Greenwings: Andalusia, Spain, 1-9 May 2023

[David M]

Following the tour of Montes Universales & the Spanish Pyrenees, I made my way from Valencia to Antequera on 30 April. This allowed me (alongside three guests, including UKB's Paul Selby) to have a free day exploring a couple of new sites prior to picking the remaining guests up at Malaga airport on 2nd May.

This tour covered a lot of territory - from Cabo de Gata in the far south east to Tarifa in the south west, with a spell north of Malaga in between.

Once again the weather was hot and sunny, although the SE of the country was not so much parched as scorched given the absence of rainfall for many weeks (how I wish we could give them some of ours!!)

Things were a little greener away from that SE section, especially around Los Alcornocales in the SW, and the range of sites and scenery was exceptional:

[petesmith]

Following this one with great interest David, especially as I have just returned from a week in Andalusia myself, including the Antequera and Grazalema areas, albeit a week later than you. I look forward to comparing notes

[David M]

Following this one with great interest David, especially as I have just returned from a week in Andalusia myself, including the Antequera and Grazalema areas, albeit a week later than you. I look forward to comparing notes

Thanks, Pete. Yes, it'll be highly informative to know what each other has seen. This spring has been as advanced as one could realistically expect in Spain.

That threw up several surprises as I will explain.

[David M]

Monday 1st May was a rare day - one where I could furiously recce a couple of new sites to test them prior to guests arriving.

The first one, barely half an hour from the hotel in Antequera, was absolutely beautiful. What's more, as I had been informed, it was home to the rare Spanish Fritillary:

In just less than two hours, I saw five, which doesn't seem that impressive. However, this is a butterfly that doesn't fly in high densities, so 5 of desfontainii is rather like 100 Small Whites in August!!

We returned a few days later and everybody found a few, much to my satisfaction. I topped my 5 with a total of 8 second time round, including a couple of females, which are brighter, larger and easier to approach than the males:

[Andy02]

And I am just coming to the end of my 18 days here. It’s been unusual to say the least. Seen very little I expected to see and lots I didn’t. A complete contrast from last spring.

[David M]

You're right about the enormous contrast between this spring and last, Andy. Been two opposite ends of the spectrum!!

That Mirador site is absolutely magnificent. I'd like to spend a full day there to explore the entirety of it. We found Spanish Fritillary at another site close to Padul too, but only one individual so the Mirador is the better location and has spectacular views as well! Muchas gracias.

[David M]

After leaving the desfontainii site, we undertook a long drive to deal with some unfinished business from last year.

In spite of the cool spring in 2022, our recce was successful in the sense that we only missed out on one main target species - Aetherie Fritillary.

This time, there was no chance of us being too early for it, and since lifers in western Europe are pretty rare for me these days, I was thoroughly looking forward to encountering this notable rarity.

I didn't have to wait long upon arrival - there was one within 20m of the car:

I saw 8 in total, all along a stretch of roadside no more than 250m in length. When we returned as a group a few days later, my count was 18, which included this lovely female:

The majority of them were spanking fresh and it was definitely one of the main highlights of the trip.

[John Vergo]

That was a good start David looking forward to se the rest

[David M]

Thanks, John.

Internet is too slow to load images where I am right now.

I'll post the rest as soon as normal service is resumed.

[False Apollo]

Will you be running this trip in 2024? Would love to photograph Spanish Fritillary and Aetherie Fritillary. I tried last year without success. Also is there a chance of Chapman's Green Hairstreak? I was going to try an independent trip in May but was rather put off by the extreme temperatures affecting the condition of the butterflies (and myself!), along with the flight period. I had a very good Greenwings trip a few years ago but we did not see Spanish Fritillary. This looks like a really good holiday.

Regards
Mike Gibbons

[David M]

Yes, Mike, but Chapman's Green Hairstreak is probably unlikely unless it's a late season. We do have a site near Manilva where we saw one on our recce last year.

First week of May is perfect for both the rare Fritillaries, so best not to adjust things too much.

[David M]

An unexpected surprise came on transit day, when we travelled from Almeria to Antequera via Granada.

After stopping at a Spanish Fritillary site near Padul (seeing just one), we then visited a rather barren area in pine forest where we found quite a few Spanish Zephyr Blues:

They were extremely active and hard to photograph in the strong sun and hot temperatures. This was the only part-upperside I could manage:

Just the one female was seen. The undersides, like in many Lycaenids, was a shade darker:

My thanks go to Paul S for suggesting it to me (I reckoned we would be too early for it), and then my co-guide, Pau, who telephoned his contacts to confirm its presence.

Lifers in western Europe don't come around too often for me (especially unexpected ones).

[petesmith]

Now that's a huge surprise and great result David -was certainly NOT expecting that in your report! Time to invoke the greenies

[John Vergo]

Congratulations David, that hespericus is a great find

[David M]

Was a massively unexpected surprise, guys. Thank God I Iisten when others land ideas in my lap suddenly!!

[Benjamin]

Super report David - always a pleasure to keep up with your doings both home and abroad. I know how tiring these trips can be, mentally as much as physically, so am always in awe of your energy reserves! You keep in touch with a truly incredible array of species on an annual basis, but you earn every drop of the pleasure that must bring!

[David M]

Thanks, Ben. Things can be hectic and draining as you know only too well, but as you say the rewards are well worth the effort and the occasional inconvenience.

[David M]

I'm pleased to report that one of our top targets, Monarch, was present in very healthy numbers in the area around Tarifa in the far south west.

We actually saw one near Benaojan on the penultimate day, so I figured if they were flying over 40 miles inland then they could easily be very common by the coast.

We certainly saw at least three dozen during our final full day, with the majority being found at a site NW of Tarifa and about half a dozen at a different site further east.

They are so awe-inspiring to watch, and it was great to see a group of a dozen people standing transfixed as several of these huge, elegant butterflies circled round the milkweed:

This female was ovi-positing:

[David M]

Another exotic butterfly seen in good numbers (albeit on the other side of Andalusia) was Common Tiger Blue. We found them at three sites, with well into double figures seen at two of them:

[David M]

There were decent numbers of Spanish Marbled Whites around. For me, this is the most attractive member of this group, with both upper and undersides being of exquisite design: