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petesmith wrote: ↑Sat Oct 16, 2021 10:29 amDavid I am so glad that you found Zeller's Skipper at that spot! Great to know that they seem to be established there, even if only in small numbers. I am hoping you saw more elsewhere...I shall await further installments with eager anticipation
By the way - are you sure that ragged SW Frit isn't a tatty Cardinal?

I did see more elsewhere, Pete, although the morning I spent at your inland site was exceptionally windy, meaning that photo opportunities were limited.

As for the Fritillary, I thought it was Cardinal at first when I saw it in flight (I saw 4 of this species during the trip), but when I got near it, the butterfly was smaller than I would expect for pandora and it was behaving in a docile manner and settling regularly, whereas all the Cardinals I saw were racing round chasing other butterflies.

selbypaul wrote: ↑Sat Oct 16, 2021 3:46 pm Wow, that Zeller's Skipper really does look very different to anything else, doesn't it! The guide books just don't do it justice!

It's not been in Europe for long, Paul, so I daresay it hasn't been studied/photographed to the degree other species have. Nice to see it though; very exotic and quite imposing for a skipper.

Definitely cardinal - note the two sex brands. They’re flying late this year. By coincidence, I’m currently in Switzerland for a few days and spent a pleasant hour this morning surrounded by cardinals. 17th Oct is by far the latest I’ve seen them here.

Guy

Thanks for this, Guy. Yes, I note that there is no sex brand on Vein 1 so this must default to Cardinal, which isn't a bad thing as it's the only one I managed to get an image of!!

Good to know you're seeing them in your beloved la Suisse right now.

After returning from Zahara, I thought I'd go down to the port at Tarifa to take a look round. I parked in the newer part of the town (geometric in design) and walked down towards the island which is linked to the mainland by a man-made causeway.

It was blowing a gale but that didn't bother the kite-surfers who were having a productive afternoon.
That stretch of beach is the southernmost point of mainland Europe. I'm not sure how long the artificial causeway has been there, and was disappointed that the island was closed off to the public as it is rocky and may have had Desert Orange Tip there.

Really enjoying all of this David - it is bringing back great memories of my time out there back in early Autumn 2018! As you have already mentioned, a great destination for an end-of-season trip, with some very interesting species on the wing.

My third day dawned very windy, so for that reason I thought it best to venture 20-25km inland to a riverside site Pete S gave me 3 years ago.

I arrived there in double quick time (apart from the Algeciras stretch, the roads were very quiet by UK standards).

Spain is a mountainous country, so it was a novel experience to be in a place within this country where the hillsides were no more than 200m:
The rivers around this location serve principally to imbue the surrounding terrain with sufficient water to grow crops. In fact, many of the fields were actually part-submerged. I'm not quite sure what is grown here, but one of the beneficiaries is a squirting cucumber like plant, which was growing all around the river edges:
These damp, largely sheltered areas are a prime choice of habitat for Zeller's Skipper, although given the strength of the wind, even inland, not too many were active. I saw 12 in total, and these were the best shots I got of them:

David M wrote: ↑Sun Oct 17, 2021 5:39 pm

The rivers around this location serve principally to imbue the surrounding terrain with sufficient water to grow crops. In fact, many of the fields were actually part-submerged. I'm not quite sure what is grown here, but one of the beneficiaries is a squirting cucumber like plant, which was growing all around the river edges:

The flooded fields are part of the large rice-producing area of this region. Those squirting cucumbers are quite fascinating aren't they? They caused me a few problems when I visited - they pack quite a punch when they explode unexpectedly and eject their contents in your direction! Very distracting when you are closing in on a Zeller's for a photograph

Thanks for the info, Pete. That makes sense. They looked like paddy fields but I couldn't recognise the crop.

I was luckier than you with the squirting cucumbers. I think they had largely yet to ripen fully as I only recall a few bursting whilst I was passing.

It was a strange feeling to be in Spain and see the landscape looking so flat but with all those water channels I'm sure Zeller's Skipper will continue to thrive in that area near Benalup.

After leaving Benalup I headed back towards Algeciras, but prior to my trip I'd been looking closely at Google Earth to find areas where the terrain seemed greener.

