European Butterflies - A personal diary

[selbypaul]

Yes i don’t think I’d be up to doing that Scandinavian one at all, such an unusual place to go for butterflies though.

I’m on a naturetrek bird trip to Spain so your early entries about enjoying their trips were very good to read as it’s going to open up all sorts of possibilities if I do enjoy the format. Hoping I do get a few butterflies too of course

Ah, fantastic. Hope you enjoy as much as I do Owen!

[selbypaul]

Monday 4th April 2022. An important day, as it marks the start of the first group wildlife holiday I’ve been on since August 2019. This one is the Greenwings “False Apollo” trip, which is a two base trip. First to the Alexandroupoli area in the far north east of Greece, then to the Mount Falakro area near Serres in the north.

Whereas most of the group were flying from Gatwick to Thessaloniki, conveniently, there was a flight with a near identical flight time to Thessaloniki from Manchester, so I opted for this.

Cue the chaos at Manchester, with hundreds of Check-In and Security staff off sick, as close to 10% of the UK population currently has Covid! I arrived at Check-In at 3.30am, two and a half hours before the flight was due to leave. But the queues were so big, it took a full 2 hours and 15 minutes to get through them, and left me with a run through Terminal 1 to the Gate, making it with only five minutes spare!

I obviously wasn’t the only one, as the flight was delayed 45 minutes. The flight was unremarkable thankfully, arriving in a cool and grey Thessaloniki just before midday. Sadly, because of my delay, and a further long queue at passport control, the rest of the group had to wait 80 minutes for me.

Anyhow, we were soon on the road and driving the two and a half hours to Alexandroupoli. And it was great to be with a large group of likeminded butterfly enthusiasts again, including three people I knew from previous trips.

We arrived at the hotel, dropped off our stuff, and went for a short walk on the coast near a village called Makri. It was late in the day and too cool for flying butterflies. But the wildflowers were out, and I did spot a resting Brown Argus (Aricia agestis)!

The forecast for the next day was wet in the morning at least, but the weather for the rest of the week is more promising. Fingers crossed.

[selbypaul]

Day 2 of the holiday started as forecast, with rain and low cloud. The rain was forecast to end around 11am, with the clouds clearing at 3pm. The forecast turned out to be fully correct.

Given the good weather was forecast to come from the west, we headed west, to a wild area near to the Ancient Theatre of Maronia, on the coast. The scenery was stunning, and with little wind and only slight drizzle, we enjoyed a morning of excellent birdsong, birdwatching and botany.

Wild landscape near the Ancient Theatre of Maronia

Of particular interest on the bird front were Blue Rock Thrush, Subalpine Warbler and Black Eared Wheatear.

When the drizzle stopped, we were hoping that thinner cloud would mean it would warm up sufficiently for butterflies. We waited and waited, and at about 4pm it finally did.

The first butterfly spotted was a Clouded Yellow (Colias crocea), and we saw at least five more, including a helice form. Also seen was Brown Argus (Aricia agestis), a female Chapman’s Blue (Polyommatus thersites), and the star of the day, an Eastern Dappled White (Euchloe ausonia), a new species for me.

Eastern Dappled White underside

Eastern Dappled White top side

On the way home, we briefly stopped in the centre of the village of Maroneia to photograph this ancient Oriental Plane. This is by far the oldest Oriental Plane I’ve ever seen, and must be one of the oldest in Greece.

Ancient Oriental Plane tree

Whilst our butterflying was limited today, it was still a very enjoyable day overall.

[David M]

Looking forward to seeing what's next, Paul.

[selbypaul]

Day 3 dawned sunny, warm and calm as forecast.

View from my hotel balcony

So it was straight to the main False Apollo (Archon apollinus) location, North East of Alexandroupoli. Literally as we stepped out of the minibus, we saw our first one, and the site was full of them. We therefore spent a full three hours at this good location, including lunch, getting fantastic photos of this very rare (for Europe) species.

False Apollo habitat

Our local guide, Michael de Courcy Williams explained how it seems to favour only one of the four listed larval food plants, meaning that it seems to be restricted in geography. That said, in the limited locations where it is happy, during its flight season it seems to be one of the most common butterflies.

I took many photos, as you can imagine, but here are my favourites.

