William

William · Post by **William** » Fri Jul 04, 2014 8:44 pm

Alpine Frolic

Last week I was lucky enough to spend a few days in the Alps, when visiting family. Having never visited the area before, I did not know what to expect, all I can say is that the legends are true about the diversity of this area, I walked out of the door into a small meadow where I easily saw 20 species in a short morning walk - just incredible. This, coupled with the stunning scenery made for quite an experience, in a few hours of butterflying in two different spots I saw 33 species, including several new and exciting ones.

First highlight was a vibrant little colony of Purple - Edged Copper, I also managed to find a few Scarce, a butterfly that I have always wanted to see, but unfortunately, these were on a family walk and I had to rush off to catch up with 'the peleton' so no photos.

: Purple - Edged Copper

: Purple - Edged Copper

: Purple - Edged Copper

: Purple - Edged Copper

Black - Veined Whites were relatively common at the same spot.

: Black - Veined White

: Black - Veined White

Another nice White was this Wood White.

: Wood White

I also came across this lovely dusky female Large Blue, a real contrast to the brighter butterflies I had been watching at Collard not days before.

: Large Blue

This was not the only blue I saw, others were Small, Silver - Studded, Adonis, Mazarine and Geranium Argus.

: Mazarine Blue

I was surprised by the paucity of browns, with only single figures of Meadow Brown in the verdant grassland, and less than 20 Small Heath and Marbled White. I was pleased however to see my first ever Large Heaths in a boggy meadow (no photos like the Scarce Copper), and this Large Wall Brown (you guessed it) on a wall.

: Large Wall Brown

Skippers were around also, I clocked up Small, Large, Dingy a few flighty, unidentified pyrgus types and my first ever Chequered by a stream at about 2000m - lovely. Nearby this Lesser Marbled Fritillary posed nicely...

: Lesser Marbled Fritillary

I saw several other Fritillaries: Queen of Spain, Dark Green, Titania's (tbc), Weaver's, Pearl - Bordered (my first, next to the Chequered Skipper), Glanville (another first), False Heath (tbc) and Grison's (tbc) - not bad for a few hours wandering around in suitable looking spots!

Other species on the trip were Orange Tip (2 males sparring next to a Dark Green Fritillary - a bizarre sight!), Large White, Purple Emperor (seen during the wedding, getting curious about the eaves of the registry office), Comma and Almond - Eyed Ringlet (tbc).
These, along with some interesting Orchids (still flowering at altitude), stunning displays of wildflowers and amazing vistas, not something I'll forget.

Some more photos to follow if I can get my tenuous IDs confirmed

: Purple - Edged Copper

David M · Post by **David M** » Fri Jul 04, 2014 9:12 pm

I reckon your 'Wood White' was NOT sinapis.

What kind of terrain did you see it in?

William · Post by **William** » Fri Jul 04, 2014 10:14 pm

Hi David,

It was flying on a fairly narrow Woodland ride, about 1700m. The wood itself was mainly conifers with a few bands of deciduous trees - it would be nice if it were something different, another new species

BWs

William

Wurzel · Post by **Wurzel** » Sat Jul 05, 2014 9:29 pm

Fantastic set of Holiday snaps William

The Marb Frit is lushious but my fave shot has to be the first Copper brill composition

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Post by **Padfield** » Sat Jul 05, 2014 10:31 pm

Hi William. I missed this when you posted it. Lovely shots - and I'm glad you had such a good time in the Alps, even if it was only a short trip.

Both juvernica and reali fly in the French Alps - only juvernica in Switzerland (as well as sinapis, of course). I think yours is most likely to be sinapis though. It looks like a rather worn spring brood individual - which is normal at 1700m at the beginning of July, when orange tips are usually still flying.

Guy

William · Post by **William** » Tue Jul 22, 2014 9:13 am

Thanks for the kind words guys, I recently returned (briefly in poor weather) to the Alps and will have some more photos soon

Chris Jackson · Post by **Chris Jackson** » Tue Jul 22, 2014 7:34 pm

William wrote:Alpine Frolic

... but unfortunately, these were on a family walk and I had to rush off to catch up with 'the peleton' so no photos ....

I know the problem William; it is a luxury to reserve oneself an hour-or-so's private butterflying time

Lovely photos!
Chris

Paul Harfield · Post by **Paul Harfield** » Tue Jul 22, 2014 9:31 pm

Hi William

Just catching up with your diary. Your Alpine selection are great

That Purple Edged Copper is a beauty, if only we had those here. Your Large Blue selection is, as others have said, superb

William · Post by **William** » Wed Jul 23, 2014 7:11 pm

cjackson wrote:
William wrote:Alpine Frolic

... but unfortunately, these were on a family walk and I had to rush off to catch up with 'the peleton' so no photos ....
I know the problem William; it is a luxury to reserve oneself an hour-or-so's private butterflying time

It's the story of my life Chris, but at the end of the day, it's a pleasure to be in the places where these butterflies fly and having the chance to enjoy them, no matter how small.

A few more pictures from the Alps (IDs kindly confirmed by Guy) before I get onto some other holiday snaps

: False Heath Fritillary

: Grisons Fritillary

I was really chuffed to find the Grisons Fritillary, one of about 20 flying in a stunning yellow rattle and fragrant orchid filled meadow at about 1800m.

: Grisons Country!

I also managed to find a few Titania's Fritillaries - lovely butterflies

: Titania's Fritillary

: Titania's Fritillary

William · Post by **William** » Mon Jul 28, 2014 10:08 am

Foreign Fling (Part 1)

Every couple of summers my family and I head of on a foreign fling, usually involving lots of driving (with obligatory air - conditioning failiure), and visits to several different places, very occasionally aimed at wildlife watching. This year our holiday started in Provence. Here it was hot and dusty, few things were in flower and upon first arrival I was not optimistic for butterflies. Nevertheless, persistence paid and in spots like roadside verges and the edges of orchards (fruit growing is a big industry in provence) I managed to find a few butterflies.

Diversity was actually fairly good, and I managed to clock up 40 species with only one wildlife - oriented walk in an area not known for its butterflies. I might even have seen more had not the weather betrayed me for the majority of the trip, with clouds and 40mph gusts on most days - not the provencal heat we had hoped for!

Anyway, a few butterflies, this first lot were all seen in the almond orchard and roadside verge near where we stayed.
Small Heaths were incredibly bright in this area, they were larger than their English counterparts, with more prominent silver eye - spots and a sandier tone to the underside.

: Small Heath

: Mallow Skipper

: Mallow Skipper

: Glanville Fritillary

: Glanville Fritillary

I could not get over the male Spotted Fritillary that spent a lot of time around the Scabious patch where we stayed - is anything quite so orange!

: Spotted Fritillary

: Spotted Fritillary

: Spotted Fritillary

: Spotted Fritillary

badgerbob · Post by **badgerbob** » Mon Jul 28, 2014 5:29 pm

That last Spotted Fritillary is beautiful!! As you say, very orange.

Post by **Padfield** » Mon Jul 28, 2014 5:41 pm

badgerbob wrote:That last Spotted Fritillary is beautiful!! As you say, very orange.

The French call it la mélitée orangée ...

Guy

Matsukaze · Post by **Matsukaze** » Mon Jul 28, 2014 6:58 pm

It has the finest underside of all the fritillaries, in my opinion.

David M · Post by **David M** » Mon Jul 28, 2014 9:32 pm

Matsukaze wrote:It has the finest underside of all the fritillaries, in my opinion.

Very possibly. The sexual dimorphism is also very interesting. Definitely one of my favourite 'common' European species and by God I wish we had it here in the UK!

William · Post by **William** » Tue Jul 29, 2014 6:20 pm

Thanks Guys - I certainly echo David's sentiments on spotted Fritillaries - stunning butterflies!

Foreign Fling (Part 2)

A few more butterflies from Provence...

Scarce Swallowtails were fairly common throughout, given the large numbers of commercial fruit trees which they presumably use as foodplants, nectaring regularly on Scabious and Valerian.

