Finally, some sun on a Sunday! I visited a couple of sites in the Rhône Valley, popping into a third late in the day in the hope of a cardinal, but without success.
The full species list was: grizzled skipper, rosy grizzled skipper, dingy skipper, safflower skipper, scarce swallowtail, Apollo, small white, southern small white, green-veined white, Bath white, orange tip, wood white, Berger's clouded yellow, brimstone, common blue, Chapman's blue, Adonis blue, turquoise blue, Provençal short-tailed blue, holly blue, Osiris blue, green-underside blue, chequered blue, pearl-bordered fritillary, violet fritillary, Queen of Spain fritillary, Glanville fritillary, spotted fritillary, comma, large tortoiseshell, Camberwell beauty, red admiral, peacock, painted lady, speckled wood, wall and small heath.
Most of all I enjoyed seeing blues again. At my first site I encountered this aberrant Osiris blue, lacking any spots on the underside:
The upperside was quite normal:
Minnie watched on and laughed while I photographed a chequered blue:
This is a very photogenic butterfly!
More patient waiting while I photograph a green-underside blue ...
This is a turquoise blue:
It wasn't easy getting pictures of most blues because they were constantly being attacked by others. I had to approach that turquoise blue very carefully to avoid putting up the Chapman's blue and common blue settled very nearby ...
The commonest fritilary by far was Glanville. It was a constant accompaniment to the walk:
Safflower skippers are huge and exotic - in comparison to most
Pyrgus, anyway:
There were plenty of
malvoides about:
And I'm pretty sure this is a rosy grizzled skipper. I didn't see the underside and wasn't sure in the field, though in flight I assumed it was rosy. I don't see what else it can be:
I saw plenty of scarce swallowtails but surprisingly, no swallowtails.
Minnie needed a cool-down after all the excitement:
Finally, this black-tailed skimmer (female) was, I think, my first dragonfly of the year:
Guy