www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Cheers Chris and thanks for the info.

Guy, I thought the first photo was Langs(the open wing, high in the shrub) but then the closed wing in the shrub is def. LTB but they are not the same butterfly on closer inspection because the closed wing blue has a damaged wing, as has the blue on the ground, that is the same b/f eg.LTB.
So the open wing on the shrub could be a Lang??? What do you think?

Cheers Russ.

Ps that Minnie is a little "cutie"

I think it's Lang's. And I agree, Minnie is a cutie!

Guy

Wednesday 28.1.15.
I paid a last visit to the old orchard before we move on tomorrow, there wasn't much flying, just the usual Whites,C/Yell. and a LTB .
I have attached a few pics. of my trip so far, just to show what else there is to see in the area besides b/flies.
Cheers Russ

Been to Benidorm several times, and that angular rock in the near ocean brings back many memories, only I have never seen the beach so empty!!

You're right, in season this place is overrun.

Friday, 30.1.15 Marjal camp site, south of ELCHE. 20c but very wind, gust up to 50mph.

Arrived yesterday, first trip out to the fields close to the camp site, mixed cultivated fields and palm tree plantations, interlocked.
Very disappointed with the first field which was teaming with all kinds of Whites last year, eg Green striped, etc. but the field has recently been finely tilled ready for a crop, it must have been left to rest last year with hundreds of white flowers growing wild.
I carried on past the palm trees to the next field and spotted 3/4 Small Whites keeping low due to the very strong wind, also found a Painted Lady flying up and down the edge of the field.

Cheers Russ

Nice piccies Russ. Warmer than the South of France - wet and cold over here.
Chris

Cheers Chris, weather here is rapidly going down hill, 7 days of very strong and now cold winds.

Tuesday pm. 3.2.15. 18c but felt more like 8c with the biting northerly wind which seems to be gripping the whole of western Europe at the moment, at least it's sunny.
We took a trip to the coast(we are 15 miles inland) to La Marina, a small village on a nice sand beach sheltered from the wind by pine trees and sand dunes. On a small piece of land just off the beach, a few flowers were growing and here a found a Painted Lady circling and landing very occasionally also a Bath White but neither stopping for a decent shot.
In the dunes there were a few more whites including Green-veined also what was poss. a Lang's STB, but no pic. .
I've attached a few pics of some birds(which kept a little stiller than the butterflies) that were on the shore and in the lagoon behind the dunes, I would like our bird experts to please ID.

Russ

Hi, the Lark is a Crested larkGalerida cristata, the black and white bird is a Black Winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus and the last bird is a juvenile Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus ruber. Also noticed you have a nice pic of a Black Redstart Phoenicurus ochrurus in one of your earlier posts on this page.

As a non-birder I ask: can Thekla Lark be ruled out?

M.

Mikhail wrote:As a non-birder I ask: can Thekla Lark be ruled out?

M.

you could be right actually, I've never seen either in life so just going by my bird books. Might need a professional twitcher to confirm ID one way or the other, it's Galerida somethingorotherthough!

Cheers Buggy and Mikhail, thanks for your input and info.

The weather here continues to be cool, windy and very cold overnight, with only the odd day available for butterflies to actually fly.I have only seen Bath & Small Whites, Clouded Yellows and a couple of Painted Lady's in 12 days and they have been few and far between
So with no butterflies to show you I have only a few more pics. of birds(again), seen on a visit to the Guardamar Del Segura on the estuary/coast a couple of days ago, I hope you will enjoy.

Russ

Nice Heron and Cormorant shots, Russ. Good to see that there is plenty of other life (apart from BFs) in Spain in the winter.
Last week was horrible over here in Marseilles - things should get better though in the days leading up to the end of February.
Chris

Last few macro photos of a Small White, Painted Lady(battered) and a small sandy coloured moth, from MARJAL.

Russ

I hope the weather cheers up soon down in Spain Russ. I'm sure there are some exotic butterflies just waiting to be discovered.
What's your holiday schedule?
Bon courage,
Chris

Hi,
re the Lark photos, Thekla Lark ( Galerida Theklae ) is a possibility but Thekla is usually found at higher altitudes than Crested, has a much shorter bill and the crest is not as pointed or spiky as Crested. Looking at your photos I would say Crested fits the bill ( no pun intended ! ).

Jenks

Cheers Chris, thanks for the encouragement, I keep forgetting that I'm 2/3 weeks earlier than last year, plus it's been the worst winter in Spain for a long time.
I don't leave ALCOSSEBRE until the 14th March and then a week through France so there is plenty of time left yet for things to get better, I hope
Russ

Hi Jenks,thanks for your info/input, I'm a little wiser now
Cheers Russ

Friday,20.2.15. Alcossebre.

A very short visit to the local scrub ground just 400 metres from the camp site, at a time when the sun was out and the wind wasn't too strong, about 12 noon, produced 3 or 4 Wall's, the first one I saw was a little battered with half a wing missing but was flying without too much difficulty.

I then spotted 2 more, about 2 or 3 feet apart, a male and a female, he then flew up to her head to head, I've never seen Walls mate before, but according to my book by Jeremy Thomas and Richard Lewington(an excellent book), "The courtship of the Wall is a brief, rumbustious affair. The male beats his wings violently(I saw this happen). Then, facing his hen, he hammers her head with his 2 antennae before bombarding her with flapping wings in a series of head-butts.(I must try this method sometime ) but unfortunately they didn't actually mate this time and she flew off and he just did a little sun-bathing.

Russ

Enjoying your photos Russ, let's hope the wind calms down a bit.
Chris

Hi Chris, Speckled Wood are flying here too, along with Walls', difficult to tell them apart from distance, apart from the Woods are flying up and down the tree edges and Walls are more in the open on warm dry ground.

Cheers Russ