www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

The magazine is printed now. Sorry it is slightly later than normal, for different reasons each stage of publication has taken longer than usual.

I am having difficulty listing on Amazon - it looks like I have to apply for GTIN exemption all over again.

Best to purchase direct from me (£9.00 including postage) - send me a cheque or credit my bank account direct.

Pemberley books should have their copies by midweek.

Excellent Jason. I've just emailed you to order my copy!

My copy arrived this morning and has already been devoured. Some great articles and photographs as always - and a fabulous front cover!!

petesmith wrote: ↑Sat Mar 25, 2023 3:40 pmMy copy arrived this morning and has already been devoured. Some great articles and photographs as always - and a fabulous front cover!!

Mine too and yes, the front cover is particularly eye-catching.

Good to hear the front cover photographs are appreciated.

Maybe it would be useful to explain my thinking regarding the front cover.

Firstly the butterfly must be a European species not found in the UK - so say LPE or Freyer's PE but not Purple Emperor.

Second, I wanted to use an example from each of the butterfly groups - 11 groups (Admirals, Blues, Browns, Coppers, Fritillaries, Hairstreaks, Ringlets, Skippers, Swallowtails, Whites, Yellows) in succeeding covers. So it would take 11 years to cover all the groups.

So far the covers have been, Fritillary, Swallowtail, Copper, Admiral, Blue and Brown, but with the addition of a second photo, a complementing species can be used - usually the more colourful - Admiral, Blue, Copper, Fritillary or Swallowtail.

So the next front cover should be one of: Hairstreak, Ringlet, Skipper, White or Yell ow, accompanied by an Admiral, Blue, Copper, Fritillary or Swallowtail.

The use of two photos also helps in having one underside and one upperside for example.

The 2023 cover evolved - from Apollo and Bulgarian Ringlet, to Apollo and Freyer's Purple Emperor to Woodland Brown and Freyer's PE.

Thanks for that, Jason. Your choices certainly worked on this edition; a beautiful contrast of the mint fresh Woodland Brown with the iridescent Emperor.

Woodland Brown is one of my favourite brown butterflies along with Dryad and Large Wall Brown.

I have ordered some issues of the European Butterflies Magazine.

Steve Baines (a new contributor) has written the first article for the 2024 magazine about his search for Two-tailed Pasha in Spain this year.

He has found not only the Two-tailed Pasha, but also some other very desirable species.

These include Western Dappled White, Mother of Pearl Blue, Nettle Tree Butterfly and Spanish Gatekeeper.

Very nice. Some great images there.

Alvaro Peral has contributed an article about the butterflies of the Sierra Nevada in Spain.

He runs the travel company WildAndalusia that offers mainly birding holidays but also one butterfly holiday.

They also run very usefully one day trips for butterflies - so if you are in the region but don't want to spend all week looking for butterflies, these are a very good option.

There are some unique species in the area, such as Nevada Blue and Spanish Argus and some more familiar ones such as Queen of Spain Fritillary and Purple-shot Copper.

Pete Smith has written about his trip to Northern Greece in June this year.

There are many 'eastern' species to be seen such as Grecian Copper and Lesser Fiery Copper.

More familiar species such as Small Copper, Sloe Hairstreak and Queen of Spain Fritillary are to be found.

Key rare species include Blue Argus and Krueper's Small White.

John Needham has continued his description of the butterflies in the French Pyrenees where he lives.

He has very helpfully tried to fill in some of the gaps in photographs in the magazine of particular species.

Large Blue and Rock Grayling have been absent, although they have been mentioned in articles.

(I must say that I have not seen Large Blue very often in Switzerland recently - only a worn specimen at Cavaglia - Graubunden. Large Blues used to be a regular at Murren and Tasch for instance.)

He has continued to document the specialities of the Pyrenees, including Lesser Purple Emperor and Autumn Ringlet.

David Moore has contributed an article about the butterflies of Central and Northern Spain in late April.

This is the third article about Spain for the magazine - so if you like Spain, this issue is especially for you.

David describes finding key species such as the Sooty Orange Tip, Western Dappled White, Spring Ringlet and Spanish Festoon.

Butterflies such as Camberwell Beauty are always a highlight on any trip.

Scott Richardson has written an article introducing the butterflies of his farm in South Africa.

OK, so South Africa is not in Europe - but the magazine has previously covered butterflies in Russia, Armenia, Turkey and Morocco - also not in Europe.

The magazine is not evolving into World Butterflies, it will still concentrate on European Butterflies with my regular contributors, but I hope Scott will write further articles for the magazine.

South Africa provides an interesting contrast to European Butterflies, there are no Ringlets (Erebias), or Fritillaries (Boloria or Melitaea) for example, but there are 23 species of Charaxes compared to just one in Europe. Other groups also have many species when compared to Europe.

Whoa!!!

This edition needs to come with the following caveat - dark shades required prior to reading!

The odd sortie outside of Europe is welcome, Jason.

Mario Langourov has contributed an article about the Scarce Butterflies in Bulgaria tour that Wild Echo Tours run.

There are some rare butterflies to be seen such as Large Chequered and Tessellated Skippers and Scarce and Twin-spot Fritillaries.

More common butterflies include Eastern Festoon, Eros Blue, Large Copper, Lattice Brown and Nettle-tree Butterfly.

Eastern Festoon. What a superb butterfly.

The only Festoon I have ever seen in the flesh is the 'Spanish'.

Jack

Jack Harrison wrote: ↑Sat Dec 23, 2023 11:43 amEastern Festoon. What a superb butterfly.

Sure is, Jack.

Dan Danahar has written an interesting article about the wildfires in Corfu.

Corfu Butterfly Conservation is going to follow the rebirth of the burnt areas and the recovery of butterfly species.

Some butterfly populations are of concern such as the Eastern Orange Tip and the Tree Grayling.

Other more mobile species such as Swallowtail and Eastern Bath White have the ability to recolonise the damaged areas.

I have the first proof of the magazine now.

There are still some changes to make before I can approve printing.

I hope to print in early March - I will post here when ready.

This is the scan of the front cover.