree David- there are very much harder Erebias out there to get close to. I was just making excuses for my photographic ineptitude on this occasion

[David M]

I find this species quite easy to approach by erebia standards, although that may be something to do with the cooler weather in the Pyrenees during May.

I think it is one of the more attractive members of this genus.

I agree David- there are very much harder Erebias out there to get close to. I was just making excuses for my photographic ineptitude on this occasion

Record shots are meant to be just that, Pete - an identifiable record, not a competition winner!

Most of my epiphron images are like that.

[David M]

When going out in the Pyrenees in the morning in late May, it's easy to catch triaria in a fairly docile state.

These two were taking minerals from a rock face at about 9.30am: