Greenwings: French Alps 25 June to 8 July 2016

[David M]

Two weeks in the French Alps is a joy almost anytime, but when one leaves behind 17c temperatures and cloudy skies in the UK then it is even more welcome.

During my first week I got to spend more valuable time with the venerable Roger Gibbons, who has taught me so much about the butterflies of this region, and the second week saw me taking charge of my own group of guests and it was a great pleasure to show them around this butterfly-rich region and watch them take great delight at both the views as well as the wildlife!

I'm confident my species tally for the fortnight was an incredible 126 (I actually missed out on 3 or 4 so it could have been higher), and as ever I'll start with a few images of the magnificent scenery which provides the habitat for an astonishing number of butterflies:

[Chris Jackson]

Mouthwatering scenic views for a start David.
126 species means a lot of photos to sort.
Chris

[David M]

Skippers

These butterflies often go unnoticed but I'm beginning to pay particular attention to them, as surprises can occur more frequently than with the more readily identifiable butterfly species.

As you would expect, there was a good range from this family, the most ubiquitous of which was undoubtedly Safflower Skipper, which seems to have a near monopoly at this time of year in the Mercantour:

Quite a few Marbled Skippers were about too, which was welcome:

The occasional Tufted Marbled Skipper would turn up too, this one puddling beside a Safflower Skipper and a male Mountain Green Veined White:

Mallow Skippers were around in small numbers:

Over-exposure to Safflower Skippers meant that anything that looked different stood out fairly readily. Here's an altitude Large Grizzled Skipper:

My favourite, however, was Alpine Grizzled Skipper, which sports a 'dirtier' ground colour to the unh and has the exclamation mark indicative of the species at the base of the hindwing. This was one of two seen on the trip (at 2400m):

Totals seen:

1. Safflower Skipper (probably 1,000+)
2. Small Skipper (hundreds)
3. Essex Skipper (as above)
4. Dingy Skipper (50+)
5. Large Skipper (30-50)
6. Red Underwing Skipper (around 20)
7. Grizzled Skipper (a dozen or so, mostly faded)
8. Marbled Skipper (10 at best)
9. Lulworth Skipper (half a dozen)
10. Tufted Marbled Skipper (4 for sure)
11. Mallow Skipper (3 definites)
12. Alpine Grizzled Skipper (2)
13. Large Grizzled Skipper (2)
14. Olive Skipper (2)
15. Carline Skipper (2)

As ever with this family, numbers of the scarcer species were probably much higher, but with everything else going on one only has a narrow window in which to concentrate on these insects.

[David M]

Coppers

These are beautiful insects, and there were 5 different species to see. Purple-Edged Coppers were fairly regular at medium altitudes:

Even this stunner is eclipsed, in my opinion, by the gorgeous Scarce Copper:

...and one in the company of a False Heath Fritillary:

Totals were a little disappointing compared to the previous two years:

1. Sooty Copper (30-50 seen)
2. Purple-Edged Copper (20-30)
3. Purple-Shot Copper (10-20)
4. Small Copper (10-20)
5. Scarce Copper (lived up to its name this time, with only about half a dozen seen).

[David M]

Hairstreaks

A little disappointing, with far fewer of this family than in previous trips.

The forest track at the first hotel provided the bulk of them, with just the occasional appearance elsewhere.

Here's an Ilex Hairstreak:

Blue Spot Hairstreak is my favourite in this area:

Totals:

1. Blue Spot Hairstreak (10-20)
2. Ilex Hairstreak (5-10)
3. Green Hairstreak (5-10, all worn)
4. Sloe Hairstreak (5 at best)

[Padfield]

126 species for a two-week holiday is pretty good going, David! I'm looking forward to seeing what they all were.

That sloe hairstreak is an ilex hairstreak, by the way.

Guy

[David M]

That sloe hairstreak is an ilex hairstreak, by the way.

Holy cow! I've got too many images to trawl through!!!

Thanks for the correction, Guy. Might take me some time to find my acaciae images (I have almost 2,000 on my memory card)

[Charles Nicol]

Super photos David !!

i loved the Marmot.