False Apollo Photo 1

False Apollo Photo 2

Also seen at this location were Southern Festoon (Zerynthia polyxena), more Eastern Dappled White (Euchloe ausonia), Grizzled Skipper (Pyrgus malvae), Clouded Yellow (Colias crocea), and Powdered Brimstone (Gonepteryx farinosa). This latter species was also a target species for me for the holiday. It is very hard to apart from the normal Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni), and so to identify it, caused me to sprint up and through woodland for 3 minutes, until it came to a rest on a forest track. A few scratches on my arms were worth chasing this butterfly for.

Powdered Brimstone

Southern Festoon

After lunch we headed back through the forest tracks to a nearby site, stopping on the way to take photos of a grounded Camberwell Beauty (Nymphalis antiopa).

Camberwell Beauty

The second site was more open habitat, near a river, and proved to be excellent for a range of species. These included more False Apollo, Eastern Dappled White, Scarce Swallowtail (Iphiclides podalirius), Orange Tip (Anthocharis cardamines), Clouded Yellow, Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas), Grecian Copper (Lycaena ottomana), Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta), Comma (Polygonia c-album) and Large Tortoiseshell (Nymphalis polychloros). However, most exciting for me was Eastern Pale Clouded Yellow (Colias erate), another target species for me for the trip. Sadly it was highly active in the heat of the afternoon, and despite 30 minutes of chasing I didn’t get a photo. Others on the trip with me, also involved in this 30 minute chase did though, enabling us to confirm its identity.

The afternoon habitat

A fantastic day therefore, with three new species for me!

[selbypaul]

Day 4 also started with sunny spells, and started with a return to the second site of the previous day, but with a walk in the opposite direction. The main aim being to see Eastern Festoon (Zerynthia cerisy), which had been seen by our guide (and UKB Forum poster extraordinaire) David Moore. This proved successful, although it didn’t stop for photos. Lots more Grecian Copper (Lycaena ottomana) were seen, as well as Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas), Large Tortoiseshell (Nymphalis polychloros), amongst others. Of even more interest was that one of the others on the trip saw a wolf!

We then moved on via a tortuous rough road, with multiple fords to a small gorge. We had lunch first, and a brief rain shower grounded the butterflies. That included a very torpid Eastern Festoon, which allowed this photo.

Eastern Festoon

The sun came out again and we went into the gorge. It was an excellent spot, allowing us to add Nettle Tree butterfly (Libythea celtis), Speckled Wood (Parage aegeria) and Wood White (Leptidea sinapsis) to the list.

This latter species was hard to track down for photos, because we were also hoping to see Eastern Wood White (Leptidea duponcheli). But the eventual photo here confirmed it was just Wood White.

Wood White

The cloud returned and threatened further rain, so we headed to the coast to the Evros Delta, where the weather might have been better. Sadly, it proved not to be, and the site was unproductive for butterflies.

[David M]

Some fabulous reflections there, Paul, and well done for pursuing that Powdered Brimstone - I don't think I could have made it up that hill had I been the nearest to it.

[selbypaul]

Day 5 was the transition day, as we headed north east from Alexandroupoli to our second base in the village of Volakas, at the foot of Mount Falakro.

The day had the best weather of the whole week, with clear unbroken blue skies all day. After about 90 minutes of driving, we stopped at the Nestos Gorge, which had stunning scenery, even apart from the butterflies.

Nestos Gorge Photo 1

Nestos Gorge Photo 2

But the butterflies were also excellent, and included two new species for me, namely Gruners Orange Tip (Anthocharis gruneri) and Dalmatian Ringlet (Protrebia phegea). The Gruners Orange Tips were way too active to take photos of as they moved up and down the sheer cliffs. But I did manage this photo of the Dalmatian Ringlet, which was a true surprise sighting for the holiday. There were of course many other butterflies seen in the gorge.

Dalmatian Ringlet

After lunch, we headed upwards to the Nestos Gorge viewpoint. Fortuitously, just before reaching the top, we stopped to watch a Vulture. But the true surprise was an Eastern Greenish Black-Tip (Euchloe penia), which none of us had anticipated us seeing on the trip. Another life tick, my third of the day.

Eastern Greenish Black-Tip

At the viewpoint itself, we saw another Eastern Greenish Black-Tip briefly, amongst many hill-topping Red Admiral’s (Vanessa atalanta) and a few Queen of Spain Fritillary’s (Issoria lathonia).

Nestos Gorge Viewpoint

And then onwards we drove to Volakas where the second part of the holiday would be based. The scenery on the journey was just lovely. Clear blue skies, fresh green leaves on the trees, just one of those days that makes you feel so positive. Arriving at the hotel at around 5.30pm, it was very good, and the home cooked food they made was delicious.

