European Butterflies - A personal diary

[selbypaul]

Just 19 days later, on 16th June, I was off on my travels again, this time on the Greenwings Butterflies of the Italian Alps trip.

The weather in the Italian Alps had been pretty dreadful since the beginning of May, including the week before we arrived. Accordingly, there were estimates of the season being around three or four weeks behind a normal year! If so, this would deal a hefty blow to my chances of seeing some of my target species.

On arrival at Nice airport at around 11am, we were greeted with warm sunshine. There were mixed forecasts for the rest of the day however, and I was keen to set off early. Thankfully, all the flights for the other 12 guests arrived on time, and I was pleased to find out that I knew five of the 12 from previous Greenwings trips.

The guides for the week were Pete Eeles and Ben Greenaway, and our base for the week was Bagni di Vinadio. Our route from Nice airport took us over the Col de la Lombarde pass, and we stopped three times on route to the hotel.

The first stop was at an altitude of roughly 1400 metres. It was still warm sunshine and we saw a number of species straight away, including Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus), Small Blue (Cupido minimus), Wood White (Leptidea sinapsis), Heath Fritillary (Melitaea athalia), amongst others.

The river at our first stop

Our second stop was at an altitude of roughly 1600 metres, also in sunshine. We saw our first of many Mazarine Blue (Cyaniris semiargus), Large Wall Brown (Lassiommata maera), Almond Eyed Ringlet (Erebia alberganus) and Apollo (Parnassius apollo) during the trip.

Large Wall Brown

Our final stop was at the Col itself, a height of roughly 2800 metres. At the right time of year, the Col is host to all sorts of interesting Erebia and other montane species. Despite the forecast cloud and rain, we were lucky to find sunny spells, and we stayed for around an hour, scouring the place for species. Sadly, it was clear the late season meant very little had yet emerged. All we saw was a lone Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae).

The view at Col de la Lombarde

Disappointed with the butterflies, we were still all in awe of the stunning scenery the whole journey. We arrived at around 5pm in our super hotel, and had a lovely first dinner. We were all nervous though, as the weather forecasts for the upcoming week were poor, other than for the next day.

[David M]

That ice on the north side of the col has now melted Paul. Still not a lot going on at high altitude though. The season is really late.

[selbypaul]

The aim of Day 2 was to make the most of what would potentially be our only day of good weather. We set off at 9am, visiting two sites just outside the town of Demonte.

The first site involved exploring meadows at the side of a quiet lane. The weather was good, as were the meadows. As a result, we saw a good number of species, including Green Hairstreak (Callophrys rubi), Queen of Spain Fritillary (Issoria lathonia) and Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus).

However, the main surprise was that myself and one of the other guests spotted a Southern Swallowtail (Papilio alexanor) fluttering briefly at the top of a hilly meadow. Previous trips had not seen this species here, and there was some scepticism from other guests at what we’d seen. However, I’d seen the species only 3 weeks earlier in Greece, and knew the distinct markings to look out for, which the other guest also spotted.

Trying to spot the Southern Swallowtail again!

Our next site was only about 15 minutes drive away, and was the prime site of the week for the rare Scarce Fritillary (Euphydryas maturna). We spent around 30 minutes fruitlessly searching the specific location they’d previously been seen, and were on the verge of giving up, when a shout went up from one of the other guests. It was indeed a Scarce Fritillary, but sadly it didn’t stay in place for very long, giving me only this disappointingly blurred photo.

First (poor) photo of a Scarce Fritillary

But a least we knew the species was on the wing. Continuing the search in this field, I spotted this cleodoxa form of High Brown Fritillary (Argynnis adippe). Also seen were our first Clouded Apollo’s (Parnassius mnemosyne) of the week.

High Brown Fritillary, form cleodoxa

After briefly pausing the butterfly searching for 10 minutes of lunch, I then set off in another direction, only to stop 20 seconds later when I spotted another Scarce Fritillary, this time sitting on some scabious. This individual butterfly settled in place for a good 15 minutes, allowing me to take the following photos, before shouting to most of the rest of the group.