[David M]

Blues (and other Lycaenids) Part 1

Simply too many to deal with in a single post. These butterflies are often the highlight of any trip, with their broad range and propensity to take mineral fluids from the ground.

Here's a selection:

Escher's Blue was very common, although it usually took a few seconds to check they weren't Adonis or Amanda's:

Adonis were commonplace too, and I barely bothered with them. However, this female caught my eye and I wonder if she's sufficiently 'blue' to be ceronus?

Amanda's Blue was also easily observable. Here's an upperside:

...and an underside:

Brown Argus was noticeable at 1,000-1,500m, but above that, Mountain Argus took over:

One butterfly that we missed out on last year due to the heatwave was Geranium Argus. It's no great beauty but it's just 'different'. There were plenty of them this time round, and all were (unsurprisingly) found on or flying close to geraniums:

One of the great joys of butterflying in the south of France is studying the myriad species that gather together puddling. It's always best to be on your guard as you never know what's likely to turn up. On regular occasions, the lovely Eros Blue was in amongst the maelstrom:

It always takes me a little while to get my 'eye in' for Idas Blues, but as the trip progressed, it seemed there was no shortage of them:

It was only towards the end of the fortnight that Glandon Blues started to reveal themselves. A true altitude species, this butterfly can be found in numbers around damp ground above 1800m:

[Padfield]

That's a great upperside photo of male amandus, David. The books always show broad, dark borders to the forewings but these are only visible from certain angles and the butterfly typically looks much more like yours here. It's a lovely underside shot too.

Guy

[mattberry]

Another great blog in development David!

Hope you're already looking forward to more in 2017!?

[David M]

Hope you're already looking forward to more in 2017!?

To be honest, Matt, I'm feeling rather bereft at having left them behind for 2016. When you can notch up 71 species at a single small site and arrive back in the UK to just Ringlets, Meadow Browns and Green Veined Whites, it's a damaging culture shock!!!

Blues (and other Lycaenids) Part 2:

Alpine Blue is a rather iconic altitude species. With time, I've begun to realise that they're almost always about at 2,000m+; you just have to look for the signs - a bright, pointy-winged Blue usually rather separated from its fellows. I reckon I saw about half a dozen during the trip. Here are two different individuals:

With thousands of Blues to see, it was only a matter of time before Chapman's Blue showed itself. I've paid scant attention to this species in the past, but I'm now forever on the lookout for it, and I find it to be increasingly more divergent from Common Blue than I first thought.

It has obviously bolder underside markings and the upperside is a darker shade than icarus. This specimen was 'outed' at a major puddling spot and everybody soon joined my club of Chapman's enthusiasts:

For me, another desirable member of this family is Green Underside Blue. This species can turn up at fairly low altitudes but every now and again it shines out like a beacon amongst the high altitude puddlers. I saw 3 on the trip, this one trying to disguise itself amongst its fellow lycaenids (but failing to):

Osiris Blue was much talked about over the course of the trip. Sadly, its numbers were scant, with 6 or 7 at best. I spent lots of time in the puddling areas looking for it, but the only one I found was at a time when none of the guests were nearby. Thankfully, one or two others saw this delightful species independently:

Last year, Silvery Argus was common in the damp meadows 30 minutes' drive from our base. This year, presumably due to the late season, only 3 were seen:

One of the great shocks of the trip was suddenly seeing a Lang's Short Tailed Blue nectaring on sainfoin. I shouted one of the guests over so I didn't get chance to take many images of this specimen, and the best one I DID get was very ordinary:

Turquoise Blue popped up every so often. I have come to name this species the 'Lonely Blue' as it always seems to appear in isolation, quite often preferring to alight on the track rather than the plants nearby. Here are two examples of this beautiful butterfly:

A non-French species was also seen. Geranium Bronze can often be encountered in this part of the world, and the second hotel's pot plants hosted at least 4 of them over the time we were there:

