Padfield

[Jack Harrison]

In my local meadows, a decade ago white forms of violet used to comprise perhaps only 10% of the population. Today they seem to be the dominant form although there are many that are a pale mauve rather than pure white. In my garden most are (still) violet coloured with very few white ones. I wonder if that will change over the coming years?

Jack

[NickB]

Come back some time, Nick!
Guy

Thanks, Guy; I certainly will - just around your local patch is fantastic!

[NickB]

In my local meadows, a decade ago white forms of violet used to comprise perhaps only 10% of the population. Today they seem to be the dominant form although there are many that are a pale mauve rather than pure white. In my garden most are (still) violet coloured with very few white ones. I wonder if that will change over the coming years?
Jack

Lots of violet hybrids in the Cemetery, Jack - from pure violet to (almost) pure white. I think the totally white form is missing, since most "white" ones do seem to have a touch of violet somewhere...
N

[Padfield]

Málaga is heaving with people. Luckily, they all like shopping and eating and I saw not a soul in the hills today. I left the hostal on foot at 8.15am under heavy cloud and rain, after heavy cloud and rain all day yesterday, but at 10.15am, just after I reached the top of my climb, the sun came out and stayed out. Immediately, a black-eyed blue flew, the first of very many of that species. Within minutes, swallowtails were hilltopping with long-tailed blues and Lang's short-tailed blues. Green-striped whites and walls joined in the fun. Continuing on into the hills I found Provence orange tips and Spanish festoons before sniffing out my first vibrant colony of Provence hairstreaks. Fantastic little butterflies, and special to me because I haven't seen them since I was on my gap year in Gibraltar in 1983. They have the hairiest legs of any butterfly I know! I found another colony before long. In all, 19 species flew today, bringing my year total to 30.

Tomorrow I will catch the bus to Antequera and explore the hills around there.

Guy

[Padfield]

The plan for today was to look for Pseudophilotes sp. on the great limestone massif called El Torcal just south of Antequera. But as I reached the top of the ascent (approaching from the north) a gale was blowing so strongly one gust actually blew me over. 100% cloud and beginning to rain. So I climbed down again and headed back to Málaga to look for African grass blues instead. In Málaga the weather was better and I was able to photograph male and female ups and uns of this tiny little butterfly. Thanks to Matsukaze (I think it was) who mentioned he'd seen them in central Málaga last year.

Guy

[NickMorgan]

Guy,
You are getting me very excited! We are off to Torrevieja in two weeks. Two butterflies that I have always wanted to see are the Provence Orange Tip and the African Grass Blue. I can't wait and I hope I have as much luck as you are having.
Nick

[Gibster]

Me too! I'm off to southern Spain with Sam and two of our friends 5-12 April, touring in a camper van. I've never been to Spain in the springtime and all four of us are very keen to spend time identifying and photographing the butterflies we encounter. I'm expecting lots of 'new' ones...excitement levels are high!!! Plus I may catch up with Imperial Eagles, Marbled Duck, Crested Coot and Rock Thrush this time around...all of which I've repeatedly missed in autumn/winter visits. Then there's the dragonflies, trees, mammals, reptiles, amphibians (we seem to be lacking a comprehensive guide to Iberian seaweeds if anyone can recommend one, lol!)

I really do enjoy reading your diary, Guy. Brilliant pics, eloquently written, insider tips from the top, and very authoritative.

Gibster.

[Roger Gibbons]

before sniffing out my first vibrant colony of Provence hairstreaks. Fantastic little butterflies, and special to me because I haven't seen them since I was on my gap year in Gibraltar in 1983. They have the hairiest legs of any butterfly I know! I found another colony before long.

I concur! They are quite rare in Provence and I have just heard that one key site (of three that I know) has been ploughed up for vineyards. They not only have hairy legs, but hairy bodies, hairy heads and even hairy wings. Why should a species that lives in Spain and southern France, albeit on the wing only in April, need such good insulation?

They are unusual in that they are like a photofit - they never rest with open wings, and the underside forewing is like a Small Copper and the hindwing very much like a Green Hairstreak. They can be quite hard to spot in flight in that they are quite dark brown, especially the males, as the females have upperside orange patches which are often visible in flight.

Roger

[Padfield]

Glad to have whetted a few appetites, and thanks for the info on the Provence hairystreak, Roger!

Today, the last day of my detour on the way to Gatwick, I explored the hills south of Ronda. Due to some misinformation at the bus station I missed the early bus and didn't get to Ronda until midday. This probably didn't matter, as it turned out the terrain that looked so promising on Google was actually thorny scrub - unproductive at this time of year (better later, for Satyrids). The season was also less advanced in these inland hills, so the Pseudophilotes might not have been flying yet anyway. The Spanish festoons were fresh and smart and I found two more colonies of Provence hairylegs, also significantly fresher than their cousins in the coastal regions. Either I'm very lucky or this species is still common in Andalucía.

It was very strange to watch large tortoiseshells gliding around olive groves today!

Gibster, looking for raptors and butterfies at the same time is difficult (see the Raphael painting of Aristotle and Plato...)! But even with my eyes down I saw three eagle species and one vulture species. I'll need your input on the eagle that wasn't booted or short-toed.

Enough from an iPhone. I'll post the best pictures when I get back to Blighty.

Guy

[Padfield]

Good to be back in the UK!

Here are a few pictures from Andalucía, cropped and reduced but otherwise unprocessed/unsharpened &c. When I get back to Switzerland I'll process them on my own computer.