Scarce Fritillary upperside

Scarce Fritillary underside

Higher up the track, many other species were flying in the midday sunshine, including Black Veined White (Aporia crataegi) and Large Tortoiseshell (Nymphalis polychloros).

Our third stop of the day was up our hotel valley. The meadows were very floriferous, and we saw a very good range of species, including Purple Edged Copper (Lycaena hippothoe), de Prunner’s Ringlet (Erebia triaria), Adonis Blue (Pollyommatus bellargus) and Glanville Fritillary (Melitaea cinxia). Nearly everything we saw was mint fresh, indicating that a mass emergence event was in progress, after the recent bad weather.

A grassy track in our valley during the afternoon

Purple Edged Copper

de Prunner's Ringlet

Overall then, an excellent first full day of the trip. One new species for me, Scarce Fritillary, plus a surprise Southern Swallowtail.

[selbypaul]

That ice on the north side of the col has now melted Paul. Still not a lot going on at high altitude though. The season is really late.

That's interesting. The snow patches had halved in the 7 days between the 16th and 23rd June, but I saw the hotter and clearer weather forecast the following days and wondered if it would all melt or not. Interesting that it has.

[selbypaul]

The forecast for Day 3 was for grey conditions, with a strong chance of rain in the afternoon.

Pete and Ben were keen to take advantage of the grey conditions to see butterflies in a torpid state, and so we first returned to the last site of the previous day, in our hotel valley. They were right about the butterflies, and it was clear that the mass emergence event was continuing. For example we saw Dingy Skipper (Erynnis tages) and Pearl Bordered Fritillary (Boloria euphrosyne) today, both in very large numbers, where we’d seen just one the previous day.

The highlights were this Northern Wall Brown (Lasiommata petropolitana), Purple Edged Copper (Lycaena hippothoe), but especially this Purple Shot Copper (Lycaena alciphron).

Northern Wall Brown

Purple Edged Copper

Purple Shot Copper

After an hour here, we moved much further up the valley, with the aim of seeing different species. There were the odd 5 minute spells of sunshine, but it remained mostly very grey. Despite this, we saw a good number of different species. The highlights being this Apollo (Parnassius apollo) and this freshly emerged Titania’s Fritillary (Boloria titania).

Midday habitat

Apollo

Titania's Fritillary (upperside)

Titania's Fritillary (underside)

We had lunch at this site, but it became increasingly dark, and there were even the odd spots of rain. We saw our first Geranium Argus (Aricia eumedon) of the week at this point, including this pair.

Pair of Geranium Argus

For the afternoon stop, Ben and Pete took us to an adjacent valley. We feared a soaking, but soon after we arrived, the clouds dispersed and we experienced some very hot sunshine. Species spotted included this Berger’s Clouded Yellow (Colias alfacariensis), amongst others.

Afternoon habitat

Berger's Clouded Yellow

We returned to the hotel at 4.30pm, and some of us took advantage of the thermally heated swimming pool to relax and cool down.

[selbypaul]

Day 4 was our first long drive of the week. The forecast was for a brief spell of sunshine early in the morning, followed by cloud and rain later. In the end it proved to be sunny all day. Hazy in the morning, but very hot direct sunshine from about midday.

Our first stop was at an abandoned quarry near Valdieri. This was a known site for Southern Swallowtail (Papilio alexanor), so much so, the entrance had a wooden sign with a carved image of the Southern Swallowtail on it.

The abandoned quarry

We stayed at the site for over 90 minutes, but there was no sight of the target species. However, the habitat was drier (and more advanced) then any previous habitat we’d visited during the week so far, which meant we saw a number of new species. This included Blue Spot Hairstreak (Satyrium spini), Baton Blue (Pseudophilotes baton), Chequered Blue (Scolitantides orion).

However, the main highlight for me was Woodland Grayling (Hipparchia fagi). Surprisingly, I’d only seen this species once before, and only a distant view. So, it was good to finally capture this species close up.