[selbypaul]

Day 6 promised lots, with it dawning once again with clear blue skies and warmth, and a trip to Mount Orvilos.

View from my hotel window

However, despite the fantastic weather conditions, the previous months had been cold, and snow had been on the ground just five days before. This was evident from the mainly pale yellow grass and limited wildflower growth. As a consequence, at the first site we visited, we saw very little other than Nettle Tree butterflies (Libythea celtis), that were just emerging from hibernation.

Our first Mount Orvilos stop - five days after the winter snow melt

Moving slightly lower, where it was clear snow had also only just melted, did however bring out a few Queen of Spain Fritillary’s (Issoria lathonia). More excitingly though was, after a long chase by myself, David and another guest called Keith, Eastern Wood White (Leptidea duponcheli), another new species.

Eastern Wood White

For lunch, we stopped at an abandoned church near the Bulgarian border. The warmth of midday brought more Queen of Spain Fritillary, plus our first Eastern Dappled White (Euchloe ausonia) of the day.

Our lunch stop - Mount Orvilos in the background

After lunch, we drove quite a distance to seek a site at lower altitude much further away near Potami. This proved more productive, with Green Hairstreak (Callophrys rubi), Green Underside Blue (Glaucopsyche alexis), Eastern Baton Blue (Pseudophilotes vicrama), Large Tortoiseshell (Nymphalis polychloros) and Gruners Orange Tip (Anthocharis gruneri), amongst other species.

Green Underside Blue

I finally managed to take a decent underside photo of the Gruners Orange Tip.

Gruners Orange Tip

So, despite some disappointment with Mount Orvilos experiencing such a late spring, the day was compensated for by my first ever Eastern Wood White and the Gruners Orange Tip photo.

[selbypaul]

Day 7 was our final full day, and began with a return to the site from yesterday near Potami. It was grey and cool for our first two hours there, and despite much searching, we saw very little. However, at around 11.30am, the sun came out, and soon after the butterflies did too.

Whilst no new species were seen, I was delighted to photo an upperside of this Gruners Orange Tip (Anthocharis gruneri).

Gruners Orange Tip

Plus I was able to take this photo of a Green Hairstreak (Callophrys rubi), which proved very tame. I've never seen a perfectly fresh Green Hairstreak, even in the UK, so this really was a highlight for me.

Green Hairstreak

After lunch, with thunder clouds threatening, we moved to the slopes of Mount Falakro, which was still in sunshine. However, there was a cold wind, and even in the sheltered spots, virtually no butterflies were seen.

The thunder clouds were building, and so we called it a day, arriving back at the hotel just in time for the heavens to open with rain.

[selbypaul]

Day 8 was the day for returning home. We had to be up very early at 6am (Greek time) in order to have breakfast, and make it to Thessaloniki airport for 9.30am. So there was no time for butterflying. That being said, there had been a real drop in the temperatures, and there was a gale force wind, despite the sunshine. So there would have been few if any butterflies anyway.

The gales made the take-off a bit bumpy, but otherwise it was a decent flight back, and thankfully there was no airport chaos on the return to Manchester airport, meaning I was home in Sheffield for 4pm.

The weather was surprisingly kind to us for the week in Greece. The last (pre-pandemic) trip in April 2019 had had awful weather, with only 1.5 days where it hadn’t rained. By contrast, this year we had around 5 suitable days, two of which were stunning.

While the number of individual butterflies was relatively low, given it was spring, and a late spring at that, the group still racked up 50 species, of which I saw 48.

8 of those species were new to me, and whilst the False Apollo is clearly the main draw of the holiday for most, Powdered Brimstone, Eastern Dappled White, Eastern Greenish Black-Tip, Gruners Orange Tip, Eastern Wood White, Dalmatian Ringlet and Eastern Pale Clouded Yellow were all highlights for me!

The only species we were really aiming to see but which wasn’t around was Kreupers Small White. It’s larval food plant was abundant in at least three of the sites we visited, but perhaps the late spring meant it wasn’t on the wing yet.

Anyhow, a fantastic Greenwings trip, with two great guides and a really good bunch of 10 other guests. After nearly three years since my last large group holiday, it was great to be back amongst a large group of likeminded company.

Looking forward to my three other trips this year already!

[David M]

Excellent write-up, Paul, and the images bring back good memories of what was a thoroughly enjoyable trip.

We were certainly lucky with the weather, even if the season did seem to be a little late (especially in the second leg of the tour).

I too missed out on an image of Eastern Pale Clouded Yellow, as well as Mountain Small White, but these Pierids are routinely difficult to photograph and at least we succeeded with Eastern Greenish Black Tip!

