www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

I'd go along with Guy's ID for that cricket. Never seen one in life but I believe they can give a nasty nip and have no problem drawing blood from a nosy finger!

Thanks, Bugboy - I'm sure you are both right.
I've just found an image on the net, which is a dead ringer size and colourwise. And don't worry, I kept my soft bits well away from it's mouth .

Tony M.

Poland 2018.

Just back from 12 days in Poland with 'Wild Echo Tours' (end of commercial!).

The sheer numbers of butterflies was amazing. Near our first stop, every flower head had one or two Heath Frits and there was a whole atlas worth of Maps: At one site I saw 30 species in as many minutes!
Unfortunately, we failed to find a number of target species, or had only fleeting glimpses with no photo possibilities. A lot of travel was involved; Warsaw to the Belarus border and back via Krakov. By the end I'd OD'ed on peat bogs and smoked pig, but we still saw some interesting stuff. The first was 2 m from where our van parked in pretty inclement weather. A Scarce Large Blue ( M. telejus ), sitting out the drizzle:
I found another a day later and it even gave me a flash of uppers in a rare moment of sunshine:
Another 'tick' for me was Woodland Brown (Lopinga achine). We saw several, but they were very jumpy and this was the only opportunity I had:
This Lesser Marbled Fritillary (Brenthis ino) gave a good chance:
And a couple of pristine Large Coppers (Lycaena dispar ) brightened a dull day.
Much time was spend traipsing around bogs looking for Cranberry Frit and Cranberry Blue. These eluded us until the last day, when we found several very tatty CBs :

We did see a couple of Cranberry Frits, but they are very adept at disappearing into the bog and sadly, no pic was possible.

More tomorrow,

Tony M.

Mouth watering stuff Tony, love the Large Coppers.

Looking forward to the next installment Tony, a great start to the report

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Twelve days, Tony? That's a bit of a marathon.

Some good species there, especially Scarce Large & Cranberry Blue plus Woodland Brown. Any more delights for us?

Interesting that butterfly numbers were so good in eastern Europe. They've been fairly poor in France (I blame that Siberian blast in February).

Thanks, Guys,

You're quite right, David, it was a bit of a marathon. I had to stay an extra day in Warsaw for my flight and spent most of the time in bed! I was a little disappointed initially, as we had failed to find several rare target species (False Ringlet, Scarce Fritillary, Scarce Heath, Balkan Ringlet, Dusky Large Blue, Danube Clouded Yellow), but I did have some good butterfly experiences and you can't win 'em all...

POLAND (cont.).

Early one morning I was very pleased to find a resting Moorland Clouded Yellow (Colias palaeno), but I was only able to get one poor shot before the rest of the group galloped up like a small herd of heifers and it quickly took flight. Ggggrrrr!:
A Pale Clouded Yellow (Colias hyale) was apparently quite a rarity in the area:
Eastern Bath White (Pontia edusa) was another new one for me:
And a female Meleager's Blue (Polyommatus daphnis) was very accommodating:
A Turquoise Blue (Polyommatus dorylas) was added to the count:
Good numbers of Large Chequered Skippers (Heteropterus morpheus), with their characteristic 'hopping' flight were found in any suitable habitat:
Essex Skips were more common than Smalls. I saw one male holding its wings in a reverse dihedral, which looked very odd. Has anyone else observed this behaviour?
The highlight of the trip for me was a puddled track, where we saw about ten Camberwell Beauties (Nymphalis antiopa) sailing majestically around and frequently stopping to imbibe nutrients. This has been a iconic butterfly for me since childhood. I had seen it before, but not in such profusion, nor offering such good photo opportunities:


A wonderful end to an interesting trip.

Tony M.

That Meleager's Blue is a sight to behold as is Camberwell Tony People "rushing in like Heifers", well you said/wrote Heifers but I know what you mean

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Fabulous view of the Camberwell, Tony, and I know what you mean about the hordes rushing without due care and disturbing a previously calm and settled insect.

I always encourage my groups to spread out for precisely that reason, and Moorland Clouded Yellow is largely a solitary butterfly so you're unlikely to get a second audience.

Shame you missed the Danube Clouded Yellow, as this is one of the rarest species in Europe.

Just back from 10 days in Montenegro, which has to be one of the greatest unsung secrets of Europe; more beautiful than Italy and half the price.
We were based near Tivat and there were still good numbers of leps about. Surprisingly, the most common was the Hummingbird Hawkmoth! Any suitable nectar source had dozens in attendance from dawn til dusk.

