David M

[David M]

That was an absolutely fascinating account of what there is to be found in the far north, David. I was aware that there is a surprising variety of species living up there, but was not prepared for the numbers you described. Of all the many trips you've recounted here, this one has impressed me the most by some margin - and thankfully not a single pyrgus variety to debate about!...

Thank you, Dave. Fascinating is as good a word as any to describe the experience as so much of what is up there is entirely unfamiliar to the majority of us.

There are a couple of Pyrgus in that region – Alpine & Northern Grizzled Skipper. Although I didn’t see either, the many near identical Fritillaries gave me the same kind of headaches!

[David M]

...will we see a total species list ??

Complete list coming soon, mein Herr.

[David M]

Arctic Circle, 3rd to 10th July cont…

To conclude, my personal species count was as follows (* denotes ‘lifer’):

1. Arctic Grayling*
2. Arctic Fritillary*
3. Dusky-Winged Fritillary*
4. Lapland Fritillary*
5. Bog Fritillary*
6. Cranberry Fritillary*
7. Freyja’s Fritillary*
8. Frigga’s Fritillary*
9. Thor’s Fritillary*
10. Cranberry Blue*
11. Pale Arctic Clouded Yellow*
12. Northern Clouded Yellow*
13. Arctic Ringlet*
14. Arran Brown
15. Dewy Ringlet
16. Idas Blue
17. Moorland Clouded Yellow
18. Mountain Fritillary
19. Pearl Bordered Fritillary
20. Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary
21. Purple-Edged Copper
22. Small Copper
23. Green Hairstreak
24. Common Blue
25. Amanda’s Blue
26. Green Veined White
27. Dark Green Fritillary
28. Silver Spotted Skipper
29. Swallowtail

In addition, others in the group saw three species that I did not. Jon managed to find Northern Grizzled Skipper on the first day. Dave P, when trawling through his images, pulled a rabbit from the hat with Polar Fritillary, which I probably did see but not knowingly as a good deal of scrutiny is required to tell some of these Boloria Frits apart. There was also a Small Tortoiseshell recorded.

The above list isn’t great in number, as one would expect at 69-70 degrees north, but 13 lifers is not something I’ll ever experience again in a single week in Europe. Hopefully, when I return, I’ll find the two I missed out on this year, as well as getting another opportunity to find the two species we all missed out on, i.e. Arctic Blue & Arctic Woodland Ringlet.

Butterflies are generally very thin on the ground unless you find ideal habitat. There aren’t many flying along roadsides or about the towns and villages.

Moorland Clouded Yellow was the commonest species overall, with 200-300 seen in total.

Pale Arctic Clouded Yellow, Arran Brown, Idas, Common & Cranberry Blues, Purple-Edged Copper and Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary were also into three figures.

Dewy Ringlets numbered between 50 and 75, as did Northern Clouded Yellow & Green Veined White.

Cranberry Fritillary numbers were difficult to estimate given their similarity to other similar species, but both they and Mountain Fritillaries certainly hit 30+, probably more.

Similarly, Arctic Fritillaries were hard to put a number on. We all found a few images when going through our memory cards, but I’d say we saw fewer than 10 definites.

The rest I can put reasonably accurate figures to:

Dark Green Fritillary (20-30), Thor’s Fritillary (20-30), Silver Spotted Skipper (10-15), Arctic Grayling (10-15), Bog Fritillary (10-15), Frigga’s Fritillary (10-15), Dusky-Winged Fritillary (6), Small Copper (5), Amanda’s Blue (5).

The following all numbered fewer than five positive IDs: Arctic Ringlet, Lapland Fritillary, Frejya’s Fritillary, Polar Fritillary, Northern Grizzled Skipper, Green Hairstreak, Small Tortoiseshell, Swallowtail.

Many of the butterflies were clearly past their best, meaning that my visit there next year will be 9 days earlier than this year’s. Of course, that may backfire should weather conditions through May and June remain particularly cold, but having now experienced the climate around midsummer here, I’m confident that things will work out fine.

[John Vergo]

An impressive list, I must say, immediately I would think that only 3 species are missing for a full house : Arctic Woodland Ringlet, Arctic Blue and Norse Grayling, and in the mind that serval of them are hard to find, I must say: quit a good job done congrat

[David M]

Very happy with things, John. In future years, I'm sure I'll fill in the few blanks.

[essexbuzzard]

An impressive list you have there. You certainly get about, David! We all know about some of the desirable arctic species, although we have never seen them. However, the diversity of species you have there is quite surprising.

[David M]

A superb series of reports from your northern adventure David. I don't usually comment on European reports, mainly because I don't know much about what look to me like a lot of very similar skippers, blues and fritillaries, but it was great to see something from somewhere different...

Thanks, Neil. Some of the Fritillaries looked very similar but the rest were easy.

It was a wonderful week.

