David M

[David M]

Friday 15th September – Amazing spectacle…

Another fine day, and with the weather forecast suggesting a deterioration in the period to follow, I travelled down to Aberthaw Beach again to see if I could catch up with more Clouded Yellows.

The waste ground behind the sea defences is full of flowering brassicae right now:

Unsurprisingly, this means it is also full of Pierids:

It was host to at least 8 Clouded Yellows too; maybe even as many as 12. It was hard to count as they would regularly interact with one another, with four swirling around each other at one point.

This is easily the most I’ve ever seen at a site in Wales, although again all of them were males meaning that it was hard going getting near them. I had time though, and with patience, I occasionally got an image of one at rest:

I took plenty of ‘airshots’ – these are usually extremely blurred but occasionally one or two turns out reasonably clear:

I counted 15 Painted Ladies here too. They are suddenly becoming quite common:

There were also 8 Red Admirals and 2 very fresh-looking Small Tortoiseshells:

13 Meadow Browns still hanging on, along with a couple of Common Blues:

Two Small Coppers completed the list:

This last fortnight has been quite exceptional, with temperatures regularly exceeding 25c and winds remaining very light. Probably been the finest first half of September in my lifetime from a weather perspective, and certainly my best for domestic Clouded Yellows.

[bugboy]

You've definitely done better with Cloudies than me this year, in fact, I've not seen a great deal of reports of them along the south coast at all!

[David M]

Good to see that someones seeing a few Clouded Yellows David ..........nice one ! they,re very thin on the ground this season in Kent..

Thanks, Allan. Bit of a puzzle that they have been plentiful here yet not especially numerous round your way. Perhaps it was a 'Norman Conquest', directed north west by the winds from the SE.

Thursday 21st September – A different coastline…

Having spent so much time lately on the southern Welsh coastline, today saw me some considerable distance away on a stretch of coast far from home:

Whilst it was warm (as you’d expect for southern Spain), it was also very windy, meaning my target species, Desert Orange Tip, was not flying freely. Instead, they were taking to the air only briefly, and settling in sheltered areas where they were difficult to observe and photograph.

It took me over 20 minutes to get this image of an open-winged male:

Most of the time, they were settling with wings closed to better protect themselves from the strong breeze:

I eventually found a female on an egg-laying run and she gave me a few brief opportunities:

Around 30 were seen over the course of an hour or so, before I headed west down to Gibraltar Bay, where I was greeted in the hotel grounds by three female Long Tailed Blues which were nectaring from a pea plant growing within a bush:

A quick circuit of the rest of the hotel grounds revealed a single African Grass Blue, but I wasn’t able to get an image.

[David M]

Great shots of the Cloudy Yellow David, I also like the the shot of the Hummingbird Hawk Moth I love watching them on the flowers

Thanks, Goldie. Hummingbird hawk moths are almost hypnotic. I could watch them for hours.

Friday 22nd September – Harder than I thought…

Light cloud greeted me this morning, and although the weather forecast was for it to shift in late morning, it didn’t and my first site visit on the way down to Tarifa was almost a write-off with just a single Speckled Wood seen in the dull conditions. The view over the Straits of Gibraltar was nice though:

This gorgeous, green Praying Mantis was further compensation:

It was a bit brighter on the coast by early afternoon thankfully, but butterflies weren’t terribly commonplace, and it was worrying not to find a single Monarch in the normally guaranteed milkweed gully by the visitor centre when I arrived.

Walking further into the site, I eventually stumbled on this False Mallow Skipper:

A Small Copper and a Red Admiral were seen too, and then this lovely African Grass Blue appeared in a sheltered corner:

Something caught my eye whilst walking back near the roadside. A Skipper was busy nectaring from the sticky inula flowers:

The golden undersides let me know it was Zeller’s Skipper, which became blindingly obvious once it started to open its wings:

Close by, there was another chunky-looking Skipper, although the grey undersides meant it couldn’t be Zeller’s – it was Mediterranean Skipper:

I hung around to see if they would move next to one another but the Zeller’s disappeared quite quickly.

Back near the car, I finally noticed something large and exotic – my first Plain Tiger:

It was flying around this area which was full of Swan Bush, Gomphocarpus fruticosus:

Soon after, another large butterfly was seen in this scrubby section – a female Monarch:

It had been a strange day. I’d seen the following target species: Monarch, Plain Tiger, Zeller’s Skipper, Mediterranean Skipper & African Grass Blue, but in each case, just one solitary individual.

When I was here two years ago, the two Danaids both numbered into double figures so I was a little perplexed as to why numbers were so scant today. What’s more, there was no sign of Lang’s Short-Tailed Blue which had been extremely common back in 2021.

[David M]

You've definitely done better with Cloudies than me this year, in fact, I've not seen a great deal of reports of them along the south coast at all!

Thanks, Paul. Yes, their distribution has been rather bizarre this year to say the least.

Saturday 23rd September – Some success…

First stop today was at the paddy fields close to Benalup. I actually pulled up 500m before the area Pete S had told me about 2 years ago as it looked promising for Zeller’s Skipper:

There were no borbonica here, but I did see a nice False Mallow Skipper along with my only Bath White of the trip:

After about 10 minutes, I moved on down to the spot I’d visited last time I was here:

There were quite a few Zeller’s Skippers buzzing around this area. They were extremely lively in the warm sunshine however, so getting images wasn’t easy:

A few more were seen on the bank on the opposite side of the track (I counted 21 in total).

On my way back, I did a short diversion to an area of woodland that had been productive back in 2021:

I was pleased to find several Lang’s Short Tailed Blues nectaring in a sheltered gully:

There was also a Long Tailed Blue nearby:

I saw a single Tree Grayling in the wooded area and this male Southern Blue in a clearing:

On the way back to the hotel, I stopped at some shops and drove through an estate where there was a nice, ornamental show of flowers and shrubs. I noticed a Swallowtail flying around and decided to get out and take a closer look:

It’s often urban environments that better attract butterflies at this stage of the season, with several more Long Tailed Blues in the hotel grounds further proof of this.

[David M]

Sunday 24th September – Pasha hunt.…

One of the main reasons for this trip was to hunt down Two Tailed Pasha. I didn’t see it here in 2021, but I had four locations for it on this occasion, although I decided to pass on one of them the previous day as the road leading to the site was closed due to fire risk and it would have been a 6km walk in 27c heat!!

So, this morning I drove north for an hour to a stretch of the Hozgarganta river where I had been told they were practically guaranteed:

Sure enough, one turned up within ten minutes, although it was far from the command performance I enjoyed with this species back in May in the French Pyrenees:

It wasn’t the kind of place where you could move quickly, so after photographing it in this tree, I opted not to risk pursuing it any more given the conditions underfoot:

Bizarrely, I saw another flying in a field next to where I parked my car after coming out of the river bed, whilst this Sage Skipper was found on some damp ground nearby:

[Goldie M]

Fantastic shots of the Butterflies David, love the shots of the Long Tailed Blues and the SwallowTail, also your Clouded Yellow shots Goldie

[David M]

Thanks, Goldie. It was a good week for exotics.

[Charaxes]

Hi David.
That's a very interesting range of species you managed to see and particularly exciting for me to see the four species I'm more familiar with from South Africa, that being the Desert orange tip, African Grass Blue, plain tiger and Two-tailed Pasha.. I've not travelled much in Europe so it's great to see all the posts on this site about the various and varied species it's possible to see. Interesting assortment of skipper's too.

Just over a week ago here in UK I was amazed to see a freshly emerged white admiral enjoying the unseasonally warm weather!

All the best, Scott

[selbypaul]

Looking forward to visiting this same location with you next year David. At least 3 new species for me to see, all being well!

[David M]

Sunday 24th September cont…. – Danaid hunt.…

Coming back from the hunt for Pashas, I stopped at one of the best inland sites for Monarchs not far from Jimena de la Frontera.

Straight away, before even walking down the path, a huge male swooped by, and another two were seen shortly after. The woodland then became a bit denser, but eventually it opened out again into a wide, dry clearing with lots of swan weed growing close to the river.

There were plenty of Monarchs flying around these plants, both males and females:

This female was ovipositing on the seed pods:

This larva (one of many) was busy eating one:

There were also similar numbers of Plain Tigers in this area:

Other butterflies included Southern Blue, Small Copper, False Mallow Skipper, two male Cleopatras and a couple of Lang’s Short-Tailed Blues:

Overall, it was an extremely satisfying day, with a couple of beers for just Є1.50 each whilst sat outside the nearby café in 27c heat being a perfect way to round things off.

[David M]

..That's a very interesting range of species you managed to see and particularly exciting for me to see the four species I'm more familiar with from South Africa, that being the Desert orange tip, African Grass Blue, plain tiger and Two-tailed Pasha.. I've not travelled much in Europe so it's great to see all the posts on this site about the various and varied species it's possible to see. Interesting assortment of skipper's too...

Thanks, Scott. This small area of Spain is quite unique for the range of exotica it contains.

Monday 25th September – Time to relax.…

With all missions accomplished I decided to take it easy today. I had a browse round a grassy area half a mile from the hotel and then I called in at the bird observatory where one gets a lovely view south towards Tarifa and the Moroccan coast:

I then spent an hour and a half at the coastal site NW of Tarifa, where a handful more Monarchs and Plain Tigers were seen in amongst the tropical milkweed and the swan bushes:

This Red Admiral was seen near to the beach:

This superbly camouflaged Geranium Bronze turned up at El Bujeo:

On my way back to the hotel, I stopped to take a look at this view towards Gibraltar:

A total of 24 species were seen: False Mallow, Sage, Mediterranean & Zeller’s Skippers; Plain Tiger, Monarch, Two Tailed Pasha, Red Admiral, Bath White, Cleopatra, Brimstone, Small White, Desert Orange Tip; Holly, African Grass, Southern, Long-Tailed & Lang’s Short Tailed Blues; Small Copper, Geranium Bronze, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown, Tree Grayling & Swallowtail.

