www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

So I haven't updated my personal diary since July, the reason of course being the lack of European butterfly trips since then, as the pandemic continued.

The advent of the rapid Omicron wave has however now normalised Covid, and so European travel is now close to normal, except for a few extra forms and lots of mask wearing.

The winter was of course a long one, albeit I did make the most of my time researching future trips. This has paid dividends with the sad cancellation of two Greenwings trips to the Spanish Pyrenees and Sierra Nevada, both in May. I have however thankfully found alternatives. More on those in the future.

One thing I did do in mid-November was make an optimistic booking for Tenerife in mid-March. Prices for accommodation and car hire were cheap and had free cancellation policies up to a week before travel. Flights were also very cheap, albeit having to pay up front.

After weeks of nervousness beforehand, I'm glad to say that I did actually fly out on Saturday 12th March, for a week based in Puerto de la Cruz on the North side of the island.

Arriving at 11.30am, I was delighted to speed through passport control and baggage, only to find the most almighty queue at the various car hire pick-up desks. It took a total of 2 hours of queueing to eventually pick up my keys. Not sure if it is always like this at Tenerife South airport, but it seemed to be every firm, not just the one I'm with.

Anyhow, I then took the scenic route to Puerto de la Cruz, through the centre of the island, and through Teide national park. It was overcast at the airport, but driving higher, I passed through the clouds into the perfect blue skies and stunning scenery of the national park. I'd been here before in 2016, and so knew where I was going, and I stopped for 30 minutes at a potential Tenerife Green Striped White (Euchloe eversi) site at El Portillo. Very little was flowering, so I wasn't confident, and so it turned out to be. Nothing seen, but beautiful views of the volcanic scenery, including of Teide itself, still with snow on its northern slopes. My best guess is that this spot would be better for Tenerife Green Striped White later in the year, when the larval host plant Descurania bourgaeana comes into flower.

Then it was a drive back down the other side of the island, again through the clouds, into Puerto de la Cruz for 4.30pm. I unpacked and headed out for dinner. Kestrel's seem very common here, and there is a pair nesting in the old barn 5 metres from my apartment front door. I was serenaded over dinner by the most wonderful chorus of Blackbird song, something of April/May evenings in the UK. There is a slightly different song here in Tenerife, probably 10% different. But just as beautiful.

After dinner, I checked the weather forecasts for the week. Monday and Tuesday looked dire with wind and rain, so tomorrow (Sunday) was a crucial day. Off to bed early then, ready for an early start.

Day 2 of the holiday then. Up really at 7am, and was out of the apartment by 8.15am, arriving at a site on the coast to the west of Puerto de la Cruz at about 9am, having filled up with petrol.

Mike Prentice had kindly told me about this site as being good for Canary Large White (Pieris cheiranthi). And so it turned out to be. There wasn't a breath of wind, but the cliffs were very steep, so not for the faint hearted if you don't like heights! Within 5 minutes of arriving, I stumbled across one, but I didn't have my camera ready - it was the closest I got, so this was a disappointment. I spent 90 minutes in total at the site, with the butterflies properly warming up at around 9.30am. I saw four flying together at one point, but there were many more individuals. Many were flying up the cliffs, and I didn't see them come back down. Their behaviour was slightly different to the normal Large White (Pieris brassicae) I see in the UK. Canary Large White seem to glide more, and in flight their larger patches of black are very obvious.

Whilst not the most perfect photos ever, I did get these two, on the two occasions that one settled for longer than 10 seconds. Also at this site, I saw a lone Canary Red Admiral (Vanessa vulcania). It flew very fast past me, but it was clearly brighter red than the normal Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta).

I then set off to the village of Teno in the far north west of Tenerife. Not the easiest place to get to, the roads are narrow and full of hairpins. But I arrived at roughly 11am. The target was again Tenerife Green Striped White (Euchloe eversi). Where I parked was right next to a whole swathe of its larval food plant. But the temperature was a cool 13 degrees, with a gusty wind, and overcast. No sign of any butterfly. I therefore took the decision to walk down slope north west along the PR-TF 51 footpath. It was a bit of a fruitless walk sadly, despite lots of the larval food plant. Whilst the scenery was good and the spring bird song from the large numbers of Canary was amazing, there were few butterflies of any sort. I did get this lovely photo of the Canary Speckled Wood (Parage xiphioides) however. I'd seen it before in 2016, but hadn't taken a photo. I therefore re-traced my footsteps back to the car, and was just about to tuck into a sandwich, when I saw a "white" butterfly of some sort up the slope. Cue a hasty scramble up the slope, only to be disappointed by it being a Small White (Pieris rapae). Oh well, the first one of the holiday.

