French Alps - 5th July to 12th July 2014

[David M]

I've always done my overseas butterflying independently, but when I noticed (via this site) an advert for Greenwings with Roger Gibbons as the tour leader I thought I'd change the habits of a lifetime and opt for an organised trip.

Roger has travelled extensively in this area and I doubt that there's anyone with a better 'handle' on where to see the enormous range of butterfly species that inhabit this remarkably untouched region of France.

The Parc du Mercantour covers a vast area, and this was a trip which involved staying at two different 'base camps', the first one being situated in the Tinée Valley and the second in the neighbouring valley, alongside the Var.

We covered from 700m all the way up to 2200m, and it was easily the most productive trip I've been on as regards diversity of species, with over 100 seen.

Here are some examples of the landscape in this region:

Alongside me in the tour party were a couple of wild flower enthusiasts as well as a highly knowledgeable 'birder', which provided a very interesting additional dimension. However, the principle objective was to see as many of the butterfly species as possible, and as far as the non-native to the UK species go, I think it makes sense to split them up into 3 categories:

1. 'Common' species - i.e, those that aren't too difficult to find in this region
2. Notables - those occurring at low density or which are specialised
3. 'Iconic' species - the ones that put the icing on the cake.

Please feel free to leave comments, particularly if I've got any of my IDs wrong (I wasn't able to show Roger every image I took so I daresay there'll be a few errors).

[Chris Jackson]

100 species in 1 week, David, that's impressive. The landscape is tantalising, I'm interested in seeing which species you found.
Chris

[David M]

Non-UK species which are common in this area

Skippers

Without doubt, Red Underwing Skipper was the most prominent of this family in the lower altitude areas. I hadn't appreciated just how small they are. They're absolutely unmistakeable, like a mini summer brood Map:

Of the pyrgus genus, Safflower Skipper was easily the commonest, with 90% of all sightings being this species:

Mallow Skippers were seen every now and then, usually singly:

I also saw what I think is a Marbled Skipper, but being a relative 'novice' with this species, would appreciate confirmation before making a definitive conclusion:

[David M]

Heaths

Pearly Heaths are arguably one of the top five commonest butterflies in southern France. They were practically everywhere during this trip, but a closer inspection reveals just how beautiful they are, particularly when fresh:

There were a handful of places where Chestnut Heaths could be found too:

[Padfield]

Hi David. I'm really looking forward to the rest of your pictures - it sounds as though you had an excellent trip.

The marbled skipper is good but the 'mallow' looks to me like a rather knackered tufted marbled. It would be highly anomalous for mallow - though single photos can be deceptive.

Guy

[Charles Nicol]

Hi David

Your organised trip sounds great fun. I am off on a solo butterfly-athon in France next week, at much lower altitude than you . I look forward to seeing more of your excellent pics before i go

Charles

[David M]

Thanks for the input, Guy. I'm afraid this is the only image I got as there were far more exciting things going on all around me. Roger pointed out several Mallow Skippers during the trip though, so they are definitely about.

Charles - good luck on your annual Aude pilgrimage. I should have all the images loaded prior to your departure!

Fritillaries

Spotted Fritillaries would appear in healthy numbers just about everywhere. The males are particularly ubiquitous:

This fresh female was the most amazing I've ever seen:

Unsurprisingly, she soon attracted attention from a nearby male:

The next most frequently seen member of this family was Weaver's Fritillary, with several dozen noted during the week:

Marbled Fritillary was less common, though with still at least 20 seen:

Once above 1000m, False Heath Fritillary became noticeable:

Surprisingly, only 3 Queen of Spain Fritillaries were seen; all at above 1800m:

The commonest 'altitude' species was the delightful Titania's Fritillary. I reckon I saw 40+ during the trip:

I think my favourite 'common' Fritillary of the week, however, was Knapweed Fritillary. I've seen odd ones before but this was the first time I've been able to properly observe their behaviour. They're pugnacious critters, with the males setting up territories along the pathways and regularly swooping from one end to the other to remove interlopers:

[Nigel Kiteley]

Hi David

Cracking set of images especially the Pearly Heaths.

I too visited the same area but only for four days, July 2nd - July 5th with my very good friend Pete Withers. Your tally of 100 species is very impressive, testament to the skills of Mr Gibbons I guess. We managed over 50 species, 8 of which were lifers for me so it was a very successful trip.

Looking forward to viewing the rest of this report.

Nigel.

[Nigel Kiteley]

Hi David

It seems you have posted more wonderful images whilst I was writing my post.

We didn't see Titania's or Marbled Fritillaries, but saw plenty of False Heath and Weavers, as well as a strikingly marked female Spotted like yours.

Nigel.

[David M]

Your tally of 100 species is very impressive, testament to the skills of Mr Gibbons I guess.

Absolutely, Nigel. There were times when I wondered where the hell Roger was taking us, but he's been locating productive sites in this region for several years now, and every time we pulled in somewhere there was always something new (and often rare) to observe.