[David M]

Hautes Pyrenees, 13th-20th July

Not much time to catch my breath after only arriving home from the Arctic in the wee small hours of 11th July.

However, the Hautes Pyrenees is very much a favourite area of mine and, after several trips in western Europe this year being beset by poor weather and consequently low numbers of butterflies, I was fairly confident that this one would be different.

Ideally, this particular trip would be best undertaken a week earlier, as that would give the optimum chance of catching all 5 of the big targets within the space of 7 days.

However, after falling foul of the late season several times already this year, on this occasion it proved a blessing, as many of the main species had recently emerged and the earlier ones were still on the wing.

There were two early, unexpected issues to deal with though. The first was on arrival day, when it was discovered that a stage of the Tour de France was taking place at St-Lary-Soulan, en route to the Bielsa tunnel which I needed to go through.

This meant I had to do a detour through some narrow minor roads and negotiate a traffic jam from hell to get back on the main road just beyond St Lary.

I had decided to stay the first 3 nights on the Spanish side. The rationale for this was that I preferred not to be in France on Bastille Day (14th July) as it is usually noisy and raucous as the French celebrate their National Day.

However, what I couldn’t possibly have foreseen was England reaching the Euro 2024 Final on that same day…..against Spain!!!

Amazing what these butterfly trips can throw at you. At least I saw a few prior to reaching the hotel in Bielsa, the most notable of which was this Map Butterfly:

[David M]

I've been following your journey David and it's been fascinating , such lovely Butterflies

Thanks, Goldie. Possibly the most eye-opening trip I've been on. Was a great week.

[David M]

Hautes Pyrenees, 13th-20th July cont…

The first morning was a beautiful one. Clear blue skies, warm temperatures and virtually no wind.

So, it was back through into France via the Bielsa tunnel and towards an altitude site near the village of Aragnouet.

Upon arrival, the view down to the lake was wonderful:

Then, after all the difficulties I’d experienced in western Europe this year, everything juxtaposed perfectly over the next thoroughly enjoyable couple of hours.

Within a few minutes, the first of many False Dewy Ringlets was seen:

There must have been 50+, including this mating pair:

During this, many other Erebia were flying amongst the damp grasses, but this one immediately caught my eye:

It was a female Pyrenean Brassy Ringlet, and given the wings didn’t appear to have fully inflated, one suspects she’d emerged that morning:

Then, it was time to move up onto this scree slope:

For a couple of minutes, nothing seemed to be about, but Peak White and Eros Blue soon made their presence known, before I saw the first of at least two dozen Lefebvre’s Ringlets in this terrain where they love flying:

It was tricky getting near any as they'd spook once you were within 10m or so, but I found this female sunning herself a little lower down the slope and she allowed a rare close approach:

An amazing morning, with 3 of the 5 main target species found, two of them in considerable numbers.

[selbypaul]

Beautiful photos of Lefebvre's Ringlet David.

[David M]

An impressive list you have there. You certainly get about, David! We all know about some of the desirable arctic species, although we have never seen them. However, the diversity of species you have there is quite surprising.

Ended up being slightly better than I anticipated, Mark. 32 species between us was pretty good going, along with all the other unusual flora and fauna....and the 24 hour daylight!

[David M]

Hautes Pyrenees, 13th-20th July cont…

With the pressure off after having found three big targets early, it was a nice way to spend the rest of the day just admiring the scenery and the butterflies at a leisurely pace.

There were more Erebia near the reservoir and along the hillsides just down from the first site, although Bright-Eyed Ringlet seemed never to want to settle anywhere but in the long grass:

By contrast, this Piedmont Ringlet preferred to bask on a rock:

There were quite a few Silver Studded Blues around:

Amazingly, given the date, Clouded Apollo was still about (albeit ragged) and there were also a small number of regular Apollos, including this one that sat obligingly on a thistle for a few moments:

Purple Edged Coppers were a welcome sight, even if they were largely past their best:

But the best of the lot was this Scarce Copper, a butterfly I always love seeing, especially when they are relatively fresh:

It had been a fabulous first full day.

[David M]

Beautiful photos of Lefebvre's Ringlet David

Thanks, Paul.

Not an easy species to get close to.

[David M]

Hautes Pyrenees, 13th-20th July cont…

Time for a complete change on this second full day. Instead of high montane scree slopes and damp grassland at altitude, I stayed on the Spanish side at lower elevation (between 1,000 and 1,250m).

The southern facing side of the Pyrenees is warmer, sunnier and drier, which creates a rather different set of habitats and consequently a different range of butterflies.

That was evident at a brief roadside stop where Dusky Heath and all three Gatekeepers were present, along with Cleopatras and this Large Wall Brown:

Moving further west, I stopped at a site Pete S recommended to me some while back. It looks rather scruffy and nondescript from the road, but there is constantly a trickle of water running down it which makes it damp and verdant and provides sufficient nourishment for a range of flowering plants, including copious bramble, which in turn attracts large numbers of butterflies.

