www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Absolutely stunning images

Agree completely, the 1920 pixel width images are truly stunning.

C.

If anyone is interested, I am in the process of examining all of my photos from 2010 and updating my website. I have completed the section for the Blues and am working through the other groups and hope to complete the update by Christmas.

2010 was a good butterfly year for me, as I saw 185 French species, seven of which were life ticks and have now seen 212 of the 238 mainland France species.

Sitting here in Hatfield looking out at the weather, it all seems rather a long time ago...

Roger

Which were the life ticks ??

Paul, the seven life ticks were:

Southern Marbled Skipper (Carcharodus boeticus) – Tim Cowles and I were searching for Sage Skipper (Syrichtus proto) at a site in Var where he had seen them a few years previously; no sign of proto but we were very fortunate to see boeticus (now called baeticus), a single female clearly at the end of its flight period.

Cranberry Blue (Plebejus optilete) – I saw a few at the end of their flight period at the Simplon Pass, probably you saw them there, Paul, and maybe they were a little fresher then. I subsequently saw another two males separately in the Rhone valley. Strange how it seems that when you see one for the first time, you see others soon after.

Cynthia's Fritillary (Euphydryas cynthia) – a fleeting glimpse of a male at the Col des Champs in the Alpes de Haute Provence. This species (the male) is unmistakeable, but it did not wait for a photo.

Peak White (Pontia callidice) – at the site near Saas Almagell in Switzerland, where I believe you visited earlier in July and probably saw them there.

False Mnestra Ringlet (Erebia aethiopella) – a big surprise and a thrill to see this elusive species at the Col de Vars in the Hautes Alpes.

Iberian Marbled White (Melanargia lachesis) – I saw these near Nimes in June, a site I was told about. Being an Iberian species, this is almost at the easterly end of its range.

Mountain Dappled White (Euchloe simplonia) – like the Cranberry Blue, I saw one then another two, initially near the Col de la Cayolle and then in the Queyras National Park.

I was also very pleased to see four species in France that I had only previously seen in Switzerland: Alpine Blue (Albulina orbitulus), Grison's Fritillary (Mellicta varia) which was puddling in huge numbers, Small Apollo (Parnassius phoebus), and Clouded Apollo (Parnassius mnemosyne).

Roger

Roger, is France like the UK in the sense that you occasionally get extremely rare visiting species?

I think the answer to that is no, at least not in my experience. There are some that have uncertain status in the border areas, such as Mother of Pearl Blue in the Pyrenees and Swiss Brassy Ringlet in the Alps, and the Plain Tiger only occurs in certain south coastal regions. There are regular migrants such Lang’s Short-tailed Blue, quite numerous in the Autumn, but I cannot think of any species that is a rare migrant or vagrant, although I think the Monarch makes a very occasional appearance in the west.

Fascinating stuff, I guess the False Mnestra is the most elusive and it brings home just how much help we had to see 3 of those 7 species in our 5 days in Switzerland!! We are indeed endebted. I must say I think the Alpine Blue is one of the very most beautiful blues I have ever seen. I am coming back to Samoens hopefully next end June - start July... can't wait!!!!!!

A few shots from the south of France:

A male Marbled Skipper (Carcharodus lavatherae) in typical territorial pose. Unmistakeable in flight as the underside is almost pure white. A female Green-underside Blue (Glaucopsyche alexis). A female Chequered Blue (Scolitantides orion). A roosting Glanville Fritillary (Melitaea cinxia). Probably the commonest butterfly in this region (Var) in April. A newly emerged Heath Fritillary (Mellicta athalia). A very common butterfly in this region at the moment. Many of them are very dark so quite easy to ID in flight. A fresh Southern Festoon (Zerynthia polyxena). A magnificent beast Two-tailed Pasha (Charaxes jasius) supping on rotting banana laced with rum. A mating pair of Yellow-banded Skippers (Pyrgus sidae). You can tell which one is the male. The one that has been out drinking and fighting for the past week!

Lovely pictures, Roger! Yellow-banded skipper is high on my wish list but it will have to wait for another year now.

Guy

Hi Roger,

Stunning images! I will have to start using a tripod for butterfly photography to get pictures as sharp as yours.
I really like your picture of the Glandville, a lovely little butterfly... brought back some very nice memories of my first sightings in the Alpes Martimes some years ago! What is the background behind the Two Tailed Pacha? I can't work it out.
Sylvie

Hi Sylvie,

The white background is the wall of our home. The previous pasha photos always seemed to merge with the background, mainly because it does not have clear white borders, so this time I decided to have a white wall as the background. The pasha did not seem to care!

A beautiful Large Tortoiseshell also swooped around and settled briefly on the bananas but sadly did not stay long enough for a photo.

Roger

A few recent photos from Provence:

A pair of Green-underside Blues (Glaucopsyche alexis), the female immaculate as usual. A male Purple-shot Copper (Lycaena alciphron). It was highly territorial, chasing off anything that came near it. The fact that it always returned to sit on this geranium did not occur to it that this might appear just a teeny bit girly. A male Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas) obviously more concerned with the vantage point than whether the plant was scratching its feet. A male Knapweed Fritillary (Melitaea phoebe) perching on a daisy in overcast conditions. A very strange customer, not at all common in France, a Clouded Apollo (Parnassius mnemosyne). The iconic butterfly of the Alpes, an Apollo (Parnassius apollo), apparently very fresh and sitting placidly by the roadside. It did not appear to be damaged and may have been just emerged. Getting squashed on mountain roads is a major threat to this species in particular, and we moved it to a rather less dangerous location. The underside of the above. There are three species of Gatekeeper in France (and I am not sure if there are any others in mainland Europe), the familiar Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus), its southern cousin the Southern Gatekeeper (Pyronia cecilia) and, in my opinion, the star of the show the Spanish Gatekeeper (Pyronia bathseba) which is principally an Iberian species with a distribution ‘leaking’ into the far south of France.

Hi Roger,

Thank you for sharing your pictures. I realise that it now seems a long time since I've seen spanish gatekeepers, in fact the last time I've seen these was when I lived in the South of France 10 years ago! Time is flying and seeing your pictures makes me want to go back there for a while... Not a lot of butterflies around in Swansea at the moment, weather has been quite cold and rainy since early May but I have seen plenty of caterpillars since the beginning of June and a chrysalid of a comma butterfly on nettles, it looks very much like a dead leaf, amazing!
Sylvie

These two photos are of different sides of the same puddle (and this is only part of the total) in the Alpes Maritimes, and before anyone asks were they Small or Essex, there seemed to be plenty of both. There were 50+ species flying or puddling within 20mm of that puddle on a single day, hundreds of Small/Essex Skippers, at least 50 Pyrgus grizzled skippers (mostly Safflower, some Carline and I suspect a few Olive), and 50 blues/fritillaries. There were 12 species of blues and 9 species of fritillaries. Not that you could really take any photos, because if you got too close to one and it took off, most of the others would follow in a huge cloud.

Wow - amazing pictures, Roger.

Beats my handful of Black Veined Whites!

Lee

This photo was taken not far from where you were staying, Lee.

http://www.butterfliesoffrance.com/html ... re_10Jul08_

Stunning.

This year was my first experience of them and I'm pretty sure I saw them everywhere I went.

Cheers

Lee

I have just posted some highlights of my butterfly year to date:

http://www.butterfliesoffrance.com/2011 ... s_grid.htm

Roger

I held my breath as I looked through your highlights, Roger. Those are really wonderful pictures, and some super butterflies too. You have an amazing colection.

Guy