Catalonia

[Tony Moore]

Finally managed to see some butterflies - during a week in Catalonia.

First up was Western Dappled White ( I hope!) on a bit of waste ground near the hotel:

.

We took a car up into the Montseny National Park, where I was delighted to find a couple of Nettle-tree butterflies - first time for me. They proved very difficult to approach until I found this one, which seemed to be confident of its camouflage and allowed a close approach. Pic taken against the sun as I couldn't get round to the sunny side:

I had been told to expect Panoptes Blue and there were several small Blues flying around the path. They had chequered margins and were the right size, but the underside bore no resemblance to PB in any of my books... ID help please :

We went to a Wetland Reserve near Sils hoping for Spanish Festoon, but we were too early. (one was seen two days later ). there were many Cleopatras about and my first Green Hairstreak of the year :

We were staying on the coast and this chap was seen in the Blanes Botanical Gardens ( the best of its kind I have visited anywhere in the world!. If you are in the area, don't miss it). Not sure what it is - Herring Gull size but with yellow feet. Mediterranean Gull?? A birder I ain't...

A wall Brown seems to have crept in at the end??


Tony M.

[David M]

Nice images, Tony.

Good to see you had some joy (especially with Nettle Tree Butterfly).

[Chris Jackson]

Hi Tony,
(and Hi there David - soon ... soon ...)

Western Dappled White or Portuguese Dappled White - humm ? (I'm sure Roger Gibbons knows a bit about these).

How about Holly Blue for photo No. 3 ? - there might have been a mix up in your photo sorting ?
The Holly Blue does has very small chequers according to T&L, but it is less chequered than the Pseudophilotes genus.

Panoptes Blue is geographically logical however, in Spain, for photo No. 4. I get Baton Blue around Marseilles.
The Baton Blue in flight shows no way near the amount of "blue" as the Holly Blue in flight, and is significantly smaller.

Your Nettle-tree BF shot is great, Tony - even I haven't had a single photo down here this year with the Mistral wind blowing a gale over the last week

As for the Wall, its hard to tell, but I'm often wary at these latitudes in case a Large Wall should venture in

Cheers, Chris

[bugboy]

Hi Tony, lovely pics. I'll leave the Blue ID to others with more experience with the continental ones but your Gull is a Yellow Legged Gull Larus michahellis, replaces our Herring & Lesser Black Back Gulls in the Med area but quite often seen in the UK now.

[Tony Moore]

Hi Chris,

I was at Santa Susanna, 40km above Barcelona. I don't think Portuguese DW extends up that far. The 'Blue' is a mystery; there were about a dozen flying about, low over the path. They were distinctly small, the males being a bright violet blue and the females a little darker. I did have to chase them around for a bit as they were very jumpy and difficult to approach. They certainly all appeared to be the same species although it is, I suppose, possible that a Holly Blue dropped in - albeit, a very small specimen. The Wall was definitely a Wall - It was freshly emerged and I saw the upper surfaces clearly.

Tony.

[John Vergo]

Hi Tony
The White is a Western Dappled White, the first blue (underside picture) is a Holly blue, the second blue is 99% a Panoptes Blue, can be confused with the Baton Blue, (who is also flying in that area), but I am quit sure, due to the blue color that it is a Panoptes

[Tony Moore]

Thanks, John,

There were Holly Blues about, although I didn't see any others at that site. The 'Panoptes' were a very special blue colour, quite unlike anything I had seen before. Here is a shot of another one:

.

Tony.

[Roger Gibbons]

Western Dappled White or Portuguese Dappled White - humm ? (I'm sure Roger Gibbons knows a bit about these).

"a bit" is about right, having seen only one PDW ever (and that thanks to Matt Rowlings) as it is a rare customer in Var. However, this is clearly WDW from the "kink" at the top of the hindwing. PDW is smooth here, although the degree of kink varies in WDW. There are clues from the upperside view, but if it has this kink, you need look no further.

It is also worth checking any Green Hairstreaks as Chapman's GH is a relatively common Iberian species and, like PDW, quite rare in Var.

Roger

[Tony Moore]

Thanks, Roger, for the confirmation and pointers. . I did see three Green Hairstreaks 'eye to eye', but no Chapman's .

Tony M.

[David Tipping]

I think the gull is a Lesser Black Backed.