French Alps - 5th July to 12th July 2014

[David M]

A few of the British species provided very pleasant moments. This male Purple Hairstreak, for instance, looked exceedingly blue on that small part of the uppersides visible:

This Heath Fritillary was rather striking:

Mountain Argus, however, wasn't as attractive as our Scottish version:

Large Blues mating was a first for me:

Puddling Glanville Fritillaries were, perhaps, an even greater surprise:

So, overall, this was the best foreign jaunt I've yet been on. 104 definite different species seen, and I'm confident I also saw Bright Eyed Ringlet, Olive Skipper and Silvery Argus (female).

There were a few that I missed though.

Possibly the worst question anyone can be asked is "Did you see the Poplar Admiral just up there?" This happened on the first full day when my eagerness for action saw me out half an hour before the rest of the group. I thought they were winding me up until I saw the photographs. Needless to say, no further individuals were seen so that species continues to elude me.

Other species that eluded me were Damon Blue, Turquoise Blue, Provencal Fritillary and Dusky Meadow Brown, meaning that in excess of 110 species were seen by the group as a whole.

This, believe it or not, doesn't include Peacock, which was amazingly absent from the areas we surveyed. In fact, vanessids generally were quite scarce.

[Johnron]

Hi David, Wonderful pictures and we personally saw some of the butterflies. You are very modest as I believe the group saw at least 120 different types of butterfly. None of us saw them all ! This was our fifth butterfly trip and we very much enjoyed the butterflies, flowers, views and company of experts. We have already booked with Greenwings for their trip to Hungary next summer which will be our fourth trip to the country. I hope we will see you there.

[David M]

Hi David, Wonderful pictures and we personally saw some of the butterflies. You are very modest as I believe the group saw at least 120 different types of butterfly. None of us saw them all ! This was our fifth butterfly trip and we very much enjoyed the butterflies, flowers, views and company of experts. We have already booked with Greenwings for their trip to Hungary next summer which will be our fourth trip to the country. I hope we will see you there.

Thanks for taking the time to respond, John.

Yes, I know Roger was talking in terms of 120-ish species, but I'm not privy to his definitive list so I can't comment on those species that I haven't yet mentioned.

I don't blame you for wanting to visit Hungary (again). I'm sure I will do likewise at some point but for the time being I consider myself a beginner when it comes to continental species, and I feel I need a few more visits to France in order to better understand some of the species that I'm currently rather unfamiliar with.

As regards our own trip, I'm going to post a few more images. No further butterflies to add, but any visit to a foreign location automatically sees one encounter things that cannot be seen in the UK.

This lizard was particularly beautiful:

Chamois were about in small numbers high up in the mountains:

Marmots were more visible...they were even an obstruction on the road occasionally:

A few ascalaphids (ant lions) were seen in upland grassy areas:

There were plenty of spectacular alpine flowers too (much to the delight of the couple who were particularly interested in the flora). The scenery was spectacular, the food was good and a most convivial time was had by all.

I learned so much in just seven days. I only wish I could devote more time in this kind of environment.

[David M]

I'm indebted to one of the other members of this trip who has very kindly emailed me images she took of the Mountain Dappled White that caused me so much frustration.

Here it is: