What to see in France

[Treehawk]

Hello everyone,
I have been using this site for a few years now and thought it was time to join the forums. I don't know what I would really do without this website and i'm glad that some people took the time into making it. I am going to start of by asking this question.

In the first week of July I will be staying in Normandy, France from around the 3rd to 10th July. I will be staying here:
http://pagesperso-orange.fr/2cv/lachap/index.htm
Does anyone know any good places to find any birds or butterflies that are rare and/or not found in the U.K.?

Thanks for any information you can provide,
James

[Vince Massimo]

Hi James,

I went to Normandy this time last year and found it difficult to get information on good butterfly sites. In the end I looked at the Naturetrek holiday itinerary, tour reports and tour map which proved to be quite useful. You can get them here -

http://www.naturetrek.co.uk/wildlife-ho ... asp?ID=104

As we were visiting friends, I did not get much of a chance to visit the best sites, so did not manage to see any new butterfly species. Maybe next time.

Have a good trip.

Regards,

Vince

[Treehawk]

The trip was a lot more successful than I hoped and managed to find quite a collection of new butterfly species.

These include:
White Admiral, counted about 12 in the Forest of Cerisy.
Emperor/Admiral? Still trying to identify that one.
Map, Summer form.
Mallow Skipper
Dingy Skipper
Berger's or Pale Clouded Yellows, I have upperside photos of those so hopefully I can get a certain I.D.
Fritillary sp.

I will see if I can post photos of the unidentified ones at some point, as my butterfly identification on the European mainland is lacking. Even though they were supposed to be around I did not see any Marsh Fritillaries or Alcon Blues and for that matter not a single Lycaenid at all! (A week too early?)


Edit: Here's the Admiral