Back down the slope, and lunch eaten, I was considering giving up on this site, when there was a break in the clouds for about 30 minutes. I decided to stick around just in case, and within 10 minutes another "white" briefly flew amongst the larval food plant patch by the car. Cue another rushed scramble up the slope, but this time it was what I was looking for! Despite the sun and the increasing warmth, it was still gusty, and the individual was not moving much. It therefore allowed me to get very close, to the point I probably could have picked it up. Here are my two best photos. Delighted with my success, I moved on to a place called Ermita el Pinalete, another site suggested by Mike Prentice, this time with the hope of African Migrant (Catopsilia florella). Albeit, he had no luck here. I did find its larval food plant, but the bush had been clearly coppiced a year ago, so there was virtually no foliage. If it was ever an African Migrant site, it won't be for a few years yet.

I drove back to my apartment for 2.30pm, and decided to visit the Botanical Gardens. I'd been told that a number of butterfly species can be seen there. Sadly only Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) though, an individual that took a liking to the sun cream on my forehead!

After a further long wander into Puerto de la Cruz centre, I then returned to the apartment for a shower, and then dinner. The weather forecast wasn't very good at all for tomorrow!

Day 3 has sadly been pretty much a total washout, hence me having the time to write up three days of this diary

With the forecast dire, I took a chance and drove into the high altitude of Teide National Park, on the off-chance that I'd be above the clouds. A wasted journey. An hour there, an hour back. Torrential rain and very cold temperatures at the top, zero degrees on the car thermometer, and snow is forecast tonight.

Back in Puerto de la Cruz, I took a chance on the break in the rain to do some food shopping, but get caught in a torrential downpour. I spent the afternoon drying off and writing this diary, but popped outside into the apartment garden when the sun came out for a brief 15 minutes. I saw both Canary Red Admiral (Vanessa vulcania) and Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta). Which gave me the opportunity to compare and contrast.

Here's my best photo of the Canary Red Admiral. Not a completely wasted day then, but nearly. Tomorrow is also looking like poor weather.

lovely photos, Teide has lost a lot of snow since i was there a few weeks ago. can i recommend Playa de las americas in the south for monarchs

Thanks Owen. I definitely intend to briefly visit the Playa de las americas area during the week here. Lots to fit in during the week!

Day 4 in Tenerife was a day of chasing the sun. The weather in Puerto de la Cruz dawned cool, damp and grey, and the forecast was for intermittent rain all day.

The weather on the south side of the island was however forecast to be much sunnier. So I set off for Playa de las Americas, aiming to stop off along the way if the weather was okay. The first stop off was a site near Tacoronte where American Painted Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) has been seen in the past. The rain was torrential for much of the drive, but there was a brief gap in the rain when I stopped, literally as I stopped. It was quite odd, the birds started singing as soon as the rain stopped, and the site clearly had potential for all sorts of wildlife. The sun briefly came out too, but sadly for just five minutes. I predict that, had it been for 10 or 15 minutes, the butterflies would have come out. But it wasn't to be, and the rain started again. The next stop was just to the east of San Cristobal de La Laguna, where Canary Skipper (Thymelicus christi) had been seen a month earlier. It was very gusty however, and the rain was falling intermittently, so I didn't stop, and moved on.

About halfway between San Cristobal de La Laguna and Playa de las Americas, the weather completely changed. Clear blue skies and warmth. I was keen to see what I could find in my destination. I'd been to Playa de las Americas twice before in January 2016 and January 2017. I'd seen Monarch (Danaus plexippus) in small numbers on both occasions but not had my camera with me to take photos. I was hoping to rectify the situation this time, as well as the off chance of seeing African Migrant (Catopsilia florella).

It was fantastic to get some warmth on my back, and I had a lovely lunch just away from the busy sea front. I then spent 3 hours walking along various streets with flowering plants in gardens in the hope of seeing my target species. No luck with either. Indeed, there were very few insects of any sort, not even many bees. Just a couple of Small Whites (Pieris rapae) and a single Geranium Bronze (Cacyreus marshalli). This latter species holds a fondness in my heart because I'd dipped out on it so many times, so this fourth ever sighting for me was still a pleasure. The drive back also demonstrated the divided weather pattern on Tenerife today, it was torrential rain again from the midway point back! The forecast is better tomorrow thankfully.

nice photo of the Bronze, I couldn't manage to get on in focus despite a lot of trying.

Such a shame you ran into bad weather, Paul. I've noticed there's been some considerable difference in conditions between Tenerife north and Tenerife south airport on the forecasts. I guess that's why the north is so much greener!

Still, you've nailed three great butterflies there; ones which I'd dearly love to see myself one day.

Best of luck for what's left of your trip.

Day 5 began with a failed attempt to drive into Teide National Park. The weather forecast up there was sunny and warm. However, snow on the previous two days meant that the road was closed after the 1800m mark! So that was an hour wasted in the morning, driving halfway up and back down again.

