A break in the Massif Central

[Chris Jackson]

Hi folks,
Here we are on a rainy holiday in the Massif Central in France. Where is the Massif Central ? here =>

More precisely, for the 1st week we are based in a village called Parent, here =>

If the weather doesn't brighten up I won't have much to report on.
This is the Puy de Dome département in the Auvergne region, which is known for its volcanoes =>
The volcano on the horizon is the actual Puy de Dome itself,

This path is typical of some of the walks, and was covered in butterflies when the sun poked its head out

Close-up of the Puy de Dome

My initial aim is only to post photos of butterflies unknow to me or whose identity I am unsure of, possibly due to a slightly different size, behaviour or colouring. Any confirmation with ID would be welcome.
A normal Common Blue ?

This dark hairstreak was very high up in its tree and photo was taken on full zoom with FZ150. Any ideas ?

Is this a Cardinal ?

Is this a Large Wall Brown ? It seemed larger and was more lethargic than those in Marseilles

Fingers crossed for the weather then.
Cheers, Chris

[Charles Nicol]

hi chris !! i am sure the Soleil will get his chapeau on soon for you

i will leave the ids to the experts

enjoy your break

Charles

[Padfield]

Hi Chris. You haven't had much luck with your holidays this year! I can only hope the forecast for the Massif is better than for the Alps, where gloom is reigning and the rain is gloomy.

Yes, the blue is a common blue and I can only see the hairstreak as white-letter, despite the apparent absence of a W. The position and angle of the lines rule out sloe and the submarginal markings rule out everything else really.

The female fritillary certainly has the right green for cardinal but she is actually silver-washed. On the hindwing, the postdiscal spots of cardinal are smaller and the submarginal spots much flatter. On the forewing, female cardinal has a much narrower, sideways 'v' in s.1b:



I agree with the large wall.

Guy

[Chris Jackson]

Thanks Guy for your explanations.
That W-L Hairstreak is a new species for me, I just need some clearer photos now.
I can see from your details why my fritillary is not a Cardinal, and now that I think, I did see a male SWF not far away.
I do seem to be unlucky this year as regards rainy holidays, but the forecast has it slightly better for next week. It would be nice to add a couple of new species to my collection. In any case, there will still be some sweltering weather waiting for us back in Marseilles.
Cheers, Chris

[Chris Jackson]

You were right Charles, the sun did put its hat on for 1 hour this afternoon and that was all I needed to come up with these beauties below.
They are beauties because the Short-tailed Blue is a new species for me, the Map Butterfly is synonomous with holidays (i.e. not found in Marseilles), and the Marbled Fritillary posed perfectly:

There were Commas, Large Skippers, etc. as well, all up this green lane and up the side of this otherwise unexciting road:

Cheers, Chris

[Charles Nicol]

glad you got some sunshine chris !!

lovely pics of the blue with open wings.

i saw my first Maps not long ago, they are a very attractive little butterfly.

that path looks so enticing

[Chris Jackson]

We have just moved on to the second part of our hols, still in the Massif Central, but not far from Aurillac (the coldest part of France), and at alt. 1300 meters. Here is a bit of context

My first find this evening

My son snapped this on his mobile phone (who needs a camera ?)

a High Brown ?
Hope weather holds out
Cheers, Chris

[Padfield]

Brilliant picture for a mobile phone, Chris!

That's a dark green fritillary. It's a male, so the lack of conspicuous sex brands rules out high brown - and the straight line of the pd spots confirms that and rules out Niobe.

Guy

[David M]

Such a shame that the weather's not being kind to you, Chris. The Massif Central is such a wonderful area for butterflies.

I sincerely hope you get brighter conditions for the remainder of your trip.

[Chris Jackson]

Hi David, and thanks Guy for the ID.
Chris

[Sylvie_h]

Hi Chris,

I heard on the French radio yesterday that the weather was going to be kinder and that the summer would be back for the next days ! I hope you can take the most of it.... nothing worse than being on holiday and have to endure rain....
Sylvie

[Chris Jackson]

Hi Sylvie, and hi everyone,
I will report later because wifi and 3G are very bad here and i cannot upload.
Weather is better though.
Chris