: Scarce Swallowtail

: Scarce Swallowtail

Blues in general were fairly uncommon, with Brown Argus most abundant, the occasional Silver - Studded, Chapman's and Common as well as singles of Adonis, Furry and Holly, as with all other butterflies I suspect we would have seen more had we not been subjected to howling gales much of the time.

: Chapman's Blue

: Furry Blue

: Adonis Blue

Skipper wise it was very quiet with just the single Large and Mallow and a few Oberthur's Grizzled in the hillier areas.

: Oberthur's Grizzled Skipper

I managed to find a few Clouded Yellows whilst I was there, both the 'traditional kind' (including a mating pair) and a single (my first) Pale Clouded Yellow.

: Clouded Yellow

: Clouded Yellow

: Clouded Yellows

: Clouded Yellows

: Pale Clouded Yellow

Other Pierids included Large, Small, Southern Small and Bath Whites along with singles of Cleopatra and Brimstone.

: Brimstone

Browns were fairly well represented, with Wall the commonest species I saw (everywhere!), Great - Banded Grayling fairly common - a lovely, ever present feature of stony paths and dappled woodland, Speckled Wood, Southern Gatekeeper, Marbled White and the aforementioned Small Heath, with singles of Dusky Heath and Grayling.

: Great - Banded Grayling

: Great - Banded Grayling

: Grayling

One of the big surprises of the trip came when we were making the precarious descent down a rocky hillside through the classic Mediterranean 'maquis'. The usual wind was howling and it was cloudy, even with a threat of rain, I stomped along, under both a metaphorical and physical cloud with the lack of butterflies and weather when a small grey butterfly flopped down next to me.....a Purple Hairstreak - wonderful! Over the next ten minutes we passed several small stands of scrubby oaks, clinging to the hillside, and saw good numbers of these butterflies sheltering from the wind, low down on the oak boughs. The terrible weather provided a fascinating opportunity to observe these butterflies and their behaviour up close. Nevertheless, it was a surreal experience, seeing a butterfly that I associate with English hedgerows on summer evenings clinging to a rocky hillside as a storm descended in the South of France.

: Purple Hairstreak

: Purple Hairstreaks

: Purple Hairstreak

In the same spot I was delighted to also come across two Cardinals, a species which I had only ever seen distantly before - even more magnificent up close!

: Cardinal

: Cardinal

: Cardinal

And Finally, to finish the walk (and provencal butterflies), a lovely male Sooty Copper.

: Sooty Copper

Post by **Padfield** » Tue Jul 29, 2014 6:36 pm

Hi William. Beautiful pictures. As you might know from my diary, I have recently become a great fan of cardinals!

Your great banded graylings are woodland graylings. I hope this isn't a disappointment! Living in the Alps, I take great banded graylings for granted and get quite excited about woodland graylings ...

Guy

NickMorgan · Post by **NickMorgan** » Tue Jul 29, 2014 8:00 pm

Wow, what beautiful scenery and pictures of butterflies. Thank you for sharing them.

David M · Post by **David M** » Tue Jul 29, 2014 8:52 pm

i certainly wasn't expecting Cardinals from your report, William.

An excellent find and thanks for sharing the images.

William · Post by **William** » Wed Jul 30, 2014 5:22 pm

Thanks Guy, I was really pleased to photograph the Cardinal after my previous frustrating experience with this species - they certainly can be powerful fliers!

Thanks Nick - I was felt lucky to see it for myself.

David - I can't say I was either

William · Post by **William** » Wed Jul 30, 2014 6:07 pm

Foreign Fling (Part 3)

For the next part of our holiday we hopped in the car once more and headed down to Italy, this was a part more aimed at R&R but I nevertheless managed to find a few butterflies, including Long - Tailed and Lang's Short Tailed Blue and Geranium Bronze, the latter particularly abundant on the Pelargoniums in one town we visited - I drew strange looks from the assembled locals at the nearby bar as I poked a macro lens into the flowers, photographing these tiny, but charismatic butterflies.