www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Oh and I also just remembered towards the end of the trip I saw a couple of 'Grizzled Skipper type butterflies'. No photos though to get a propper ID from tho.

That actually makes 26 species which doesn't sound too bad now

That sounds pretty good to me! I hope I am as lucky in Spain next week.
Did you visit the little bit of waste ground near Almancil?

Hi Nick,

yes I visited a couple of times. First time it was quite cloudy and couldn't find a single butterfly until the sun broke through the clouds. Once the sun was out I found a patch with a few festoons and green hairstreaks on one of the pathways and there was the odd white flitting about. I returned a couple of days later in much better conditions and found several more festoons and a few more whites. The best spot for the festoons seemd to be right at the far end of the waste ground. The place was full of flowers and alive with birds. I had hoped there would be more butterflies than I found in perfect conditions. Found a few snakes there!

Hi FISHiEE,

I'm just back from a week in southern Spain. I'd certainly echo your comment regards plenty of flower-filled meadows with zero butterflies to be seen. We popped in to Castro Marim on the Portuguese side of the Guadiana (ie at the eastern end of the Algarve just before the Spanish border) where we had good numbers of Iberian Marbled Whites, a few Swallowtails and Small Whites. But that was all, despite MASSES of habitat. To be fair though, it was our first destination of the holiday and we were more interested in the birds - so we probably missed quite a few more.

My entire trip list at the end of the week was just 20 species. Small and Large Whites were often common. Western Dappled Whites and Clouded Yellows were often noted along roadside verges. In the mountains we had Spanish Festoons and Cleopatras in small numbers. Small Heath and Speckled Wood were common at a few sites. We had several Green-striped Whites, Swallowtails, Painted Ladies and Small Coppers in the lowlands. Other odds and sods were the odd Red Admiral, Green Hairstreak, Nettle Tree Butterfly, Brown Argus, Holly Blue, Black-eyed Blue, Green-underside Blue and a Wall. Total. I kind of expected more, we certainly spent a whole lot of time in the field!

As you say, it doesn't seem much but it's not a bad list when you read it back. Can't help but feel that Guy would have easily managed 50 species, on foot, and probably within the hour!!

Gibster.

Hi Gibster. Had planned a visit to Castro Marim myself but with the limited opportunities due to Sue's eye troubles we never made it. Did you see Chamelions there? I was hoping to find one somewhere but never managed it.

Sounds from your April sightings thread like you had quite some fun with the non-butterfly species though!

Hi again,

we had our chameleons at XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (Edited out due to the following post! It's a Spanish site anyway.) The pondside vegetation here is known for its notable population of chameleons. We found a tiddler (10cm max) followed by a couple of giants, nearly a foot long each!

Castro Marim is brilliant. It was more-or-less derelict saltpans when I first visited in 1989, now there's a huge info centre, proper trails and even on site telescopes and a classroom! I'd recommend it to anyone in the area with an interest in the local history or wildlife. We had several Montagu's Harriers, Whiskered and Caspian Terns, stilts, storks, flamingos, avocets, egrets, red-crested pochards, spoonbills, Sardinian Warblers, hobby, azure-winged magpies and red-rumped swallows amongst many others here. Yep, a very nice reserve indeed.

Gibster.

Hi,

I do appreciate reading comments and travel reports on this website but I am a bit concerned when I see people giving names of sites for such coveted species as chameleons. Chameleons are a very sought after species mainly for the market and also for private collection and name of sites should not be revealed at all on the internet...Something to think about....
Sylvie

The disclosure of sensitive sites, will always be an issue on a web sit like this. UK Butterflies is run in association with Butterfly Conservation, so any sensitive info that BC do not wish to have plastered all over the worldwide web, will be edited out. Speaking for myself, I can't possibly know if Continental site that gets named in a posting, is sensitive, or venerable. If anyone is concerned about any site being named, then just ping one of the Mods.


Regards Gruditch