Provence Beauties
Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2019 6:12 pm
Provence in mid-April 2019
This trip was planned a while back, and I had three main target species on my hit list. Top of the list was the Spring Ringlet, an Erebia that has fascinated me for a while, and one that I dearly wished to find. Second on the list, the Camberwell Beauty, a butterfly that, despite my having made many trips to France and elsewhere in Europe, has always eluded me. In fact, the Camberwell had gained near-mythical status in my mind. And thirdly, I hoped to catch up again with Chapman's Green Hairstreak, a species that I had seen previously in May 2008, towards the end of its flight period. I really needed a better photograph than the single shot that I had of a tatty individual.
We arrived in Nice on Easter Sunday, with a rather changeable weather forecast for the first few days of our holiday, and as we drove up into the pre-alps of Haute Provence, it began to drizzle. The temperature was dropping steadily and we were soon driving through low cloud. The route to our first hotel took us past a site that I had identified on Google Earth as having some potential for Spring Ringlet, so we pulled in to a layby so that I could have a look at the habitat. It was now a mere 8 degrees C - clearly no chance of finding any butterflies on the wing - so I left wife and camera in the car and took a brief stroll in a cool breeze along a track as clouds rolled in. The situation was as below:
I had walked about 20 metres when, remarkably, a brown butterfly took to the wing in front of me, flew about 5 metres, and landed, wings open, on the ground. I moved in closer to find myself looking at a Spring Ringlet! Incredible! After drinking in the sight of this, and taking a poor "record" shot with my phone, I ran back to the car to retrieve wife and camera, and we returned to the spot. By now the butterfly had hunkered down and was just showing its underside. But a bright spell was about to appear, and over the next five minutes, we were treated to the sight of a total of six Spring Ringlets, before the rain came back, forcing us to depart for our hotel.
A return visit to the same site the next morning in better weather produced a dozen sightings of this fascinating early season ringlet.
E.epistygne
epistygne habitat in better weather
This butterfly has a reputation for being difficult to get close to, as the males habitually fly relentlessly, rarely landing, while the females are said to be much less mobile and hard to find. I was lucky to be able to get close up to quite a few of the individuals that we saw, but it is fair to say that unless you see the exact spot where they land, you have virtually no chance of spotting them at rest, until you kick them up again!
Having scored my number one target species so early on, we headed west later that day in search of Camberwell Beauties, at a site recommended by Roger, where they can be found post-hibernation in most years. We initially drew a blank, although Large Tortoiseshell, Southern and Spanish Festoon, Provence Orange Tip and other species were welcome sights. After a couple of hours I finally had a glimpse of my first ever Camberwell - an overhead flight, about 15 feet above me, wings open and gliding, making a perfect silhouette against the blue sky - unforgettable! And yet, as the butterfly then disappeared over the tree tops, not to be seen again, the experience felt slightly incomplete...
Over the next few days we were to find more Camberwell Beauties at a number of spots in the Massif des Maures, and elsewhere. Usually they were about in twos and threes, and we had experience of them soaring, gliding, buzzing us and almost landing on our heads, and occasionally perching up in the trees. Later in the week, after a visit to see Roger and Ann, we even had one down on the ground. As Roger succinctly put it, we had "the full Camberwell experience"! The adults were of course all around nine to ten months old, and were showing varying degrees of wear, but I was absolutely delighted to finally see this iconic species, so I make no apology for posting a few shots. Even when worn and slightly ragged, they are a sublime species to behold:
N.antiopa
We headed out to search for my third target species on Tuesday, but again the weather was not great, so we instead detoured to St.Tropez for a morning of tourism. By mid-afternoon, it was warmer but still overcast. A trip up into the Maures hills failed to produce any sign of Chapman's Green Hairstreak, or indeed any butterflies at all.
We returned on the Wednesday, driving back to an area where I had been told good sightings had been had previously. Just before we turned off the main road onto the winding hill road, an AVIS hire van pulled off in front of us. Now I am not usually superstitious, but surely this was a good omen?
This site again produced no sightings, so we walked half a kilometre further down the road, and turned off onto a rough forest track, and a little way down here we came across a lavender patch where "Green Hairstreaks" were nectaring. Closer examination showed that we had found our quarry!
C.avis
avis habitat in the Massif des Maures
Lafranchis considers the Massif des Maures to hold one of the most important French populations of this species, and the area is indeed stuffed full of Strawberry Tree. During my last visit to this area in 2008, in the company of Bob Lambert, we found Chapman's at about 50% of the places where we pulled off the road to search. This time, we only saw it at one spot, and even here it was flanked by an equal number of C.rubi. The presence of both species together requires diligent attention to the distinguishing features. Despite the vast area of apparently suitable habitat, it appears that avis can be quite localised within this range of hills.