Wishing you all the best for your Sicily trip.

[selbypaul]

I had originally been booked onto two Greenwings trips to Spain for the middle of May, one after the other in this same period. However, a lack of interest due both trips being new/experimental, and Covid nervousness from others, meant that I was the only one booked on the trips, and they had to be cancelled.

So, in early March, when it was confirmed they were cancelled, I booked myself some flights to Sicily, because I’d read that early May was the optimal time of year for butterflies there, including some endemics.

On Saturday 7th May, I therefore flew to Sicily for a week of butterflying on my own. In the two month intervening period, I’d done my research on good locations, including some extremely helpful site information from a number of contacts. That said, my research had also informed me of the terrible driving standards of Sicilians, which made me quite nervous!

The three hour flight to Palermo was fine, but arrived to grey and threatening skies and 17 degree temperatures. My hotel had tipped me off about a road closure due to a landslide, near to the hotel. It meant that the 90 minute drive became a 120 minute drive. Thankfully, whilst the Sicilian drivers have zero regard to the speed limits, I didn’t notice any particularly bad standards otherwise, and the journey was uneventful until I reached the village of Politzzi Generosa. A longstanding road closure (due to another landslide) meant cars had to navigate down extremely narrow winding streets in this otherwise beautiful ancient town. My hire car literally only just made it through without a scratch, requiring me to fold in the wing mirrors! Thankfully there was no traffic so I was able to take my careful time.

I arrived at the hotel, set in a beautiful location in the Madonie National Park at 5pm, and the heavens opened, with torrential rain nearly all night. The food was excellent, and I pondered the week ahead and what it might bring.

[David M]

Seems we can't escape poor weather wherever we go this spring, Paul.

Looking forward to seeing the butterflies that you encountered.

[selbypaul]

The weather forecast for my first proper day was mixed, with sunny spells due in the morning, and heavy rain in the afternoon. I therefore decided to stay local, near the hotel, and thankfully, the actual weather turned out much better, with very good sunshine in the morning, and sunny spells in the afternoon.

That being said, I’d found out from the hotel staff the night before that Sicily had suffered a very cold and wet spring, in particular a surprisingly wet previous two weeks. So, whilst my 2 hour morning walk from the hotel door, up the mountain road was extremely pleasant with beautiful views and great birdsong, there were very few butterflies around. Just a Green Hairstreak (Callophrys rubi), Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria) and Small White (Pieris rapae).

View from near the hotel, during my morning walk

For the afternoon, I drove 5 miles down the closed road towards the landslide, and then walked a further 3 miles there and back to the actual landslide itself. Because the road was closed, I saw only one other car in the four hours I spent, so it was very peaceful. That said, the butterflies remained very thin on the ground, apart from one very good location near a ravine, where I notched up 17 species.

The amazing small patch of flowers that had all the butterflies

Of particular note was Tufted Marbled Skipper (Carcharodus flocciferus), Lulworth Skipper (Thymelicus acteon), Scarce Swallowtail (Iphiclides podalirius), Cleopatra (Gonepteryx cleopatra), Long Tailed Blue (Lampides boeticus), Green Underside Blue (Glaucopsyche alexis), Queen of Spain Fritillary (Issoria lathonia), Eastern Knapweed Fritillary (Melitaea ornate), Oriental Meadow Brown (Hyponphele lupina), and a brand new species for me, Southern/Austat’s Blue (Polyommatus celina).

Tufted Marbled Skipper pair in courtship, male showing top side

Tufted Marbled Skipper pair in courtship, male showing underside

Some of these species were only seen here all week, so it was a really good site.

The Southern/Austat’s Blue seemed much bigger than its very closely related cousin, the Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus).

Southern/Austat's Blue top side

Southern/Austat's Blue underside

Similarly, I’ve seen Oriental Meadow Brown before, but I was struck by how much bigger they were here in Sicily. In the Collins ID guide it actually lists Sicily (and Greece) as having the form rhamnusia, with a bold dark streak on the forewing upperside. This was particularly obvious to me, as it flew, although it sadly never opened its wings long enough when settled for a photo of the upperside.

Oriental Meadow Brown

So a decent first proper day, despite the late spring.

[selbypaul]

The forecast for the second proper day of the holiday was dreadful, with rain forecast all day, apart from the very central southern coast of the island. So I made a plan to drive to a known Mediterranean Skipper (Gegenes nostrodamus) location called the Torre Salsa Nature Reserve.

