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#2 - Alpine Grayling

Another species that wouldn't win any prizes for beauty, but this is a tricky butterfly to observe, with a restricted range at high altitude and a propensity to inhabit rather inaccessible terrain.

I'm indebted (again) to Roger G for tipping me off as to their whereabouts, and after an arduous scramble up scree slopes I managed to find a handful for a very well earned life tick in 2018!!!

David M wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2020 7:30 pm #2 - Alpine Grayling
Another species that wouldn't win any prizes for beauty, but this is a tricky butterfly to observe, with a restricted range at high altitude and a propensity to inhabit rather inaccessible terrain.

It certainly is a tricky species to get to see David! I have only seen it on two occasions, both in the Queyras. The first one I ever saw was flying around a rocky outcrop not too far from the road, quite close to the Col d'Agnel. The only other time I have seen this species was about half way through a gruelling eight hour high altitude trek in the same area. It is a species that you definitely have to work hard to photograph, but I do find it quite attractive with those prominent underside veins and the orangey appearance when in flight.
I am guessing there is no doubt as to your number 1!

Thanks, Pete. Yes, #1 was an easy choice for me, and you won't need to read about the experience because you shared it!!

#1 - Zapater's Ringlet

I love this butterfly so much I changed my avatar in homage to it!

It had something of a mystical element to it when I first visited Spain in July 2018 when we saw just one actually at rest. However, persistence paid off and I eventually used my 3 days 'post-tour time' last year to get a handle on them and succeeded in finding them in good numbers.

What a joy it was to have this irresistible butterfly buzzing around me in numbers of up to half a dozen, landing on my rucksack, camera bag and even my trousers, having waited so long to see more than a distant singleton!

There are no other erebia in the Montes Universales in late summer, so this species sticks out like the proverbial sore thumb.

It's a beautiful member of its family, with an almost black ground colour broken by those beautiful vivid orange markings.

Not only is it my favourite satyrid; it has now actually become my second favourite butterfly, only marginally behind female Brown Hairstreak:

Viva Zapater!

(even though people may wonder what I'm going on about)

Roger

I know what you mean, Roger, and yes, I echo that sentiment.

This is a unique area in Europe for butterflies....not quite what you'd expect Spain to be, yet definitely unlike SW France at the same time.

7 - Striped Grayling

Earned its place on this list the first time I saw it, near Malaga in September 2010, where it was flying around a woodland track like a great, black bat. Had it not settled for photographs I would never have been able to identify it, as in flight its blackness was its predominate feature. Since then I have rarely been in its habitats at the right time of year, though have seen it in Provence a couple of times, in scrubby, limestone, rocky places. It seems to be less exuberant there, but the well-marked undersides always make it a joy to see.
6 - Wall Brown

Not a butterfly I can rely on seeing every year in England, so its appearances are always special. Always seems to be about when I am on holiday, which adds to the sense that it is a butterfly of special places. It adds to its charm with its appearance, particularly that remarkably patterned, cryptic underside.
5 - Great Sooty Satyr

Another butterfly that impressed me the first time I saw it, up a scrubby French hillside where it was nectaring on brambles and flitting about like an overgrown hairstreak (for some reason I often seem to come across it in the company of those French hairstreaks that have the good manners to descend to ground level and allow themselves to be photographed). Lovely dark velvety butterflies with those almost luminous dots on the forewing. Only one photo I am happy with - the butterfly was peacefully nectaring, wings shut, on a large patch of thyme, until bothered by a hairstreak and for a short while its wings flicked open.

Time to finish this off I think. Were I doing this list based on this year's butterflies, Meadow Brown would have to head the list. They entertained me greatly through the summer, bobbing along in the meadows being butterflies whenever I was out and about.

4 - Dusky Heath

A butterfly of the barren lands that I have only seen a handful of times, and in very small numbers, but something about the way the colours of the underwings balance makes this a real favourite of mine. A very pretty butterfly.
3 - Marbled White

The butterfly that started this whole obsession off for me (first photo). A smart-looking butterfly with a beautiful, flower-rich habitat. I prefer the British examples which are more cooperative in their behaviour - though I have never yet managed a satisfactory photo. Southern European examples never stop fluttering, and their fellow Melanargias are just impossible.
2 - Spring Ringlet

A very rare butterfly with serious character. I know it from a bleak hillside in France with spectacular views, sharing its habitat with the occasional Wall and Small Heath, and very little else. It flies like a clockwork toy - dead level with regular, almost mechanical wingbeats, until the mechanism runs out and it drops from the sky. Very enjoyable to watch, sometimes difficult to photograph as they are skittish and tire you out chasing around the rocks.

1 - Great Banded Grayling

For me there was never any doubt, watching these huge butterflies going from tree to tree flapping like an escaped tropical creature, disappearing on the bark, perching improbably on flowers to nectar, just a delight to watch and a butterfly I love being in the presence of.

Matsukaze wrote: ↑Sun Nov 01, 2020 7:39 pm
2 - Spring Ringlet

A very rare butterfly with serious character. I know it from a bleak hillside in France with spectacular views, sharing its habitat with the occasional Wall and Small Heath, and very little else. It flies like a clockwork toy - dead level with regular, almost mechanical wingbeats, until the mechanism runs out and it drops from the sky.

Wasn't expecting that one, Chris!

An interesting commentary regarding it's flight pattern, something I will remember when I finally get round to seeing it.

David M wrote: ↑Sun Nov 01, 2020 10:28 pm

Matsukaze wrote: ↑Sun Nov 01, 2020 7:39 pm
2 - Spring Ringlet

A very rare butterfly with serious character. I know it from a bleak hillside in France with spectacular views, sharing its habitat with the occasional Wall and Small Heath, and very little else. It flies like a clockwork toy - dead level with regular, almost mechanical wingbeats, until the mechanism runs out and it drops from the sky.

Wasn't expecting that one, Chris!

An interesting commentary regarding it's flight pattern, something I will remember when I finally get round to seeing it.

I am lucky to have a reliable site for Spring Ringlet in an area we regularly visit, and that is a very 'late' site for the species (on the wing well into May). I have seen very few Erebias, and am familiar with this one only because it is atypical of the genus - the only other species I have seen more than once is triaria, which shares the same site. It is a prettier butterfly (perhaps because, emerging later, I always see fresh triaria and worn epistygne), but it doesn't have the enjoyable behavioural quirks.

One day I would like to take a look at the Spanish populations, and see how the butterfly behaves in a different environment.

Matsukaze wrote: ↑Mon Nov 02, 2020 1:15 pmOne day I would like to take a look at the Spanish populations, and see how the butterfly behaves in a different environment.

Me too, Chris, and I'll get round to it one day. I'm sure it still flies in the same 'clockwork' manner in Spain as it does in France, which will look rather comical in all honesty. It's a bit like Great Sooty Satyr; a huge butterfly but flaps its wings as if it's a tiny one....surely it'd be easier to glide?