Thanks guys, glad you like the pictures.
You certainly do recognise the Alpine Blue, David. You were there!
The Spotted Fritillary is certainly one of my faves. When were in Croatia, there was a patch of waste ground next to the hotel. This was home to a colony of Spotted Fritillary and, before breakfast, they would open their wings wide, to warm up in the early sun. The colour was so spectacular, they looked like giant Coppers! However, my picture, taken in the French Alps, is of a beautifully marked female.
Desert Orange Tip. I didn’t know this thing even existed until a chance sighting in Malaga on autumn. Up at the hill-Fort, we were sitting eating a Spanish magnum, when Orange Tip-like butterfly flew past. And I said ‘what the heck- or words to that effect-was that!’. I shot over and, thankfully, it landed long enough to fire off a few shots. It wasn’t until I got home that I looked in the books, and there it was.
Having seen pictures on Guys diary, and elsewhere, of Cynthia’s Fritillary, I knew I wanted to see it. It took several years, but eventually, in the French Alps with David M, we visited a mountain side, where good numbers of these were flying. An ambition had been realised. Even better,they stopped for photographs!
Thankfully, the Scarce Copper is widespread in much of Europe, and turns up in small numbers, in most of the places I visit. Perhaps my most memorable encounter was in Hungary when, next to our hotel, an early morning walk through a meadow produced good numbers. They were dotted, angled to the early sun, and shone like jewels, stretching into the distance. They were also common in the Pyrenees, where this picture was taken.
Lastly, the Blue-spot Hairstreak. In Armenia, they were abundant, sometimes two or three to a flower head, even in the botanical gardens in Yerevan city. They gave us a cracking display there, but this picture was taken in Spain.