Woodland Grayling

We then moved on to a meadow caught between a sharp bend in the road near Entraque. This site had had Reverdin’s Blue (Plebejus argyrognomon) in previous years, and one did turn up this year too, but it took a bit of searching. Also seen was our first Marbled Fritillary (Brenthis daphne) of the trip.

Reverdin's Blue site

We stopped for lunch and crossed the road, spending around 60 minutes searching down the open forest track. This turned up our first Marbled Skipper (Carcharodus lavatherae), Safflower Skipper (Pyrgus carthami), Bath White (Pontia daplidice) and White Admiral (Limenitis camila).

Safflower Skipper

White Admiral

Our final stop was a site also not far from Entraque. By this point it was very hot. The highlight was a very tame (but tatty) Camberwell Beauty (Nymphalis antiopa).

Our final stop

Camberwell Beauty

Also seen were our first (and only) Provencal Short-tailed Blue (Cupido alcetas), Large Blue (Phengaris arion) and Southern White Admiral (Limenitis reducta) of the week.

Southern White Admiral

After another excellent day, a number of us again took advantage of the thermally heated hotel swimming pool.

[selbypaul]

Day 5 dawned cloudy but the forecast was for the skies to clear in the afternoon. After the longish drive yesterday, Pete and Ben had found an area in our hotel valley that they’d not explored before, but which looked promising. And indeed it was.

When we arrived at 9.45am, it was cool and cloudy. We were stunned to find hundreds of freshly emerged Titania’s Fritillary (Boloria titania) sitting open winged in a torpid state across the various flower rich meadows, waiting for the sun to emerge.

Over the next four hours hazy sunny spells and hot weather brought all the butterflies out into flight. As well as the hundreds of Titania’s Fritillary were literally thousands of Clouded Apollo (Parnassius mnemosyne) too. I’m not exaggerating.

Up close with a Titania's Fritillary

One of the very many freshly emerged basking Titania's Fritillary

One of the thousands of Clouded Apollo

At around 2pm, the remaining hazy cloud burned away completely and the afternoon turned scorchingly hot.

Scorching hot afternoon and stunning views

The floriferous meadows!

This led to significant mud puddling by the Blue’s (mainly Mazarine Blue (Cyaniris semiargus), but also Common Blue(Polyommatus icarus)) and Dingy Skippers (Erynnis tages). However, Pete was shocked to find an odd looking “Chalkhill Blue”, also puddling. This later turned out to be a hybrid Chalkhill Blue x Adonis Blue which Pete informed us has the name “polonus.”

Puddling activity

"Polonus" hybrid - 2nd butterfly from the right

False Heath Fritillary (Melitaea diamina) and Knapweed Fritillary (Melitaea phoebe) were both seen in very small numbers, but all fresh, indicating they were just emerging.

False Heath Fritillary

I also saw a very big pale blue butterfly. I’m pretty familiar with Iolas Blue (Iolana iolas), and to me it looked like it could have been. But I will never be certain. There was no sign of its larval food plant, Bladder Senna. The books do suggest it can be seen far from its foodplant, and I have also seen it away from its foodplant too. Another one of those forever mysteries.

This day will live long in my memory for the clouds of thousands of Clouded Apollo and hundreds of Titania’s Fritillary. Given the unique weather conditions over the past few months that had led to the mass emergence, I wonder if I’ll ever see so many of each species again.

[selbypaul]

Day 6 turned out to be the best of the trip, for a number of reasons. It involved a longish drive to the Trinita area, south east of Entraque.

We stopped off again at the quarry near Valdieri on the way. We only had an hour, but it was a productive one. I climbed halfway up the sheer side of the quarry for a good panoramic view in the hot sunshine, looking for anything Swallowtail like. I only needed to wait 5 minutes and I saw one, which shot downwards across the scree. I shouted to Ben and the other guests below me, and they quickly trained their eyes on it. Ben did get a sufficient view to know it was Southern Swallowtail (Papillio alexanor). After that target sighting, I then had an explore of the other side of the road. Here I saw the first (of only two) Peacock (Aglais io) for the week, and two Southern Small White (Pieris mannii).