There were plenty of other butterfly species on the wing in Provence at this time of year. A small selection of what else we saw appears below:
P.malvoides
L.tityrus
A.euphenoides
M.deione
B.euphrosyne
G.alexis
G.melanops
Z.polyxena
All in all a fabulous week! All three target species hit, two new life-ticks, and a highly pleasant week travelling around a beautiful part of the world! I intend to return later in the spring to try and find a few more Provencal beauties...
This trip was planned a while back, and I had three main target species on my hit list. Top of the list was the Spring Ringlet, an Erebia that has fascinated me for a while, and one that I dearly wished to find. Second on the list, the Camberwell Beauty, a butterfly that, despite my having made many trips to France and elsewhere in Europe, has always eluded me. In fact, the Camberwell had gained near-mythical status in my mind. And thirdly, I hoped to catch up again with Chapman's Green Hairstreak, a species that I had seen previously in May 2008, towards the end of its flight period. I really needed a better photograph than the single shot that I had of a tatty individual.
We arrived in Nice on Easter Sunday, with a rather changeable weather forecast for the first few days of our holiday, and as we drove up into the pre-alps of Haute Provence, it began to drizzle. The temperature was dropping steadily and we were soon driving through low cloud. The route to our first hotel took us past a site that I had identified on Google Earth as having some potential for Spring Ringlet, so we pulled in to a layby so that I could have a look at the habitat. It was now a mere 8 degrees C - clearly no chance of finding any butterflies on the wing - so I left wife and camera in the car and took a brief stroll in a cool breeze along a track as clouds rolled in. The situation was as below:
A return visit to the same site the next morning in better weather produced a dozen sightings of this fascinating early season ringlet.
This butterfly has a reputation for being difficult to get close to, as the males habitually fly relentlessly, rarely landing, while the females are said to be much less mobile and hard to find. I was lucky to be able to get close up to quite a few of the individuals that we saw, but it is fair to say that unless you see the exact spot where they land, you have virtually no chance of spotting them at rest, until you kick them up again!
Having scored my number one target species so early on, we headed west later that day in search of Camberwell Beauties, at a site recommended by Roger, where they can be found post-hibernation in most years. We initially drew a blank, although Large Tortoiseshell, Southern and Spanish Festoon, Provence Orange Tip and other species were welcome sights. After a couple of hours I finally had a glimpse of my first ever Camberwell - an overhead flight, about 15 feet above me, wings open and gliding, making a perfect silhouette against the blue sky - unforgettable! And yet, as the butterfly then disappeared over the tree tops, not to be seen again, the experience felt slightly incomplete...
Over the next few days we were to find more Camberwell Beauties at a number of spots in the Massif des Maures, and elsewhere. Usually they were about in twos and threes, and we had experience of them soaring, gliding, buzzing us and almost landing on our heads, and occasionally perching up in the trees. Later in the week, after a visit to see Roger and Ann, we even had one down on the ground. As Roger succinctly put it, we had "the full Camberwell experience"! The adults were of course all around nine to ten months old, and were showing varying degrees of wear, but I was absolutely delighted to finally see this iconic species, so I make no apology for posting a few shots. Even when worn and slightly ragged, they are a sublime species to behold:
We headed out to search for my third target species on Tuesday, but again the weather was not great, so we instead detoured to St.Tropez for a morning of tourism. By mid-afternoon, it was warmer but still overcast. A trip up into the Maures hills failed to produce any sign of Chapman's Green Hairstreak, or indeed any butterflies at all.
We returned on the Wednesday, driving back to an area where I had been told good sightings had been had previously. Just before we turned off the main road onto the winding hill road, an AVIS hire van pulled off in front of us. Now I am not usually superstitious, but surely this was a good omen?
This site again produced no sightings, so we walked half a kilometre further down the road, and turned off onto a rough forest track, and a little way down here we came across a lavender patch where "Green Hairstreaks" were nectaring. Closer examination showed that we had found our quarry!
Lafranchis considers the Massif des Maures to hold one of the most important French populations of this species, and the area is indeed stuffed full of Strawberry Tree. During my last visit to this area in 2008, in the company of Bob Lambert, we found Chapman's at about 50% of the places where we pulled off the road to search. This time, we only saw it at one spot, and even here it was flanked by an equal number of C.rubi. The presence of both species together requires diligent attention to the distinguishing features. Despite the vast area of apparently suitable habitat, it appears that avis can be quite localised within this range of hills.
There were plenty of other butterfly species on the wing in Provence at this time of year. A small selection of what else we saw appears below:
All in all a fabulous week! All three target species hit, two new life-ticks, and a highly pleasant week travelling around a beautiful part of the world! I intend to return later in the spring to try and find a few more Provencal beauties...
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