Pierids

I wish I'd paid more attention to Cleopatras in the first leg of the trip, because they weren't present in the second so this unsatisfactory image is the only one I've got:

No such issues with Black Veined Whites. This species was common practically everywhere, even at high altitude:

Berger's Clouded Yellow was also highly conspicuous. They'd pop up regularly in lowish numbers:

[David M]

Coppers

Plenty of adorable Coppers to be found in this part of the world. The most plentiful were probably Purple-Shot Coppers. Here's a male showing upper and undersides:

Above 1000m, Purple-Edged Copper took over. Here's a male:

...and a female:

Sooty Coppers would turn up in small numbers virtually everywhere, often causing confusion in the group with their upperside resemblance to various female Blues:

[David M]

Satyrids

Large Wall Brown was the commonest non-UK satyrid, with 50+ seen throughout the week. Occasional cloudy periods meant that this species occasionally 'opened up', which was something I've not experienced in previous years. Here's a male:

Females are appreciably lighter in colour:

Great Sooty Satyrs were seen into the low twenties on the path behind the first hotel we stayed in, but I never saw any subsequent individuals, and all the ones initially seen were males:

That venerable species, Great Banded Grayling was present in moderate numbers:

Woodland Grayling was also about, which was great as this species is remarkably playful. Here's an individual which took a liking to Roger's sock:

[David M]

Blues

Easily the commonest Blue found at lower altitudes was Escher's Blue. Slightly larger than Adonis but with similarly irridescent upperwings.Lovely, bold underside markings too:

At higher altitudes, Mazarine Blue became more commonplace:

There were a few other interesting members of this family that I'd hitherto not seen. Green Underside Blue was one of them, although all the dozen or so individuals I saw were past their best:

We visited a couple of sites where Amanda's Blue was present:

Anywhere above 1000m, you could expect Geranium Argus.....usually on geraniums!

[Charles Nicol]

More great pics David !

I especially liked the Coppers. And the Spotted Fritillaries. The colours in the field are even more vivid on the females.

The Great Banded Graylings often land on clothing too i find

Just bought some Euros... not long now

[David M]

Thanks, Charles. Yes, Great Banded Graylings are awesome butterflies, regularly circling round you and, as you say, sometimes alighting on your clothes.

Last of the 'common' stuff...

Every time I go abroad, there is always one stand-out erebia of the trip. This year it was undoubtedly Almond Eyed Ringlet, which seems to have almost a monopoly in this part of the Parc du Mercantour.

Many hundreds were seen, from 800m up to 1800.

One lesson I've learned from this year's trip is not to be complacent about any species. Like with Cleopatra, I took hardly any notice of Southern White Admirals in the first couple of days as I was constantly being distracted by species that were new to me. Suffice to say, from day 3 onwards none at all were seen so my images are poor:

[David M]

"NOTABLES"

Every time I go abroad, there are several species which turn up that are desirable, but can still be expected. Usually they crop up in small numbers, or alternatively they may be fairly common but only in restricted areas.

There are a lot of species in this category, so I'll start with three:

Ilex Hairstreak

I saw no more than half a dozen, but it's always great to see a Hairstreak suddenly turn up in front of your nose:

Blue-Spot Hairstreak was similarly infrequent, but just as beautiful:

On Day 6, we visited a high altitude site early in the morning. I assumed the Heaths I was seeing were Pearly, but it soon became obvious that this species was absent. Instead, we were encountering Darwin's Heath:

[Chris Jackson]

An excellent series of photos David. They will keep your memories alive for many months to come l'm sure.
Cheers, Chris

[Ian Pratt]

My wife and I were in Provence two years ago in late May/early June.Your photos brought back many happy memories. Thanks for posting everything.
Ian

[David M]

Thanks, both of you. There are plenty more images to come....and most of them are of the rare stuff:

Notable Pierids

Small and Green Veined Whites are thin on the ground in these parts, so when, on the second day, I spotted a medium sized White I followed it until it settled. Turned out to be the only Bath White of the trip:

There is a much greater diversity of Whites at higher altitude. Mountain Green Veined Whites were fairly regular on one of the local cols:

Both male and female have distinctive white tips to their antennae:

The few Small Whites round these parts are very weakly marked, so when I saw this boldly spotted individual, I knew it wasn't rapae. Sadly, it was the only image I could get before this solitary Southern Small White went purposefully on his way:

Every now and then, a beautiful Mountain Clouded Yellow would turn up:

Believe it or not, Orange Tips were quite plentiful at higher altitudes. I thought I saw a female at rest but I suddenly noticed that the apical area had white within it, ruling out cardamines. Bloody thing took off though just as I pressed the shutter and it turned out that it was a Mountain Dappled White. How do I know? Well, another member of the group saw it settle a little further on and got 3 excellent quality images. Boy, was I envious.

[NickMorgan]

Wow, what an amazing series of pictures. I am just back from holiday myself, so catching up with what is going on here. I will shortly be using the services of the UK Butterflies Identification Squad to decipher what I saw in Spain!!