The Southern Swallowtail scree slope

Then onto the main site in the Trinita area. The weather was sunny and hot, and straight away the site looked promising with floriferous tracks and meadows in every direction. The group dispersed, and I ended up heading down the southerly track on my own. I saw a female Chapmans Blue (Polyommatus thersites) and Almond Eyed Ringlet (Erebia alberganus), and found a Wych Elm tree with White Letter Hairstreak (Satyrium w-album) larval damage. Sadly, it had dieback in a third of its canopy, signalling Dutch Elm Disease. I didn’t see any other elms all day, so I fear the colony will soon die off.

Just after this I spotted a strange looking moth attacking a number of other butterflies, unusual behaviour for a moth… Because it wasn’t a moth, it was a Chequered Skipper (Carterocephalus palaemon)! I’ve only ever seen this species once, in Scotland 11 years ago, so it wasn’t familiar to me. I took a quick record shot, but in my excitement to confirm identity and tell the rest of the group, I forgot to take any better photos! How annoying.

(Blurry) Chequered Skipper

I was then further distracted by a loud repeated shout of “Poplar Admiral” (Limentis populi), causing me to break into a run to see this very special species. I needn’t have run, because it delighted the whole group with fantastic views over a period of around 60 minutes, occasionally circling/gliding around, but mainly posing still on a bridge wall.

The "Poplar Admiral bridge"

I took many photos, but these are my favourite three.

Poplar Admiral, photo 1

Poplar Admiral, photo 2

Poplar Admiral, photo 3

After lunch, Pete and I found the only confirmed Amanda’s Blue (Polyommatus amandus) of the week, and I found the only Sooty Copper (Lycaena tityrus) of the week.

We were all set to leave this site for return visit to one of the Entraque meadows, when one of our group said they’d seen a Lesser Purple Emperor (Apatura ilia) in what was clearly prime habitat for this species. So, we decided to stay on for another hour to hunt for it in the same spot. No luck sadly.

Lesser Purple Emperor territory

On our return to the minibuses, we found around 50 cows in the meadow where only 90 minutes before found Sooty Copper and Amanda’s Blue! Already much of the vegetation was either eaten or trampled.

The group total number of species for the day was 74. I’ve only seen more than that in a day twice before in my 8 years butterflying in Europe. Considering the late season, this is a pretty amazing total.

[selbypaul]

Day 7 was the final full day of the trip, and was a trip up the Terme di Valdieri valley. It had been a good site the previous year, with a number of species not seen elsewhere.

Sadly, however, the weather forecast was not promising, and we arrived to pretty thick cloud. Over the course of the next 2 hours, we had six brief five minute windows of sunshine, but very few species were seen, and definitely nothing new.

Terme di Valieri

Geranium Argus

There were also some heavy raindrops at times, but thankfully it never turned into a shower.

During the rest of the day, we stopped off at two other locations lower down the valley. It remained stubbornly grey, with occasional bouts of raindrops, though never enough to call it a shower or to wet us.

Chequered Blue

We drove home early, disappointed with the day, knowing the location had such promise and potential in a “normal” year and with better weather.

[selbypaul]

Day 8 was the day of travel back to Nice airport. It was a glorious day, the best day of weather in the whole week, with not a cloud in the sky!

View from my hotel bedroom, just before we left

Timing was very tight, and we only had very limited time spare before having to drop people off at Nice airport for 12.30pm. So we set off early, and stopped again at the Col de la Lombarde pass. It was still only 9.45am when we arrived, so it was early, and we only had an hour. By the time we had to leave, some butterflies were flying.

Col de la Lombarde, looking to France

Despite 15 of us scouring the large area, we didn’t see much. But we did see two brand new species for the week, both new life species for me. The first was Grison’s Fritillary (Melitaea varia). I saw this only briefly, for 5 seconds before it flew off, and so I didn’t get a photo. But it was clearly that species.