My best butterfly (I hope) was found trying to ingest salts from a fairly busy road. It kept coming back after being frightened away by the traffic. I eventually managed a photograph without me, or it, being flattened. I'm pretty sure what it is, but if anyone says 'c' rather than 'egea', I shall take up trainspotting...
Swallowtails were fairly common and appear to be continuously brooded. Here is a young larva – two eggs were seen being laid on the same plant:
Several Great Banded Graylings were seen away from the coast:

Also a few of these on the hillside tracks:
They were very dark in flight. Eastern Rock Grayling of plain old Grayling Grayling? I hope the former as it would be a 'tick'.

Clouded Yellows were very common, with a few helice thrown in:
Mediterranean Skipper was also plentiful wherever there were flowers:




Tony M. TBC.

Hi Tony. Neither c nor vau but egea - and that without a doubt. The shape of the trailing edge of the forewing is definitive. Don't take up trainspotting though ...

Your grayling is statilinus. And I have to say, that 'Berger's' looks far more like helice.

With all my own preoccupations this summer I missed your earlier posts. Great stuff. I will be relying on you for vicarious trips to exciting places in the coming months!!

Guy

. Don't take up trainspotting though ...

The 15.45 for London, Euston is leaving from plat......

Once again, thanks for your kind comments, Guy. In fact, it was my unfamiliarity with scientific names that led me to suggest vau-album. I thought it must be Southern Comma, but forgot that it was called egea . N. vau-album, as you know,does not occur in Montenergro. Thank you for statilinus, also a new one for me. I only saw a couple of light 'Clouded yellows' during the trip. At first I hoped they might be something a bit special as they didn't look (or fly) like the Berger's I had seen before. Foolishly didn't consider helice, which is what they doubtless were. A couple more for ID tomorrow, if you would kindly look.

Tony M.

That Comma is an absolute stunner Tony Looking forward to further reports

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Well done with the Southern Comma, Tony. A lovely and very interesting butterfly.

Montenegro sounds very tempting I must say (particularly if it's half the price of Italy).

Thanks, Wurzel and David.

I was pretty excited myself, especially as it was only about 3 hours after getting off the plane! The area looked very 'S. Comma-ey' with plenty of old walls with Pellitory growing, but I only saw one other one during my stay; half way up a mountain and very beaten up.

A view of Perast from the 18th C. clock tower. A Venetian gem.

There were plenty of Strawberry Trees around and numbers of Pashas swooping about. Sadly, they ignored my rotton bananas and concentrated on the tops of fig trees, so no pix. Ggrrr! A few Queen of Spains were seen – some in very smart condition:

Also Mallow Skipper? :
And Mountain Small White:

One small area of hillside hosted some Southern White Admirals, which were easily apprroachable when on sentry duty:

A couple of Lang's only, and one boeticus, which declined the photoshoot:

A single fresh Brown Argus (I think...) and what I guess must be Common Blue although the upperside colour didn't look like the UK examples:

Finally another Blue for ID – I have no idea :

For a beach holiday it was pretty damn good.

Tony M.

Hi Tony. By default, those last two blues are common blue, though if the upperside was significantly strange in colour you might consider the eros complex. From the underside alone they are entirely compatible with icarus (common blue).

Your southern small white is very different from mine. Did you consider ergane (mountain small white)? Maybe the underside of the hindwing is a little too strongly scaled; but the spot on the forewing underside seems only to be show-through (southern has an actual spot there) and the apical mark looks strange. Just a thought. You were there and doubtless had better views of ups and uns.

Guy

Hello again, Guy. I ummed and ahhed about Mountain and Southern SW and am still not sure why I opted for Southern. However, a look back through the various shots produced this:

Because of the poor focus, I had not bothered to process it, but it shows no ufw spot so, as usual, you are right on the money - ergane[ it must be.
Must look up those British Rail timetables again...

Tony M.

Lovely set of shots Tony especially the Mallow Skipper I still haven't seen one of those despite holidays in Lisbon and the Dordogne

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Great continuation, Tony. Looks to be a beautiful place.

Wonderful that you got to see ergane (the absence of the underside spot being the giveaway).

I agree with your ID vis-à-vis Mallow Skipper.

Hi, Tony. I've just been looking at your encounters in foreign climes. A great set of butterflies.