Amongst all these lycaenids, one species stood out however. Mountain Alcon Blue isn't a common butterfly, and in previous trips we've struggled to reach double figures. This time though, we must have hit it at just the right time - there were good numbers of them, so much so that mating pairs were seen:

With a bit of patience (and some shading), open wing shots were on offer too (note the numerous eggs laid on the gentian by previous females):

Perhaps the lateness of the season was responsible for this good fortune. Certainly, there were certain species still around that shouldn't normally have been there. During both weeks, for example, Chequered Blue was seen:

Rough estimates for the fortnight were:

1. Mazarine Blue 1,000+
2. Small Blue 1,000+
3. Silver Studded Blue 250-500
4. Escher's Blue 250-500
5. Adonis Blue 150-300
6. Common Blue 100-200
7. Eros Blue 50-100
8. Amanda's Blue 50-100
9. Geranium Argus 50-100
10. Mountain Argus 50-100
11. Glandon Blue 50-75
12. Idas Blue 40-60
13. Brown Argus 30-50
14. Mountain Alcon Blue 30-50
15. Large Blue 20-40
16. Baton Blue 10-20
17. Chalkhill Blue 10-20
18. Turquoise Blue 10-20
19. Holly Blue 8-12
20. Chapman's Blue 5-10
21. Alpine Blue 5-10
22. Osiris Blue 4-8
23. Chequered Blue 4-8
24. Geranium Bronze 4
25. Silvery Argus 3
26. Green Underside Blue 3
27. Lang's Short Tailed Blue 1
28. Damon Blue 1
29. Furry Blue 1

[mattberry]

Great selection of photos so far David! I would personally like to see Alpine Blue from the available blues in the area. Maybe next year!

Interesting to note your listing of Green-underside as desirable, I probably take it for granted as I see them in their hundreds each spring in Greece. They do make for quite a show mixed with Green Hairstreaks (also in large numbers) and the occasional Eastern Baton Blue for good measure.

[John Vergo]

Great pictures David, now I can se all the species that I missed
John Vergo

[Roger Gibbons]

Furry Blue - that's quite a find for this region.

Mazarine - 1000+ !!!

Roger

[Chris Jackson]

A mind-boggling number of species to identify in just 2 weeks, David.
I'm sadly lacking behind in life-ticks with many of these, particularly the blues and skippers.

( Also, I trust Stéphane had time to re-stock the bar at the hostellerie between my departure, a month earlier, and your arrival ).

Chris

[David M]

Furry Blue - that's quite a find for this region.

Mazarine - 1000+ !!!

That was the most excited I got during the whole fortnight! I certainly wasn't expecting to see this species (not too far from a dung heap you're familiar with). Unfortunately, whilst it did briefly settle, neither I nor the guest who was beside me could capture it in time and it flew off with me in hot pursuit till I lost it amongst the several dozen other butterflies fluttering about.

As for Mazarines, I've never seen so many! 1,000 is a conservative count. Practically half the puddling lycaenids seen were semiargus...and I should know given the time I spent on my hands and knees trawling through the various identity parades looking, basically, for anything that wasn't Mazarine/Small Blue!

Pierids

I paid more attention than normal to altitude Whites this trip, and this paid off as I finally tracked down definite Peak White and Mountain Dappled White. The latter of those two I'd seen briefly settled in Week 1, but on the last day of Week 2 I was determined to pursue one until I got some reasonable images, so, I left the guests to wander around looking for the more iconic stuff whilst I remained by the van which was parked beside a slope that Whites seemed to fly around fairly regularly.