Then, just before we were about to leave, I was higher up on some steep scree slopes and I saw a different looking Erebia. It was very grey underneath, making me think it might be Common Brassy Ringlet (Erebia cassioides). But it flew off before I could get close. Luckily it flew to the direction of another guest who took a quick photo before it flew off again. As soon as I saw the photo, I knew it to be Dewy Ringlet (Erebia pandrose).

Happy after a great 8 days, on the Col de la Lombarde

On the way back down the pass on the French side, we stopped again briefly for a toilet stop, but nothing new was seen.

Overall we had been very lucky with the weather. Only one difficult day in the end, despite the forecast before we arrived looking pretty poor. And despite the season being three to four weeks late, as a group we saw 99 species by my count. We had the benefit of seeing all the spring species, and many of the early summer species too.

The wildflower meadows were spectacular, some of the best I’ve seen in Europe, and the hotel was super. It also helped that we had a particularly good group of guests who all got along very well, and of course, two great guides in Pete and Ben.

Of the 99 species seen, I saw 87. Of the 12 I missed, none were species I’d not seen before, so that was good.

And of the 87 species I saw, four were brand new species for me, namely Scarce Fritillary (Euphydryas maturna), Grisons Fritillary (Melitaea varia), Poplar Admiral (Limentis populi) and Dewy Ringlet (Erebia pandrose).

I’d very much like to re-visit the area in a “normal” year, or even an early year.

[David M]

Glad you enjoyed your time there, Paul.

...I’d very much like to re-visit the area in a “normal” year, or even an early year.

Last year was just that, and as a result we saw 15% more species which shows what a difference conditions can make in the lead up to summer.

[selbypaul]

The 3rd July marked the beginning of my fifth and final butterfly holiday of the year. This time to the Greenwings Picos de Europa area of North West Spain. This trip had long been on my To Do list, as I’d heard very good reviews about the area. The guide for the trip was Pau Lucio, and it was a small group of six other guests, four of which I’d met on previous trips.

The flight was a short one from Stansted to Santander, and we were on the road to our hotel by midday, just 30 minutes after landing.

Pau had two planned stops, the first of which was a high flat plateau east of Aguilar de Campoo. This was an interesting stop. Species numbers were not large, but they included Apollo (Parnassius apollo) and Twin Spot Fritillary (Brenthis hecate). Amazingly, despite all my travels this last 8 years, it was only my second ever sighting of this latter species. Annoyingly, the rocky surface meant it was very difficult to actually photograph, and this was my (not brilliant) best one.

Our first high plateau site

Twin Spot Fritillary

Also sighted were my only Sage Skipper (Muschampia proto) and Safflower Skipper (Pyrgus carthami) of the week, as well as the lovely Striped Grayling (Hipparchia fidia).

After about an hour here, we drove onwards for about an hour, stopping not far from Tarilonte de la Pena. This also proved to be quite a good site. As Pau stated, this was likely to be our only chance to see Ripart’s Anomalous Blue (Polyommatus ripartii) all week, and we duly saw it.

Our second stop

Ripart's Anomalous Blue

The site also gave us a good chance to see both Iberian Marbled White (Melanargia lachesis) and Esper’s Marbled White (Melanargia russiae) flying together. I’d seen both species before, but for some reason hadn’t got my head around the distinguishing upperside forewing feature between the two. I now have, and it’s obvious! Goodness knows how I didn’t see this before!

Iberian Marbled White

Esper's Marbled White

We then had a final 45 minute drive to our base for the week, the Hotel Tierra de la Reina in the village of Boca de Huergano. This proved to be a very nice and comfortable hotel, and the food all week was excellent.

[selbypaul]

Day 2 of the trip was a relaxed day, spent not too far from the hotel, with the weather being hot and sunny all day. Our first stop was in the village of Las Salas, with a short walk along the nearby river to an excellent small but species diverse meadow. Here we saw Olive Skipper (Pyrgus serratulae), Wood White (Leptidea sinapsi) and lots of Chestnut Heath (Coenonympha iphioides). However, the highlight was good numbers of Spanish Purple Hairstreak (Laeosopis roboris).