Despite forecasts of rain in Puerto de la Cruz, the reality was different, so I decided to spend the day exploring the suburbs for nectar rich gardens, as well as a known site for previous African Migrant (Catopsilla florella) sightings, the Water Park. The reported sighting in 2014 was at the entrance, where the author said there was quite a lot of its larval foodplant. Sadly, no larval food plants. It did look like the entrance had been revamped relatively recently, perhaps in the last three years? So it looks like the larval food plants have been stripped out. Indeed, I took a long walk around the whole perimeter of the site and found just one small plant.

There did seem to have been a big emergence of Small White (Pieris rapae) that day, and there was a profusion of them wherever I went in the town.

In mid afternoon rain began to threaten, and did begin to, just after I made it back to the apartment. With only two full days left, time is now running out to see my five other target species, namely: Canary Skipper (Thymelicus christi), Canary Brimstone (Gonepteryx cleobule), Canary Blue (Leptotes webbianus), American Painted Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) and African Migrant (Catopsilla florella). The latter two were only ever small possibilities, but I was more confident of the other three. Now I'm not so sure!

David M wrote: ↑Wed Mar 16, 2022 2:47 pm Such a shame you ran into bad weather, Paul. I've noticed there's been some considerable difference in conditions between Tenerife north and Tenerife south airport on the forecasts. I guess that's why the north is so much greener!

Still, you've nailed three great butterflies there; ones which I'd dearly love to see myself one day.

Best of luck for what's left of your trip.

Absolutely David, having visited the island twice before, I was aware of the two different climates, but perhaps not the extent I've realised this week!

Well Day 6 has certainly been a day! Despite the good weather forecast, I woke up to torrential rain outside, which didn't stop until 9.30am. It was still very grey, and further rain threatened. But there was a chance of nicer weather in the afternoon, in the north. So, rather than stay inside all day, I took a gamble and drove to revisit the potential American Painted Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) site near Tacoronte.

It rained all the 25 minute drive there, but did stop as I arrived. It was cooler and windier than my previous visit, and it remained grey. And so it remained for about an hour, as I slowly paced the site a few times. There was a gap in the clouds for five minutes, enough for some Small White (Pieris rapae) to flutter for a minute, but nothing more. Another half hour wait before a further gap in the clouds, this time for 15 minutes. This time it was enough for me to see Red Admiral, Canary Red Admiral, Canary Speckled Wood, many more Small White and, in the distance, a Painted Lady of some sort. But was it an American Painted Lady? I waited another hour, and the cloud grew darker, so I went back to my car to shelter from the expected rain.

I checked my phone for the latest weather forecast, and it suggested that it would get better in the next 30 minutes. It didn't actually rain, so I walked back to the site and paced it again. I disturbed a Fritillary species of some sort. Tenerife only has Queen of Spain and Cardinal, but it didn't look like either to me. It will remain a mystery as I couldn't relocate it. It was now 12.30 and I could see the better weather coming in from the sea. The sun came out, and the Painted Lady species moved again. I raced up a bank to get closer and got close enough to confirm by eyesight it was American Painted Lady! It moved away down the bank but I was able to catch up with it, and it landed on the main path long enough for me to take this photograph. Fantastic! I can't actually think of another butterfly I've had to wait this long for, on an individual day, to see. Yes, Chequered Skipper took three visits to Scotland for success, but I didn't hang around in any sites for longer than 30 minutes, given the weather was so bad in Scotland. But three hours patiently waiting at a single site is a record for me.

Chuffed with this brilliant sighting, I moved on to the potential Canary Skipper site east of San Cristobal de La Laguna. The weather was certainly improving, albeit it hadn't reached San Cristobal de La Laguna when I arrived. It was cool and very windy. Cue another 90 minute wait for the good weather to arrive. It was definitely decent habitat, and I can see how Canary Skipper probably would be there. But no luck sadly, despite an extensive search across a wide area.

It was now 4pm, and so I headed back to my apartment in Puerto de la Cruz. Whilst the day didn't hold many butterflies, the main prize of American Painted Lady really was a huge prize. My hardest stalking of a butterfly in my 16 years butterflying. A true joy, and in-part makes up for the previous three days.

Great sighting, Paul, and an effort worthy of a medal! You've had a battle on your hands all week but you are still coming up with some spectacular species.

Day 7 in Tenerife, my final day. The weather was forecast to be sunny and warm today, but sadly it never happened.

I first visited a site near Icod el Alto, where Canary Skipper (Thymelicus christi) has been seen before. It was grey and about 15 degrees, which doesn't seem to be enough for any of the butterflies to warm up. I noticed some Small White on the ground doing their best to keep warm! I waited an hour, but if anything, the weather looked greyer, so I moved on.