At last, after half an hour or so, one came down on a thistle:

It soon took off again but to my surprise settled again nearby, this time allowing many of the guests to get close to it (an uncommon event, believe me):

Peak White is, if anything, even more frustrating. I'm sure these bloody things fly at night too, such is their unwillingness to come to ground even for a second. I clocked a few close 'fly-bys' that I was sure were callidice, so every now and again I tried photographing them in mid-air. Usually, these shots are lousy, but I managed to get one that proved for certain that Peak White was amongst us:

Rather easier were male Mountain Green Veined Whites, which were occasionally seen puddling:

I saw one female:

Disappointingly, Mountain Clouded Yellows were only about in small numbers, presumably having had their normal emergence time retarded by the poor weather prior to the trip. Clouded and Berger's Clouded Yellow were commoner, but still not at the levels seen in previous years. However, Black Veined Whites were all over the place:

Orange Tips too were noticeable, certainly more of them than I've seen before here:

Approximate totals over the fortnight were:

1. Black Veined White 200-300
2. Wood White 100-200
3. Berger's Clouded Yellow 50-100
4. Orange Tip 40-60
5. Clouded Yellow 40-60
6. Small White 40-60
7. Large White 30-50
8. Brimstone 30-50
9. Mountain Green Veined White 20-40
10. Mountain Clouded Yellow 20-40
11. Cleopatra 10-20
12. Green Veined White 10-20
13. Bath White 5-10
14. Peak White (3 definites, 4 or 5 other probables)
15. Mountain Dappled White 3

[David M]

Papilionidae

Apollos were remarkably thin on the ground this year; in fact, I reckon Small Apollos were equally numerous even though we only visited one site where they can be reliably found. Arriving by 10am at this altitude location seemed to work - the early sightings seemed far more prone to come to earth:

We were also very generously given information about a site for Clouded Apollo this year. The first week was best for them but even then they were obviously towards the end of their flight period. I was grateful to see a few were still hanging on when we revisited during Week 2:

Totals were:

1. Apollo 20-30
2. Small Apollo 20-30
3. Swallowtail 10-20
4. Clouded Apollo 10-20
5. Scarce Swallowtail 10-20

[David M]

Aristocrats

As ever in this region, this group wasn't terribly well represented.

Painted Ladies were constant airborne companions as they flew ever northwards. Small Tortoiseshells also appeared regularly, though mainly at the tops of cols.

A handful of Red Admirals and Commas were seen, but once again Peacocks were conspicuous by their continued absence.

Other members of the group saw Large Tortoiseshell & Camberwell Beauty, but sadly, these weren't observed by me so I won't be counting them on my final tally.

Southern White Admiral was seen in lowish numbers, whilst White Admiral was also seen, which is a surprise as this species is quite hard to find in this region.

One Lesser Purple Emperor was located at the second hotel, surveying his realm on arrival day, though he never reappeared after that which was a mystery.

The most notable species was again Southern Comma. One was spotted (and photographed) by a guest during Week 1, but as Week 2 progressed just about everyone saw at least one. The first was basking in the hotel car park as we pulled up in the vehicles, and others were seen at the hilltop fort in the early morning and on the track at the back of the hotel in the late afternoon. Here's one spotted on the railing of a building at the top of the hill opposite the hotel:

....and the same individual nectaring nearby:

Totals:

1. Painted Lady 200+
2. Small Tortoiseshell 20-40
3. Red Admiral 10-20
4. Southern White Admiral 10-20
5. Southern Comma 5-10
6. Comma 5-10
7. White Admiral 1
8. Lesser Purple Emperor 1

[David M]

Heaths

These may appear quite drab to most, but they're such constant companions that I feel obliged to devote a little time to them.

Pearlies were, as ever, ridiculously abundant, but the significant member of this family seen was Dusky Heath. In the past, they've been very scarce, but this year we found quite a few of them up by the fort early in the mornings. Interestingly, the majority were observed around an array of discarded wooden pallets - it was almost as if the Duskies knew that these structures provided perfect camouflage for them. They would fight above them and regularly land on them. They would also come to ground on the bare earth nearby:

At many of the sites Chestnut Heaths were on offer:

As is normal round here, Pearly Heaths gave way to Darwins at around 1,600m:

Again, no Alpine Heaths were recorded, which is a mystery as once you get beyond Barcelonette they're very common indeed. Seems that the further south you travel, the less likely you are to see them.

Totals:

1. Pearly Heath 1,000+
2. Darwin's Heath 200-400
3. Small Heath 100-200
4. Chestnut Heath 100-200
5. Dusky Heath 20-40