Surprisingly, I saw no Clouded Yellows nor any Painted Ladies. Perhaps they are all in Wales right now!

[David M]

Friday 29th September – Back home again.…

After 5 days in SW Spain surrounded by exotics, I came crashing back to reality during my one and a half hour excursion to Port Eynon today.

There were very few butterflies in the open dune area, with Small Whites plummeting from hundreds three weeks ago to just eleven today.

Surprisingly though, I still came across a female Meadow Brown ekeing out her last days:

Now that October is looming, it is the ivy that sees the greatest action, with both Red Admirals and Painted Ladies finding it irresistible:

This sunlit section had two Red Admirals, a Painted Lady and a Speckled Wood vying for space:

A female Large White was found nearby:

The best find was right near the end when walking back to the car park. I noticed a pair of butterflies in flight and they came down in a prime spot to have their image taken:

This is probably only the fourth or fifth time I’ve ever seen this species in cop.

[David M]

Sunday 8th October – Numbers falling.…

Another trip to Port Eynon, but I cut this one short as so little was flying. In 40 minutes I saw just 4 Red Admirals, 3 Small Whites and 2 Painted Ladies:

I wanted to stop at Nicholaston Burrows on the way back but the small car park was full, so instead I moved on to Park Wood.

This proved to be a good decision, as I saw six different species, with 10 Red Admirals leading the way:

This welcome Comma was found nectaring on ivy flowers:

There was a Large White, a Small White and four Speckled Woods, none of which were willing to pose; even the Small Copper I found was unusually flighty:

I managed to get it eventually:

I doubt I will see many more of these this autumn.

[millerd]

Going back to the Monarchs and Plain Tigers, David (worth a or two) - do they have similar foodplants (I'm guessing they do since they are closely related species)? They look very well-established there. It's a pity those plants can't flourish in the UK - if they did, even just in the summer, you could hope that the Monarchs at least might readopt migratory behaviour and visit us more regularly. After all, they migrate up to regions of North America which are far colder in winter than here. Maybe if the "push" factor of increasingly torrid summer conditions along the Mediterranean sends them north (as it did with LTB this year)...

Lots of ifs and buts and maybes there!

Cheers,

Dave

[David M]

Monday 9th October – Warmest birthday ever.…

An unexpected gift this morning came in the form of the warmest birthday I’ve ever experienced. Temperatures reached 21c on the Gower and I made the most of the conditions by heading down to Nicholaston Burrows, which is a 10 minute drive from my home:

Whilst there wasn’t much flying out on the open dunes, there was something of a Red Admiral party taking place on the track leading through the light woodland, with this sheltered expanse of ivy proving to be the main hotspot:

The first butterfly that caught my eye was the single Painted Lady amongst the group:

However, this butterfly was surrounded by as many as 10 Red Admirals, with at least as many again on other ivy bushes nearby:

This gravid female will no doubt need the energy for several egg laying sorties:

Just one Speckled Wood was seen, and this solitary Small Copper:

On my way out, I noticed another Painted Lady nectaring on some scabious flowers:

Thirty odd butterflies in just over an hour was an unexpected and welcome delight. Brief glimpses of a Peacock and a Speckled Wood when I got back home were a further bonus.

[David M]

Looking forward to visiting this same location with you next year David. At least 3 new species for me to see, all being well!

I know you haven't seen Zeller's Skipper, Paul, but which are the other two?

[selbypaul]

Plain Tiger and Mediterranean Skipper.

The latter I'm 99% sure I saw in Sicily. But it was a flash 2 second sighting as I disturbed it. And I took no photo. So I'm not fully counting it until it's a 100% certainty.

[David M]

Going back to the Monarchs and Plain Tigers, David (worth a or two) - do they have similar foodplants (I'm guessing they do since they are closely related species)? They look very well-established there. It's a pity those plants can't flourish in the UK - if they did, even just in the summer, you could hope that the Monarchs at least might readopt migratory behaviour and visit us more regularly. After all, they migrate up to regions of North America which are far colder in winter than here. Maybe if the "push" factor of increasingly torrid summer conditions along the Mediterranean sends them north (as it did with LTB this year)...

Thanks, Dave. Yes, both species use Asclepias curassavica as lhps, and the flowers are a favourite nectar source for the adult butterflies. Plain Tiger also uses Stranglewort, Cynanchum acutum, which is a fairly common climbing vine in southern & eastern coastal Spain.

The Monarchs in this southernmost part of Spain are, as you say, well established and fly all year round. Plain Tiger on the other hand does disappear during the winter period and numbers only really build again towards the latter part of the summer. Late September is probably the best time to see them.

[David M]

Plain Tiger and Mediterranean Skipper.

I'm sure that can be resolved.