There were plenty of Spanish Gatekeepers enjoying this feast:

Silver Washed Fritillaries were present in numbers too:

The odd Ilex Hairstreak was seen, but far commoner were Spanish Purple Hairstreaks, with double figure numbers recorded:

Chestnut Heaths & Rock Graylings were plentiful too:

I was ideally hoping for Catalonian Furry Blue to turn up, but I couldn’t find any, a task made more difficult by the presence of both Chalkhill and Spanish Chalkhill Blue.

There were also a dozen or so Ripart’s Anomalous Blues, which I initially assumed were female Damon Blues until I realised there were no males around. I managed to pot one to confirm they were ripartii a little later.

It got very hot by mid-afternoon and the butterflies began to disappear, although there were plenty nectaring on the scabious near the highest point of the road, including Long Tailed Blues and dozens of Marbled Whites.

[Padfield]

Yes - great photos of the Lefebvre's, David. I'm keen to go back to my own Lefebvre's site with my present camera, as in the old days I used a camera with much weaker zoom, so I had to approach closely. As you say, this is not an easy butterfly to approach, not least because it is nearly always on a shale slope!

Where fulgens and ripartii fly together, it can be difficult to tell the females apart. Female fulgens may have anything from no stripe to a strong, white stripe like ripartii. I had difficulty filtering the two when I went through my pictures. Did you see any of the agenjoi form among the ripartii? They're said to be subspecies, but I know a site where both fly and are quite distinct, suggesting that they are not merely subspecies.

And on a pedantic note, your mazarine blue is a silver stud! Hey - it's what I'm paid for ...

Guy

[David M]

Hautes Pyrenees, 13th-20th July cont…

Transit day saw the only adverse weather of the week, with heavy cloud and even a little rain putting paid to any chances of seeing Purple and Lesser Purple Emperor in the Neste Valley.

So, the journey further west to the outskirts of Argeles-sur-Gazost was made without any stops, only for thigs to brighten up after 5pm rather irritatingly.

The next day saw a visit to a fabulous site beside a reservoir near Gavarnie. It was warm sunshine and blue skies all the way, with the only frustration being the chaotic scenes at the car park by the entrance to the site.

The walk round the reservoir was lovely, with many butterflies on the wing, but I had to wait until reaching the area beside the river to find my main target.

Gavarnie Blue is a range restricted butterfly and therefore a highly sought-after one. Thankfully, like their cousins, Glandon Blue, they can be almost guaranteed in the damp margins of the river as they are puddlers par excellence.

There were over a dozen about:

Interestingly, one solitary Glandon Blue arrived and it was good to be able to compare the two species:

The upperside of glandon is a duskier shade and the submarginal marks on the hindwing give away its identity. The undersides are slightly different too, with more black spots on the hindwings (Gavarnie Blue normally has just one faint black pupil in the uppermost white spot):

Another welcome visitor was this Turquoise Blue:

Before long, this insect had joined one of the Gavarnie Blues on the damp patch:

Elsewhere, there were good numbers of Marbled Skippers taking advantage of the moist ground:

The Erebia present were mainly Piedmont Ringlets, but this rather lovely Western Brassy Ringlet stopped by briefly:

A much needed beer was drunk in the garden of the buvette on the way back to round off another wonderful day.

[David M]

...And on a pedantic note, your mazarine blue is a silver stud!...

Thanks, Guy. Your sharp eyes are superior to my dull brain!

The orange lunules on the unh rather give it away, don't they?

Corrected now.

[David M]

Hautes Pyrenees, 13th-20th July cont…

The last two days of the trip were spent looking for desirable species in general, and Gavarnie Ringlet in particular.

There were two contrasting main sites, the first being Col des Tentes, which is colossally overgrazed, and the nearby Valle d’Ossoue, which is quite the opposite.

The latter was, as ever, a complete joy, with excellent numbers of butterflies including several newbies.

Lesser Marbled Fritillary, White Admiral and Tufted Marbled Skipper were nice finds, as was a selection of Scarce Coppers:

I saw three to four dozen Apollos, and both Glandon and Gavarnie Blue turned up again side by side on a damp track.

I tried to get images of them both with wings open simultaneously but they kept taking it in turns whilst the other remained wings closed:

Sadly, a passing vehicle interrupted the show and was probably responsible for the dead Niobe Fritillary found further up by another damp section. Amazingly, I haven’t seen a living one all year in 2024, in spite of my many overseas trips.

[David M]

...Did you see any of the agenjoi form among the ripartii? They're said to be subspecies, but I know a site where both fly and are quite distinct, suggesting that they are not merely subspecies...

I didn't really have time to study the ripartii, Guy, given that others were with me. The two main targets were fulgens and roboris so that kept me occupied for the main part, not to mention the myriad other species flying around. It really is a surprisingly good site.