One such place was by the embalse de charco redondo, a large reservoir which turned out to be rather bereft of water, with an ancient stone bridge exposed:
This looked like excellent habitat, but is probably better in spring when the waterline is higher. I saw a couple of Wall Browns on the pathway in, and then became aware of quite a few African Grass Blues, including this female which posed wings open to reveal an unexpected, uniformly brown appearance:
Not much else was on the wing, though I was surprised to find 2 Plain Tigers:

Great to read your report from the trip to Spain David, I must say that was 4 days with quality time

Sure was, John. Just the right length of time to check out everything that's there!

After leaving the embalse, I decided to drive along the via de servicio rather than the main road. I'd seen a woodland area on my maps and thought I'd see what was around.
It was excellent habitat, and I'd like to return here in springtime as even at this late stage of the year the grass was fairly green. It was a little cloudy so there weren't too many butterflies, but this one caught my eye as something new:
My first thought was that it was a Tree Grayling, but this one was far paler than any I've ever seen further north in the Sierra de Albarracin. It was extremely subdued, possibly at the end of its life, so I walked up to it, picked it up gently and took this upperside image:
Shortly after, I saw another, darker individual:
As I was heading back to the car park, a further specimen was flying around a grassy clearing:
Also found in this area was a Speckled Wood:

On 8th October, I decided to spend the morning at a site near Manilva where there was a steep gorge with plenty of woodland. I figured this may give me a chance of seeing Two Tailed Pasha as well as to check out how good a site it was likely to be in the spring.

Certainly the latter seems likely, although I was disappointed by the general lack of butterflies here this morning; a few Meadow Browns, Small Whites, three Red Admirals and this Sage Skipper were all I had to show for what was otherwise a very pleasant 2 hour walk in beautiful conditions:
The steep gorge provided plenty of shade in parts and I'm sure in spring this would be a good spot to find some of the early species that are special round here:
There was also an old Roman bath house along the route. The ground water is sulphurous which explains the milky colour. According to the information board, this is reputedly good for the skin, although the smell of it is akin to rotten eggs:
After leaving this site, I climbed up a dry hill by the autopista junction as I wondered whether it might hold a colony of Desert Orange Tips. Sadly, it didn't, but the view towards Estepona was a good one:
I don't normally take photos of motorways, but when I turned 180 degrees I could just about see the Rock of Gibraltar in the distance, directly under the lenticular cloud:

That looks like tree grayling to me, David - ups and uns.

Great report so far. I visited the Manilva gorge once, in search of avis, but the weather wasn’t so good. Lovely walk though.

I’m still waiting for one of my guesses …

Guy

Thanks, Guy. It couldn't really be anything other than Tree Grayling.

As for Manilva, I knew avis has been recorded there, so fancied that TTP might be about given the arbutus connection.

As for your final guess....that'll be confirmed shortly.

After getting back on the motorway, it took just 40 minutes to arrive at my next destination - the bespoke bird observatory just north of Tarifa. The views were superb:
Plenty of birds zooming along this aerial superhighway; there were hundreds of swallows heading south. I only saw one butterfly, but it was a good one:

I only stayed briefly at the observatory. I had a plan for my final day, and it involved a long drive, meaning that I only had one more opportunity to watch the Monarchs and Plain Tigers in the green oasis just west of Tarifa.

This scrubby area with copious sticky inula flowers was thronged with butterflies: large numbers of Lang's Short Tailed Blues, a few Clouded Yellows, Small Whites and Long Tailed Blues, a Southern Blue, a Bath White, three Cardinals and, of course, both Monarchs and Plain Tigers:
The milkweed blooms were frequently visited too:
Most of the plants were covered in both eggs and bugs:
Walking back to my car I saw this egret. Hopefully it was not hunting large butterflies!!
I couldn't resist one last go at the Plain Tigers in the field adjacent to my vehicle:
33 Plain Tigers and 22 Monarchs in around 90 minutes was a satisfying way to end the Tarifa leg of my trip. I took one last image looking towards the island, with the Moroccan mountains in the background, from the beach on the other side of the road:

Walking back to my car I saw this egret. Hopefully it was not hunting large butterflies!!

If it was hopefully one mouthful of one of the Danaids will put it off them for life!

Really enjoyable read so far David! Great stuff.