Recommendations for May/June next year

[FISHiEE]

Hi,

I have am looking for recommendations on somewhere to go butterfly hunting next May/June as I'm gonna have several weeks available then for a bit of travelling. I shall have a couple of weeks in provence no doubt and later at the end of August I'm visiting Switzerland but am after suggestions for some new places to try in Europe.

Anyone have any experience of anywhere in Spain, Turkey (Particularly interested in any info on here), Greece or anywhere else that would be good for butterflies that time of year?

Thanks in advance!

John

[Mikhail]

The Peloponnese would be good. I was based at Kalavryta, near Mt. Chelmos in the first half of June 1986 and saw amongst others: Powdered Brimstone, Lattice Brown, Blue Argus, Pontic Blue, Zephyr Blue, Greek Mazarine Blue (worn- May would probably be better for this), Greek Clouded Yellow, Persian Skipper, the Balkan race of Escher's Blue, Balkan Marbled White, White-banded Grayling, Southern Comma.....

Misha

[FISHiEE]

Hi Mikhail, Thanks for the reply

I have heard a lot about that part of Greece as being good. Do you know any good places to stay in that area? Or more likely since it was 20+ years ago does anyone else?

Presumably you traveled to sites by car from that area?

[Padfield]

Do let me know if your August Swiss trip takes you anywhere near my part of the world, FISHiEE. I live near Villars-sur-Ollon, in Vaud, but spend a lot of time butterflying in Valais too.

The end of August is late for most specialist Alpine stuff but there are still some interesting things to see and quite a high species density.

Guy

[FISHiEE]

Hi Guy. We'll be based in Saas Fee for 1 week then Zermatt for the other. I'd have preferred to go around July but the g/f won the argument on this one

We were there same time a couple of years back and as you say several of the species were past there best but with a bit of work I could find some good specimens for the camera

[Padfield]

There are often better photo ops at that time of year because you don't have to get up at 6.00am to catch them warming up!

Funnily enough, I've never been to Zermatt, though I've worked the lower end of that valley and been up the Saas Fee/Mattmark branch quite often. Last year a mate of mine, who knows nothing about butterflies, showed me a photo he took with his phone in that region in early September. It was a small Apollo (Parnassius phoebus)! So there'll still be some nice stuff around for you!

Guy

[Mikhail]

There are hotels in Kalavryta. I think you can get lists from the Greek tourist office. Yes, I had the use of a hired car, which is indispensable.

Misha

[Sylvie_h]

Hi John,

I was in Turkey the last 2 weeks of May this year.
Butterflying was good there. If you want more info, please contact me by email.
Sylvie

[cheddargeoff]

I enjoyed two wonderful butterfly holidays in the Matra region of Hungary in mid-June 2008 and early May 2009, centred around Gyongyos and Matrafured. On both holidays I saw numerous butterflies from a wide range of species. The list of species I saw on the mid-June holiday would be similar to the species shown in Denise's unrelated report "Hungary Trip Report" under "General Forums < Overseas".
Both my holidays were arranged with Colin Penny of Matra Wildlife Holidays, who is an English naturalist living in Matrafured. Colin fetched me from Budapest Airport, arranged an apartment for me in Gyonyos, and took me to excellent butterfly habitats each day. His local knowledge was invaluable.
Alternatively, if you want to book a general-purpose package holiday with a travel agent and go butterfly-hunting without local knowledge, you might consider the alpine resort of Kranjska Gora in Slovenia, where you can expect to see a variety of butterflies while walking along the alpine valleys.
Best wishes, Geoff