The second site was the botanical gardens in Icod de los Vinos. A fellow Brit had reached out to me on Twitter during the week and said that he'd seen Canary Brimstone (Gonepteryx cleobule) here, as well as Monarch (Danaus plexippus). It is a beautiful site, and even on a grey day was interesting, including the huge centuries old Dragon tree. Sadly, despite 90 minutes of wandering, no luck with the Canary Brimstone. I did see the Monarch though. More in hope than anything else, I set off for Erjos, which is a recommended site for a number of species. The weather had not been good enough all week to visit, and indeed that was the case today, it was pouring down.

So I drove the long distance to Teide National Park, just for the guaranteed sunshine. No butterflies of course, it's just not the right time of year, with nothing flowering. But the scenery was spectacular as ever. And then the long drive back to the apartment in Puerto de la Cruz, where it was also raining. Apart from the Monarch, pretty much a waste of a day.

David M wrote: ↑Fri Mar 18, 2022 9:38 am Great sighting, Paul, and an effort worthy of a medal! You've had a battle on your hands all week but you are still coming up with some spectacular species.

The weather has been so frustrating! From what the locals tell me, the weather this week has been very unusual. Yes you do get the odd day of bad weather in the North of Tenerife, but not all week.

When the the weather has been briefly good, the fresh emergence of Small White in very large numbers shows the potential of mid-March in Tenerife. Had I had good weather all week, I've no doubt I'd have added Canary Brimstone, Canary Skipper and Canary Blue to my tally. I may even have been lucky and had the time to go searching further afield for African Migrant. But none of these four targets were seen, despite them having been seen on the island since February.

But given I only had one full good day, and two half good days, to be able to tick off five of my nine target species isn't too bad I suppose. Given everything else going on in the world at the moment, and in the last two years, I just count my lucky stars I've been able to get another holiday in.

Anyhow, back home to Sheffield tomorrow, and I'm told the weather is going to be better there next week than it has been here this week!

selbypaul wrote: ↑Fri Mar 18, 2022 7:01 pm...But given I only had one full good day, and two half good days, to be able to tick off five of my nine target species isn't too bad I suppose. Given everything else going on in the world at the moment, and in the last two years, I just count my lucky stars I've been able to get another holiday in.

Given the abnormally poor conditions, I'd suggest that five of your nine targets is an exceptional achievement, Paul. I'd like to get out there myself one day to do much the same thing.

Safe journey back home.

David M wrote: ↑Fri Mar 18, 2022 8:55 pm

selbypaul wrote: ↑Fri Mar 18, 2022 7:01 pm...But given I only had one full good day, and two half good days, to be able to tick off five of my nine target species isn't too bad I suppose. Given everything else going on in the world at the moment, and in the last two years, I just count my lucky stars I've been able to get another holiday in.

Given the abnormally poor conditions, I'd suggest that five of your nine targets is an exceptional achievement, Paul. I'd like to get out there myself one day to do much the same thing.

Safe journey back home.

Thanks David. Here's hoping North East Greece in just over two weeks time has better weather - it has been an unusually late spring over there too, I've heard!

selbypaul wrote: ↑Sat Mar 19, 2022 7:36 amThanks David. Here's hoping North East Greece in just over two weeks time has better weather - it has been an unusually late spring over there too, I've heard!

Indeed, Paul. Until lately it's been 9c during the day in Thessaloniki and -2 at night! It's warming up there thankfully and looks to be 19/20c in the days leading up to arrival. Fingers crossed all will be well.

Been reading through this over the last few days. An amazing read especially as I’m about to go in my first organised wildlife holiday next week, great to read how they can really work.

You’ve seen some amazing butterflies over the trips. I noticed you discussing the Scandinavian species and wondered if you’d seen this trip report.

https://www.birdforum.net/threads/trip- ... 20.391928/

OwenE wrote: ↑Wed Mar 30, 2022 7:51 pm Been reading through this over the last few days. An amazing read especially as I’m about to go in my first organised wildlife holiday next week, great to read how they can really work.

You’ve seen some amazing butterflies over the trips. I noticed you discussing the Scandinavian species and wondered if you’d seen this trip report.

https://www.birdforum.net/threads/trip- ... 20.391928/

Hi Owen
Which trip are you on next week? Is it the Greenwings False Apollo trip? If so, see you on it, Covid permitting....!

I'd not seen that Scandinavian trip report before, thanks for sharing. It shows what is possible to see, for sure. At some point I will definitely have to travel there, though I'm rather hoping for an organised trip than having to organise it myself. We shall see! I have 170+ other European butterflies to see first, before the Scandinavian ones!

Best Wishes
Paul

Yes i don’t think I’d be up to doing that Scandinavian one at all, such an unusual place to go for butterflies though.

I’m on a naturetrek bird trip to Spain so your early entries about enjoying their trips were very good to read as it’s going to open up all sorts of possibilities if I do enjoy the format. Hoping I do get a few butterflies too of course