First of all, Mr Hairylegs himself (Provence hairstreak, Tomares ballus):



This is a female - much less hairy:



This female shows a little of the brilliant orange upperside coloration through her broken hindwing:



Finally, a much fresher specimen from the hill country:



This is Provence hairstreak habitat near Málaga:



Here is a tiny African grass blue (Zizeeria knysna), who seems to be saying, 'My, I couldn't eat a whole one...'



And the upperside of the same male:



This is a black-eyed blue (Glaucopsyche melanops):



And another:



This is a male upperside:



A few more butterflies, beginning with Spanish festoon (Zeryinthia rumina):



Painted lady (Vanessa cardui):



Green-striped white (Euchloe belemia), showing what those stripes are really for:



Provence orange tip (Anthocharis euphenoides), unfortunately not showing the yellow ups at all:



Western dappled white (Euchloe crameri)



And for some non-butterflies, first, a few orchids:


(Pink butterfly orchid)


(Bee orchid)


(Dusky bee orchid, with a pink butterfly orchid)

A gecko:



A dartford warbler:



And a short-toed eagle:



I'll look through some more piccies tomorrow!

Guy

[Paul Wetton]

Some great shots there Guy.

I love Mr hairy legs but the orchids are pretty spectacular as well.

I hope you'll post a complete trip report with all your photos once you get back to Switzerland. I'm looking forward to seeing some more of the photos.

[Lee Hurrell]

Wonderful photos, Guy.

That Green Striped White camouflage is amazing, with the wings closed you wouldn't see it at all. What plant is that it's on, is it a food plant? It must have some sort of relationship with the butterfly for it to blend in so well!

Cheers

Lee

[NickB]

Fabulous pics! That Hairstreak has hairier legs than you, Guy
N

[David M]

Great images. Looks to be lots of butterfly activity in southern Spain.

Why IS the Provence Hairstreak so hirsute?

PS: Can Provence Orange Tips interbreed with ordinary OTs? (and Brimstones with Cleopatras for that matter).

[NickMorgan]

Fantastic pictures Guy.

[Pete Eeles]

I agree - great pics and observations. That first Provence Hairstreak shot is just amazing; I didn't realise just how hairy they were!

Cheers,

- Pete

[Rogerdodge]

Guy
Lovely photos there.
You seem to having a good time.
Two of your shots are of two of my top target species for the LOTSW II trip in 3 weeks time.
That delightful Provence Hairstreak, and that real tart of a butterfly, the Spanish Festoon.
If my shots turn out as good as yours, I shall be delighted.
Does the PH ever bask with wings open?

[Padfield]

Thanks for all the responses! I was walking and exploring, with very limited time, so most pictures are records rather than artworks, but records of good stuff nevertheless.

The green-striped white plant is milk thistle, a common thistle all over the Mediterranean region. It has an extremely silly scientific name (Silybum marianum). The butterfly shows no special affinity with it, but when it does sit there the resemblance is striking.

I'm going to have to redo all these pictures when I get to my own computer, but here are a few more, including some more habitat shots.

This hillside was habitat to black-eyed blues and Spanish festoons



The thorn scrub I mentioned is here:



Good for Spanish festoons and swallowtails, but no blues here.

This next picture shows a problem in Spain that we don't get in Switzerland:



Suddenly a Google-invisible hunting fence blocks your way, dividing the countryside for miles. I had to turn back here.

The approach to the northern walls of El Torcal, south of Antequera:



The view from Ronda (the distant hills are the thorn scrub region):



A yellow bee orchid, which was quite common near all the other species of bee orchid I saw:



And a few more butterflies:


(Swallowtail)


(Clouded yellow)

Lang's short-tailed blue (Syntarucus pirithous):



Green hairstreak (yes, I looked for avis, but didn't even find the foodplant:



And another Spanish festoon:



Any time you lift your eyes in Spain you see a raptor, way up in the sky. This is a typical view of a booted eagle:



I'll write a more useful report, in case anyone wants to copy my trip sometime, when I get back to CH. This was not an expensive holiday. The whole thing, including all expenses (flight, bus travel, food and accommodation, but not including my flight back to CH, as I was coming to England anyway) cost me 330 euros.

Guy

EDIT - Just seen your post, Roger. No, PH never shows its upperside. It sometimes even lies flat on its side, wings folded, on a stone. I do hope you see them - they seem much commoner in Spain than France, where you will be.

[Padfield]

Back in Switzerland, things are really beginning to move. It is that wonderful time of year when Camberwell beauties defend their riverside territories and today two were holding a couple of hundred metres each, occasionally meeting and sparring. These two pictures are of two different individuals:





It was the heat of the day and they were flying incessantly, constantly zooming off after other butterflies and regularly checking out Matt and me as we stood watching. They patrol their linear territories energetically and conscientiously, flying back and forth for hours on end - fantastic to see.

Plenty of other things were flying too. Here are a wood white...



... a green-veined white...



... and a Bath white:



Other British species common today included brimstone...



... and peacock:



Matt spotted this female small tortoiseshell laying eggs:



And here are the eggs:



There are non-British species on the wing here too now (it's funny that at the beginning of the season it's all UK stuff). Violet fritillaries have joined the Queens, mallow skippers are flying as well as grizzled and dingy and Chapman's blues are already flying, bringing my year total to 41 species (if you don't count feisthameli and podalirius as different species ). All in all things are priming themselves nicely for a great season 2011.

Guy

[Jack Harrison]

Guy:

year total to 41 species

Makes you wonder why we bother here in Britain. 41 would be good by the end of June let alone early April.

Jack