Springtime in the south of France

[David M]

Your final tally is very respectable for a 5-day visit, and in many cases you saw both male and female of the species.
I'm glad you got photos of the Provence Orange Tip male and female.

Were there any species you were you expecting but did not manage to see ?

Thanks, Chris.

I wouldn't say there were any missed species that I was expecting to see, but I had hoped that 20+ hours in the field might have thrown up at least one Camberwell Beauty.

As you know, this is one of those butterflies that either turn up or they don't. They're difficult to predict. Seems like I'll have to wait a little while longer.

As far as unexpected sightings go, the next one was off the scale....

...I was pottering about observing goings on at the main Provence Hairstreak site on the Friday, when I suddenly became aware of strange noises coming from the shrub line. On closer investigation I found this little fellow:

My first instinct was that it was an escaped pet and I confess to briefly considering capturing it as a result. However, I thought better of this folly, which was a good thing because a bit of internet research taught me that this is Hermann's Tortoise, a genuinely wild inhabitant of the Mediterranean regions.

Seems that it's distribution is very limited in France though, with Var being the only part of the country where it can be found.