OK - the trip is done.
The first day was a circle Aubert-Montcorbau-Vila-Aubert and it was unbelievable. Thanks for the tip Guy! The personal highlite was A. euphenoides, which had apparently just started. A. cardamines was more common, but worn. The Blues were dominated by C. minimus, but there were others as well. P. bellargus was in good condition, but G. alexis worn. Some trips had plenty of P. amandus and others P. semiargus, but I don't recall which trips had which. The Erebias on this trip seemed to be of one species in good condition. Plenty of E. tages and a couple of S. sertorius. M. diamina was common and there were also a few M. cinxia, but not other confirmed ones. A single pristine L. alciphron.
The second day was on the hills NW from Plan de Beret. The warnings about over-grazing were right on spot. The hillsides looked like Golf greens. There was a a steady flux of P. brassicae and C. croceus, but not much else. At the top of Cap des Closos the highlite was P. callidice with a couple of hilltopping P. machaon. The top is likely better later, though. Some Pyrgus (don't ask me what
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
) along the track above Rio Noguera.
The third day was from Vilamos to Sant Joan and back. Another victory for Guy.
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
The best part was near Vilamos before the track went into the forest. Another pristine L. alciphron - a female this time. Again plenty of Melitae, Erebia, Blues and some Pyrgus, but the ID:s... I think P. amandus was the main Blue here. The Erebias seemed to be the same again. I tried to separate either P. mannii or P. ergane from the crowd, but no such luck. That doesn't mean there wasn't any, though.
The fourth day was up from Artiga de Lin. This one is worth it for the views alone. We didn't quite make it to the pass, though. There was a 4 m snow wall some 50 m before the saddle point and it was too steep to climb. The first thing flying on the parking place was P. mnemosyne. Those were on wing for the first half of the climb. Besides that some Blues and Erebias (apparently the same again) with the ever-present C. croceus and P. brassicae. The real highlite was this blue female. It may be P. icarus (or P. celina - I'd love to have a better suggestion for it, but no). Its a beauty anyway.
It was definitely too early for this walk. The upper parts would be great in a week or two.
The fifth day we walked the valley to SE from Bagueira (track on SW side). It was quite nice ... for a few km until the grazed areas started. Then it went dead. Actually the start was pretty good with a number of Erebia and Pyrgus species, E. eumedon (faded), P. escheri (fresh), P. dorylas (pristine - and the only one we saw) and a few more blues as well. I wish I was better with these species, but I have too little practice. Some additional IDs may follow. Once more the Erebias in good condition seemed to be the same species. However, this time there were definitely a couple of other species as well. One was E. eruyale and another was smaller and both were worn. I'll try to get the ID:s eventually... The dominant Blue here (beyond the ever present C. minimus) was P. semiargus. Some Pyrgus as well and the first Zygaenas on this trip. One could have been Z. ostrodensis.
The first five days the weather was perfect ... or even too hot as everything just kept on flying. The last day was half foggy/cloudy and the temperature was only 15 C or so. The walk was in the Lagos de Colomers area and this one was crowded. Not much was flying, but I'm pretty sure I saw one E. pandrose (lousy picture of pristine male) and a seriously worn C. phicomone - at least I think so. What is left of the outer margin of wings seems to suggest so. I have a feeling this area would have been very good, had the weather been better. The area was at slightly over 2000 m, and there was no snow left anywhere. Not a likely area for high altitude Erebias, though.
The bonus was on the drive back to Barcelona. We stopped twice on the C-1311 (from Puente de Montana to Tremps) and both were wild for me. I suspect the following:
Iphiclides feisthameli
Colias alfacariensis
Scolitantides panoptes
Polyommatus coridon/hispanus/albicans (worn)
Coenonympha dorus (somewhat worn)
Pyronia bathseba (worn)
Pyronia
cecilia (good)
Zygaena
occitanica
and a bunch of same species as in Val d'Aran
All in all it was a quite a good trip even though much of the area has been destroyed by over-grazing. Good location tips are essential there.