Our morning meadow, near Las Salas

Spanish Purple Hairstreak, upperside

Spanish Purple Hairstreak, underside

Chestnut Heath

After a short coffee stop, we then moved on to a nearby picnic site. Cardinal’s (Argynnis pandora) were in excellent numbers, and we also Scarce Copper (Lycaena virgaureae).

Our second stop

Cardinal

Scarce Copper

Our final site for the day was down a nearby track system. Again, the species numbers were diverse. We saw some of our only Ilex Hairstreak (Satyrium ilicis) and Sloe Hairstreak (Satyrium acacia) of the week.

Our final site of the day

At the end of the first full day we had already racked up 73 species for the week, highly impressive numbers.

[David M]

...At the end of the first full day we had already racked up 73 species for the week, highly impressive numbers.

Impressive indeed, Paul. We'd struggle to top that in the French Alps after just one full day plus arrivals day!

[selbypaul]

Day 3 began overcast, and in the end turned out to be mostly overcast all day, with only a few sunny spells. Despite this, it remained warm, and it didn’t appear to be too detrimental to butterfly spotting.

Our first site was a secret location to the north west of our hotel, known to hold Dusky Large Blue (Maculinea nausithous). We arrived at 9.30am, and very little was flying. However, with the encouragement from a few short sunny spells, we saw a number of Purple Edged Copper (Lycaena hippothoe).

Dusky Large Blue habitat

Purple Edged Copper

Then the call came from one of the other guests of the first Dusky Large Blue. It was very torpid, allowing us all to take photos at close range. Soon afterwards we spotted many more, nearly all sitting on top of the flowers of their larval host plant, Sangusorba species.

Dusky Large Blue, photo 1

Dusky Large Blue, photo 2

Also seen at this site were both Spotted Fritillary (Melitaea didyma) and Lesser Spotted Fritillary (Melitaea trivia).

Lesser Spotted Fritillary

We stopped briefly for coffee in Riano, before heading off to another very sensitive site, for potential Bog Fritillary (Boloria eunomia). This was not somewhere Pau had been before, but I’d encouraged Pau to stop there on the way to our main afternoon stop. Bog Fritillary is an early to late June species, but my hope was that, given the season was a tiny bit late in this part of Spain, Bog Fritillary might still be on the wing.

Bog Fritillary habitat

The meadow was full of wildflowers, including the larval host plant. A number of Fritillary species were flying, including the extremely common Heath Fritillary (Mellicta athalia) and a small number of Meadow Fritillary (Mellicta parthenoides). We focused on the faded individuals, and briefly thought we had the target species. However, on closer examination, it turned out to be Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary (Boloria selene).

Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary

Meadow Fritillary

Given the sensitivity of the site, we were reluctant to spread out and go tramping through the meadow in all directions. But we did spend an hour there, doing our best to identify every single Fritillary we saw. Sadly, no Bog Fritillary were confirmed, so it appears that, for this site, early July is too late, except maybe in an exceptionally late year.

We then moved on to a nearby picnic area for our lunch stop. Here Pau spotted a White Letter Hairstreak (Satyrium w-album) in a Dutch Elm Disease resistant elm tree. Elms and this species are not common in this part of Spain, so this was a good sighting.

Our afternoon was spent along the track east of the village of Argovejo. The village itself was incredibly pretty, and very well cared for.

Some of the scenery in the afternoon

Along the track we saw another large range of species, including Silver Washed Fritillary (Argynnis paphia). The highlight, however, were two Large Tortoiseshell (Nymphalis polychloros). This one was incredibly fresh and brightly coloured.

Large Tortoiseshell

Our total species list for the day was 64, taking the trip total to 89. This included a new species for me, Dusky Large Blue.

[selbypaul]

...At the end of the first full day we had already racked up 73 species for the week, highly impressive numbers.

