Greenwings: Montes Universales, Spain, 30 July - 5 August 2022

[David M]

On the Copper front, there were a few Small Coppers but just one Purple Shot Copper, another casualty of the early season (we normally see a couple of dozen at least).

On the other hand, there were a fair few Iberian Sooty Coppers, gorgeous as ever:

I tried to get these two bleusi in the same image along with the zapateri. Annoyingly, one of the Coppers took flight the moment I hit the shutter:

[David M]

Lycaenidae - Coppers

35. Small Copper
36. Purple Shot Copper
37. Iberian Sooty Copper

[David M]

The Hairstreaks are easy to summarise this time - there were hardly any of them!!

Apart from Greece in early June, this group has been woefully scarce on my European travels this year, although we did manage to find Purple Hairstreak for the first time on this Spanish trip.

Lycaenidae - Hairstreaks

38. Purple Hairstreak
39. Blue Spot Hairstreak
40. Ilex Hairstreak

[David M]

The early season was giving me the jitters by Day 2, and one desirable species I thought we might miss out on as a result was Mother-of-Pearl Blue.

I panicked needlessly though; several of these were found later in the week. Clearly, their flight period lasts further into August than I had originally assumed:

[selbypaul]

It definitely sounds like you had a very unusual week there this year David! I think I'd have been jittering too, had I been in your position as a guide!

[David M]

This whole year has been bizarre, Paul, and you should know having been abroad with me a couple of times!! Greece in April was good, but Spain in late April/early May was shocking. Then came French Pyrenees in late May where all went well, only to be followed by 'trying' conditions in north Greece in early June, which included two government weather warnings not to travel unless your journey was essential!

Subsequently, the weather turned seriously hot, bringing everything forward by a week or more....and certainly more in France.

Can we please have a 'normal' year in 2023?

[selbypaul]

I would agree with all you say David. Would love a "normal" year. But like you've said yourself in other threads, what is "normal" these days?

[David M]

'Normal' is clearly shifting to something we don't recognise, Paul. I don't think the old 'normal' is ever coming back.

[David M]

Our visit to the Spanish Argus site this time was a little strange.

When we arrived on the ridge, it had clearly been overgrazed to the point where it was hard to find a single storksbill in flower. Eventually, a couple of morronensis were found but, dismayed, I walked back down to where the vans were parked where I had seen plenty of storksbill growing on the steep banks at the roadside.

Happily, I saw several Spanish Argus in this area, along with a single Zapater's Ringlet which was a first on this tour.

The individuals I saw were clearly past their best, but on future visits there will a simpler way to see this species: go and look where the sheep can't eat the foodplant:

[David M]

Overgrazing was a similar issue at Sierra Alta, the highest point on the trip at 1,854m. However, we drove back down about 400m and found a grassier location, where we managed to locate a few Mountain Argus, montensis form:

[David M]

After being told last autumn that Ripart's Anomalous Blue was present in the Montes Universales region, we kept our eyes peeled for them this time.

At least half a dozen were identified during the week, along with a far larger number of Oberthur's Anomalous Blues, which usually have no white 'searchlight' on the unhs, or at best a very pale one.

Here is fabressei:

The uppersides of ripartii are similar but the undersides are noticeably different:

[David M]

Azure Chalkhill Blues were just as numerous as usual, with multi thousands seen:

Probably saw 1,000+ Spanish Chalkhill Blues too, although they rarely overlap with the Azures:

Didn't see many Long Tailed Blues, but this fresh female caught my eye on the final day:

[David M]

Lycaenidae - Blues

41. Long Tailed Blue
42. Lang's Short Tailed Blue
43. Holly Blue
44. Southern Brown Argus
45. Spanish Argus
46. Mountain Argus
47. Mother of Pearl Blue
48. Chapman's Blue
49. Common Blue
50. Large Blue
51. Adonis Blue
52. Azure Chalkhill Blue
53. Spanish Chalkhill Blue
54. Oberthur's Anomalous Blue
55. Ripart's Anomalous Blue
56. Damon Blue

[David M]

A routine line up of Pierids was on offer, with a healthy number of Cleopatras, which isn't always the case here, and quite a few Berger's Clouded Yellows:

[David M]

Pieridae

57. Wood White
58. Large White
59. Small White
60. Green Veined White
61. Bath White
62. Clouded Yellow
63. Berger's Clouded Yellow
64. Brimstone
65. Cleopatra

[David M]

Only a dozen and a half or so Swallowtails seen, many of which were hilltopping at the highest point of Sierra Alta. However, there were decent numbers of Iberian Scarce Swallowtails, many of which were beautifully fresh:

[David M]

Papilionidae

66. Swallowtail
67. Iberian Scarce Swallowtail

[David M]

Apart from Red Admirals,the 'aristocrats' were extremely thin on the ground. The best sighting was the brief appearance by a Nettle Tree Butterfly in light woodland near Moscardon, where there was also a Peacock, which is a rare find round these parts!

Incredibly, only two Painted Ladies were recorded - perhaps they'd all decamped to Britain!

Normally, we get a handful of worn Southern White Admirals, but this year there were none until the day after the guests returned home, when I saw three in mint condition at the site where we'd been looking for them unsuccessfully two days earlier:

[David M]

Nymphalidae - Aristocrats

68. Red Admiral
69. Painted Lady
70. Peacock
71. Comma
72. Nettle Tree Butterfly
73. Southern White Admiral

[David M]

Things were disappointing on the Fritillary front. High Brown was easily the commonest, but Twin Spot, Lesser Marbled & Provençal were all casualties of the early season, with none at all seen. Spotted Fritillary only appeared on the final day and even Cardinals were fairly scarce, with no more than a dozen or so recorded: