Day 7 was our final day, and Yiannis kindly allowed me to pick all three sites to visit, targeting lower level sites for some special butterflies, but knowing that the meadows in these areas would probably pick up new plants for him and the group.
The first stop was a forest track near the village of Souvardo, that had been great in mid-June 2018. Sadly, despite being floriferous, it was cool, and very few butterflies were flying.
- Our first stop of the day
So we moved on to a site which had had Iolas Blue (
Iolana iolas) in June 2018. I was a little nervous about the lateness of the 2023 season, but equally, the good weather of the last few days had clearly been causing a big emergence of butterflies. Arriving at the parking spot near the river, the meadows were full of butterflies of many different species. This included Glanville Fritillary (
Melitaea cinxia) in profusion, as well as Spotted Fritillary (
Melitea didyma) and good numbers of most of the other species we'd seen earlier in the week. Also a freshly emerged Amanda’s Blue (
Polyommatus amanda), our only one of the trip. And a female Sooty Copper (
Lycaena tityrus).
- The wonderful flowers that the butterflies were enjoying at the Iolas Blue site
- Spotted Fritillary
- Amanda's Blue
- Lesser Fiery Copper
We moved on to the Bladder Senna bushes, and I was disappointed to see that there were becoming enclosed and encroached by other scrub. However, my eyesight was drawn to a big blue butterfly moving on a plant just below the bush – an Iolas Blue! I rushed to take a photo, but I needn’t have worried. It stayed still for five minutes, and I managed my best ever photos of this wonderful butterfly that I’ve only seen twice before. Yiannis was equally excited, this having been his main target butterfly of the week.
- Iolas Blue
We had lunch at this great spot, enjoying the sunshine, flowers, and particularly the large number of butterflies. Some of the group wanted an easy afternoon in the town, so Yiannis dropped them off, before he, one other guest and I moved on to a site just to the west of the town, where Bavius Blue (
Pseudophilotes bavius) had been recorded. The track to the site was disastrously rutted, and I was fearful we’d have to give up. However, all credit to Yiannis. He kept on going up the track until just 2km away from where we needed to get to, and where the track became impassable, except by foot.
As soon as we got out of the van, I was shocked to see a very fresh looking Grayling species. It was too quick to photograph, but the view I got of it helped me to identify it as Balkan Grayling (
Hipparchia senthes). We moved up the track. There were good numbers of many of the other butterflies we'd seen in the week too.
About halfway up, I saw a darker looking mid-size blue butterfly and decided to chase it. It stopped briefly, and I managed these photographs. A Bavius Blue! It flew off, and I hoped to see a few more. However, despite searching for another 90 minutes, I didn’t see another one. Another lesson here, try to identify every single butterfly you see! Another new butterfly species for me.
- Bavius Blue upperside
- Bavius Blue underside
We had also hoped to see Southern Swallowtail (
Papilio axelanor) again, as it had been seen on this track before. No luck sadly.
On the way back down the track, I took this photo of the view of Kalavryta.
- Panoramic view on the way back down the track
At our evening meal, we all agreed this had been a fantastic trip, despite the first cold day. The small group of just five guests and our guide Yiannis had got on very well, and had a lot of laughs along the way.