When I booked the holiday in March, for some reason I had it in my mind that Sicily was the size of Tenerife, but actually it is around ten times bigger, more the size of Wales! So it was actually a two and a half hour drive according to the SatNav. Not too bad, if I caught some good weather and saw a new butterfly species I thought to myself.

Well, because of more road closures and some dreadfully potholed roads that significantly slowed expected progress, it actually took me four hours, and I arrived at my intended location at 1.30pm, just as the thunder clouds started to bubble up on the coast. I spent roughly an hour at the Nature Reserve, before the heavens opened, but only 10 minutes of this was warm, sunny and good conditions for butterflies. I saw 8 species in total, with two highlights.

Torre Salsa Nature Reserve

The first was this freshly emerged and torpid Eastern Dappled White (Euchloe ausonia).

Eastern Dappled White underside

Eastern Dappled White top side

The second was Mediterranean Skipper! I had two brief glimpses of it on the ground, enough for me to identify it, but not long enough for a photo sadly. They really are fast, the fastest butterflies I’ve ever come across, even in the overcast cool conditions preceding the thunderstorm. Slightly frustrated, I would have stayed much longer if I could, because supposedly this species has a habit of returning to the same perch. But the raindrops were getting heavier, so I had to head back to the hotel.

And then began the worst drive of my life. Part weather related (it was mostly in torrential rain), but mainly SatNav and road closure related. On four separate occasions, the roads the SatNav took me down turned out to be closed due to a landslide, rubble fit for a tank (but not a hire car), or dreadful mud (due to the rain). At one point I feared I’d have to use the coastal motorway and turn the 3 hour drive into an 8 hour drive, but thankfully, the last attempt at a diversion worked, and I got back to the hotel at 7pm a bit of a quivering wreck. Once again, the driving standards of the Sicilians was generally good and not the problem I was warned about prior to the holiday. The issue was the roads themselves!

As I fell asleep that night, I reflected on whether I should do any more driving the rest of the week, and whether to give up on the other target species, it really had been a dreadfully stressful and off-putting day, despite the one new species seen.

[selbypaul]

The weather for the week was forecast to start to improve on this third proper day of the holiday, with glorious sun forecast in the morning, and thunder in the afternoon.

Given my stressful day the day before, I decided not to drive far, just the 45 minutes to a coastal location near the town of Campofelice di Roccella, where Mediterranean Skipper (Gegenes nostrodamus) had been seen 3 weeks previously.

It was a nice beach location, and it was great to feel the proper sunshine for the first time during the holiday, but I had no luck with Mediterranean Skipper sadly, despite nearly three hours of searching.

The beach at Campofelice di Roccella, photo 1

The beach at Campofelice di Roccella, photo 2

Ultimately, I saw 10 species, the highlights being Swallowtail (Papilio machaon), Eastern Bath White (Pontia edusa), and Wall Brown (Lasiommata megera).

I then planned to move onto a potential Pygmy Skipper (Gegenes pumilio) site further along the coast, but the thunder clouds bubbled up more quickly than expected, so I had to call it a day and spent an early afternoon reading in the hotel.

[selbypaul]

Finally, for the fourth day of the trip, the weather was forecast to be glorious all day. I’d been kindly given a good location for one of the Sicily endemics, the Sicilian Marbled White (Melanargia pherusa), near the village of Ficuzza.

It was another two hour drive, but I’d been assured the roads were good enough for a hire car. Hmmm, well, they might have been, but not anymore. The last 5 miles of the drive to the mountain location was on a gravel track with potholes, and needed very careful slow driving at around 10 to 15 mph to avoid car damage.

The location itself was pretty, with good views, and it was clear that it was perfect for butterflies from the good meadow flowers. But the weather conditions in the previous weeks had clearly delayed the butterflies. Despite 90 minutes of thorough searching, not a single Marbled White of any species, let alone the endemic Sicilian Marbled White. (Interestingly, there are photos online of this species being seen in some years in mid-April, so it shows that the Sicilian butterfly season is 2 to 4 weeks behind a “normal” year.)

The Sicilian Marbled White site

Anyhow, the one benefit of my thorough search of the site was that I saw Baton Blue (Pseudophilotes baton), for the first time. Despite my various European trips over the last 6 years I’d not been in the right location at the right time to see it, so I was delighted to this time.

Baton Blue

My afternoon location was just 45 minutes drive away, to another tip off, of an Aetherie Fritillary (Melitaea aetherie) site. It was a beautiful spot, with a lovely flower filled meadow. But after 20 minutes I began to feel nervous. I’d been told of it being full of 50+ Aetherie Fritillary in a previous year, amongst many other butterflies. I was seeing only Southern Small White (Pieris mannii), Clouded Yellow (Colias croceus), Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus) and Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas).

The Aetherie Fritillary site

Thankfully, my fears were allayed when a flash of bright orange caught my eye, and it briefly landed for me to take a record shot, and it move on. Aetherie Fritillary, and a wonderfully fresh one at that, it looked like it had emerged that day.

Aetherie Fritillary photo 1

Aetherie Fritillary photo 2

Indeed, despite another hour of thorough searching of this location, I only saw two individuals, both very fresh. It felt like next week would be the really good week at this location, this year. But I wasn’t too disappointed. The glorious views and weather, and this beautiful species, another new one for me, was very pleasing.

On the way home I stopped off at a location nearby to the hotel that had supposedly had Mediterranean Skipper seen previously. It had begun to cloud over inland, so the conditions weren’t brilliant and there was no sign.

The inland Mediterranean Skipper site

I drove back to the hotel that afternoon very satisfied, despite dipping out on the Sicilian Marbled White this year.

[selbypaul]

Day 5 of the holiday was my trip to the east of the island, towards Mount Etna. I had two target sites, one for Eastern Orange Tip (Anthocharis damone) and one for Italian Festoon (Zerynthia cassandra).

It was a very long three and a half hour drive to the first site, along the monotonous north coast motorway, around half of which is under tunnels. Honestly the most boring driving of my life. Thankfully, I arrived at the first site in glorious clear blue skies, and still calm weather.

The woodland track to the Eastern Orange Tip site

It was clear that at this height the leaves had only just begun to emerge on some of the trees. But there were butterflies as soon as I got out of the car, Small White (Pieris rapae) and Speckled Wood (Parage aegeria). Promising. I then walked down the track and began seeing the larval food plant of the Eastern Orange Tip, Isatis tinctoria.

A flash of orange and white, but no, normal Orange Tip. I walked on, and then wow, a female Eastern Orange Tip, the pale yellow underside clearly showing in flight, even at a distance. It settled briefly, enough time for me to take this photo.

Eastern Orange Tip female

10 minutes later, I saw a male, and then a second and third. They were absolutely hyperactive though, and in 90 minutes of chasing, I only saw three individuals, and only one landed once, for literally 2 seconds! Frustrating. I did take a number of videos, and took a few stills from the videos, the best of which is shown below. But I’m afraid it doesn’t do the yellow of the male justice. They really are beautiful in real life.

Eastern Orange Tip male (still frame taken from moving video footage)

I began to walk back to my car, wondering whether to do the further 45 minute drive to the known Italian Festoon site, when, thank my lucky stars, an Italian Festoon showed itself to me. It was quite torpid despite the bright sunshine and again made me think it had only just emerged that day. There was just this one individual.

Italian Festoon

Pleased with my two target species having been seen at this lovely site, with Mount Etna smoking away in the background, I drove the three and a half hours back along the motorway. Seven hours of boring driving in the day, it was real torture. But two new fantastic species seen made it worth it. We butterfly spotters are sometimes mad aren’t we!

Mount Etna viewed from the Eastern Orange Tip site

[selbypaul]

Day 6 was my final day. Overnight, I’d received information of another Italian Marbled White site just an hour away from the hotel. But it involved driving up more rutted stone tracks.

After all the driving yesterday, and the previous day, I really didn’t fancy doing much today other than relaxing. So I decided to drive the 15 minutes to the nearby Mediterranean Skipper site I’d visited two days earlier, with a book. I combed the site thoroughly over a period of two hours and saw no sign of my target butterfly. There were lots of other butterflies though, including a huge amount of Clouded Yellows, plus a lot of very fresh Small Copper, Swallowtail and many other species. Again, like the last two days, it felt like a mass emergence of butterflies was occurring because of the three days of good weather after such a cold and wet previous few weeks.

Despite not seeing my target species, or even any other new species of butterfly, the weather was stunning and the scenery beautiful. I spent two hours sat on a comfortable seat shaped rock and read my book. In the background Nightingale, Turtle Dove, Cuckoo and Golden Oriole were singing. Idyllic.

View from my comfortable seat shaped rock, photo 1

View from my comfortable seat shaped rock, photo 2

The highlight, however, was a tiny 4 centimetre long baby tortoise that I spotted, close to where I was sitting.

The tiny baby tortoise