Part Three - Alpine adventures in the Alpes Maritimes, Alpes de Haute Provence and Hautes Alpes - 8th to 15th July 2017
This was an ambitious trip, attempting to take in three different departments in the mountains of south-east France over the course of eight days. I have visited this area quite a few times now, and I know that several contributors to this forum also know the region well. It is truly spectacular! Without doubt, this is the richest area I have ever visited for butterflies, both in terms of species diversity and sheer numbers, and every trip is different. The season can be several weeks adrift each year in terms of what is on the wing, depending on whether it is an early or late one. Every visit is different, but it never disappoints! We met up with good friends in Nice on the morning of Saturday 8th July and headed north. Over the next eight days we were to visit numerous diverse sites at altitudes from 600m to over 2700m above sea level. Here are just a few of my personal favourite moments...
- alpine scenery
The high altitude habitats are just stunning places to walk, and the butterfly species that can be found up here fascinate me.
- alpine scenery
Here is one species that I have very rarely seen. The Alpine Grayling seems to be very localised in this area. This one posed obligingly for me in the Hautes Alpes, at around 2600m. In common with other grayling species, they seem to angle themselves precisely on occasion to maximise their intake of heat from the sun.
- O.glacialis
- O.glacialis
- O.glacialis
Alpine Blues are a little easier to find. This one was also photographed in the Hautes Alpes, in an area where it is not uncommon. The unusual underside of this species is lovely!
- A.orbitulus
And speaking of unusual undersides, here is a fairly extreme aberration:
- ab.radiata
I believe this is ab.radiata and it is most likely a Common Blue female, but I can't rule out Eros Blue either. It was taken at around 2600m. Other blues on the wing in the immediate area included Mazarine, Damon, Idas, Glandon, Alpine, Eros, and Small Blue. I would be interested in any comments anyone has on which species they think this is!
The Peak White was often seen at high altitude, but as usual was very difficult to approach or get close enough to photograph. I managed a couple of shots of both male and female, but still don't have that definitive photograph that I have been after for several years...
- P.callidice male
- P.callidice female
Cynthia's Fritillary, my absolute favourite European fritillary, was already showing signs of wear, and had obviously been on the wing for a while. These two were the freshest individuals that I found, but it was good to find this iconic species at several new sites this year. They seem to be fairly common once you get above 2500m.
- E.cynthia male
- E.cynthia female
Both Niobe and Grison's Fritillary appeared regularly at several high altitude sites.
- A.niobe
- M.varia
I think the photos below are of False Heath Fritillary, but they appear slightly variant.
- M.diamina
- M.diamina
The various Erebia species often prove challenging to identify, but here are two that hopefully are beyond doubt.
Lesser Mountain Ringlet and Common Brassy Ringlet, the latter showing a hint of the blue/green brassy hue that gives it it's name.
- E.melampus
- E.melampus
- E.cassioides
Here are a couple of high altitude heaths. The Alpine Heath in particular was very common this year in many locations. Darwin's Heath was also plentiful, but less easy to ID, as they didn't sit still for long!
- C.gardetta
- C.darwiniana
Damon Blues were already quite numerous in places in early July this year, and the Purple-edged Copper could be found in abundance close to nectar, especially on Bistort flowers.
- A.damon
- L.hippothoe
And now we come on to the thorny subject of the
Pyrgus species! I am no expert on these, but I hope that I have identified the two below correctly as Warren's Skipper and Dusky Grizzled Skipper. I stand ready to be corrected by those more expert in this field!
- P.warrenensis
- P.cacaliae
Here is a small group of pyrgus - feel free to identify these yourself!
- trio of pyrgus
And to finish off this "high altitude" section of the trip, below are one or two blues enjoying some mud-puddling, plus a handful of interlopers:
- mud puddling
The mud-puddling action was on a damp streamside at 2400m.
I have a few more photographs from lower altitudes, which I will put on shortly as a separate post, as I am in danger of exceeding my 30 file allowance!
