www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

With little else to do sat in lock down I can at least relive some of the happy moments that I have spent searching for the butterflies of France.
I had not yet been taken by the butterfly bug so my first encounter with the Cardinal sent me along a path of discovery
My wife and I were visiting the Citadelle de Brouage and the Nature Reserve of Moëze-Oléron a site renowned for its bird life, the reserve offers a great range of bird life,  with luck  African Sacred Ibis can be seen, nesting White Storks are quite common, Spoonbills, three species of Harrier to mention but a few, most of these birds were familiar from previous visits, but it was my first  encounter with the Cardinal whilst visiting the reserves reception centre that made this visit special.
I noticed a group of large butterflies nectaring close to the entrance of the reception office, these butterflies attracted my attention,  I didn’t know of the Cardinals existence until  this chance sighting and only discovered the Identity of these magnificent butterflies after my return home, it would be several years before I was lucky enough to see another.

Other species seen during this September visit at the same site
Mallow Skipper (Carcharodus alceae)
Clouded Yellow (Colias crocea) including [ Helice].
Wall (Lasiommata megera) quite common along the dunes.
https://jamesgibbs6929.zenfolio.com/

Lovely shots Jim. The Cardinal really is a quite spectacular species. I always think of it as a Silver-washed Fritillary on steroids!

I have yet to see a definite Cardinal in France, but I had the pleasure of seeing this species for the first time in the north of Corfu, at the end of May, back in 2012. We were visiting Old Perithia, and as we walked along a track on the side of Mount Pandokrator, a fresh female alighted right in front of me (I think she had just hatched that morning): She took to the air shortly after, and I chased her around the back of a thistle patch to get a shot of her underside: A couple of days later, we came across a group of males nectaring, close to our original sighting. One posed obligingly: A few years later we saw Cardinals again in good numbers on the Greek Island of Thassos. Since then I have seen a few elsewhere on the Greek "mainland", and also in Spain - they never fail to impress!

Thanks for sharing those images, Jim/Pete.

The Cardinal is indeed an impressive butterfly, and I'm fortunate to have seen it in both France (during May) and Spain (July/August).

Here's one from Montes Universales last year:
Best encounter was near Conat, France in 2018 when I parked the car in a lay-by and this box-fresh male immediately landed on the gravel near me:

Here is a Cardinal demonstrating that exotic butterflies do not always occur in glamorous surroundings.

Baudinard (Var, France), 2013.