Impressive indeed, Paul. We'd struggle to top that in the French Alps after just one full day plus arrivals day!

The Picos really are a stunning area of Spain. I cannot wait to return next July!

[selbypaul]

For Day 4, Pau took us to another highly sensitive site, known to hold a colony of Woodland Brown (Lopinga achine). The habitat was a patchwork of dappled clearings, full of wildflowers. While I have seen flowery meadows in woodland before, I’ve never come across a woodland with so many butterflies of so many different species.

On the way to Woodland Brown habitat, a brief viewing stop

Woodland Brown habitat

The species included Sooty Copper (Lycaena tityrus), Long Tailed Blue (Lampides boeticus), Short Tailed Blue (Everes argiades), Turquoise Blue (Polyommatus dorylas) and many of the more common species.

Short Tailed Blue

The eight of us spread out widely, giving us maximum chance of one of us seeing this difficult to spot species. If I’m honest, having not seen this species before, I wasn’t 100% clear what I was looking out for. After 20 minutes of searching, I suddenly saw the movement of a large grey butterfly, fluttering away from me, disturbed by my movement. It landed out of view, so I approached carefully, only for it to flutter away from me again, and disappear! I really wasn’t sure what I’d seen, and it was only later that evening, having watched some YouTube videos of this species, that I was able to confirm it was indeed Woodland Brown that I’d seen. Albeit not well, and with no photographs sadly.

One minute after my own sighting, one of the other guests shouted out from 100 metres away that they had seen their own individual. The terrain was difficult, so I walked carefully towards the shout. While the sighting wasn’t perfect, a photo was taken, confirming the species seen. This turned out to be the only photo taken by the whole group. I stayed underneath the tree where the sighting had been made for a full 20 minutes, but no luck, it didn’t fly again.

One more individual butterfly was seen a further 30 metres away, and again I stayed for 20 minutes under that tree too, but no luck there either.

In total the group spent 2 hours in this wonderful patch of woodland, and only 3 individual butterflies were seen by only 3 guests. A very difficult species to see, but an intriguing one. And one I very much would like to see properly sometime.

I also saw one individual Chapman’s Ringlet (Erebia palarica).

We drove on to our lunch spot, stopping briefly for coffee in Posada de Valdeon.

Our afternoon stop was near the viewpoint at Puerto de Pandetrave. It had become overcast after a wonderfully sunny morning. Despite the cloud, this site proved to be the best site of the week for Chapman’s Ringlet. At least 20 individuals were seen of this species, and they were all grounded, open winged. They were all highly approachable and photogenic.

Chapman's Ringlet

Also seen here was Lesser Marbled Fritillary (Brenthis ino).

The day was an excellent one, with two brand new species for me (Woodland Brown and Chapman’s Ringlet), and a patchwork woodland that, in my view, has to be one of the best in western Europe.

Our species total for the week was now as high as 95.

[selbypaul]

Day 5 was our visit to Fuente De, a long 90 minute drive from our hotel. The high mountain plateau of 1800 metres and above is reached by a very steep, near vertical, 5 minute cable car journey.

Looking up to Fuente De, from the car park

Looking down the steep cable car route, from the top

The high plateau is very rocky, and is the only site of the week where Gavarnie Blue (Agriades pyrenaicus) can be seen. When we first arrived on the plateau, at just after 10.45am, not much was flying in the sunny but pretty windy conditions.

After about 30 minutes of not very much, we found a slightly sheltered spot. Here we found our first Gavarnie Blue, as well as a number of Piedmont Ringlet (Erebia meolans). The latter were highly active and frustrating to try and photograph. Also seen was one de Prunner’s Ringlet (Erebia triaria).

Piedmont Ringlet

We moved back into the wind, and towards the highest point of the day, where there was barely any vegetation. Incredibly, we saw a Wallcreeper at close proximity, for period of about 10 minutes. This is one of the hardest bird species in Europe to see, so was a real highlight.

Shortly after it flew off, I then spotted a very dark black Erebia. It settled about 10 metres down a sheer scree slope. But it was clearly Lefebvre’s Ringlet (Erebia lefebvrei). While I had seen one once before, briefly, in 2017, I hadn’t had good views, nor been able to photograph it. So, this was another great find.

Wallcreeper and Lefebvre's Ringlet territory

Lefebvre's Ringlet

We stopped for lunch, and the wind was really very strong, so we headed back a slightly different direction. This included a muddy pool in another sheltered spot, where there were large numbers of Garvanie Blue, Marbled Skipper (Carcharodus lavatherae), Large Grizzled Skipper (Pyrgus alveus) and Mazarine Blue (Cyaniris semiargus).

Large Grizzled Skipper

We stayed at this spot for some time, before beginning to head back to the cable car. One of the other guests showed me a photo he’d taken – Mountain Dappled White (Euchloe simplonia)! This was a target species for me, but Pau had been sceptical that it was on Fuente De, having never seen one up there before. Case closed. We went back to the spot it had been seen, and for 20 minutes chased every white butterfly. Thankfully, I did briefly see it, as it flew rapidly past me. Not the best sighting, but a new species.

Just by the cable car I did find my only Western Brassy Ringlet (Erebia arvernensis) of the week.

At the bottom of the cable car, by the car park, it was around 10 degrees warmer, so we had an ice cream and coffee, before the long drive back to the hotel.

It had been an excellent day, with Wallcreeper, Lefebvre’s Ringlet and Mountain Dappled White being big highlights. We were now up to 105 species for the trip total, with two full days left.

[selbypaul]

Day 6 began with a stop at Puerto de Las Senales. At 1600m, it was one of the highest stops of the trip, though the landscape didn’t feel like it.

The views from Puerto de Las Senales

We spent most of the time at a steep grassy slope, where Erebia were flying up and down fast. Nearly all were Piedmont Ringlet (Erebia meolans), although I did spot, chase and identify our one and only Mountain Ringlet (Erebia epiphron) of the trip too.

Mountain Ringlet

We also found our only Iberian Scarce Swallowtail (Iphiclides feisthamelli) of the week. And amazingly, our first Bath White (Pontia daplidice) of the trip!

After a coffee stop in Acebedo, we moved on to another sensitive site for lunch, and indeed, the whole afternoon. The site is sensitive because it also has Dusky Large Blue (Maculinea nausithous), which we saw lots of.

This site was also excellent for many other species. Probably one of the best sites all week for the total number of butterflies flying, even in sometimes cloudy conditions. It also turned up our first and only Tufted Marbled Skipper (Carcharodus flocciferus) and Rosy Grizzled Skipper (Pyrgus onopordi) of the week

[selbypaul]

Day 7 was our final day. Pau took us back in the morning to Argovejo, in the hope of seeing Niobe Fritillary (Argynnis niobe), which we hadn’t seen yet in the 6 previous days. The weather was hot and very sunny, and while we did see a number of Fritillary species of the right size, they were highly active. On a steep slope one did stop for 5 seconds and I was able to confirm Niobe Fritillary! We also had our best views of Spanish Chalkhill Blue (Lydandra albicans) of the week.

The valley near Argovejo

Spanish Chalkhill Blue

Also seen at this site by one of the other guests was a Blue Spot Hairstreak (Satyrium spini).

We had a coffee stop in Argovejo itself, before heading to the same lunch spot as Day 2, near Cremenes. The same species as earlier in the week were around, so we then moved slightly east, to a circular track.

Our lunch spot

Our afternoon habitat

Where a stream crossed the track, I was delighted to see a Dusky Heath (Coenonympha dorus), the first and only of the week. There was extensive puddling by various Blue’s. I stopped here, on my own for around 20 minutes, as the rest of the group were focused on other things. Such a lovely experience watching the butterflies go about their business.

Dusky Heath

The afternoon temperatures ultimately reached 26C, the hottest of the holiday, and we decided to head back to the hotel, for showers and, sadly, packing our suitcases!

Our grand total number of species for the week was 115.