That's a strange individual isn't it! But surely it can only be onopordi?

Looking at various photos online there are photos of that species with some of the grey colouring, just not to that extent.

As you know David, I love my Erebia ! From the photo alone, my natural inclination is to say Water Ringlet ( Erebia pronoe ). The only other species I would consider might be Silky Ringlet ( Erebia gorge ). But this latter species tends to be seen on scree slopes, which is what the books say, and my...

Hi Paul. When numbers are low, it's difficult to judge the lateness of a season. Outliers are proportionately rarer and less likely to be encountered, so first sightings are likely to be nearer to the median emergence date. On first sightings alone, 2025 is late, but numbers are very low, so the ab...

Hi Guy As ever, I follow your posts in detail and find them really informative. I've been waiting for your insight into the recent weather in the Alps, I'd heard about the cold weather and snow in the news. Last year was clearly a very "late" season. Would you say that, despite the recent ...

I'm sure you'll be in luck!

Hi Pete Massive congratulations on the Small Bath White. I was in the area you saw it in April 2022, but it was very poor cool grey weather, so no luck. I also dipped out on that species in Cyprus in 2021, albeit it is very very uncommon there. A truly special sighting. Some great photos more genera...

Really enjoying reading your write up of your trip Guy. I love the photo of the view with the butterflies in the foreground.

And more than excited on your behalf in relation to Euchloe bazae. Wonderful photos of one of Europe's rarest butterflies!

I read my copy yesterday also, all in one sitting. Like Pete, I really enjoyed the Germany article. I knew very little previously about what was written. Very interesting indeed.

Cheers as ever for taking the time to collate and publish such an excellent publication.

Hi Pete I always enjoy your write ups! I'm off to Fuerteventura myself next February. Mostly relaxation based, but at least one day reserved for butterfly spotting. I saw Greenish Black-Tip in Lanzarote in January 2019, before I knew as much as I do now about the species. It was literally 5 minutes ...

Looking forward to reading it, as ever!

David M wrote: ↑Mon Mar 03, 2025 11:05 pm Been several days with light rain in the Canaries lately, Paul. I hope this will go some way to invigorate the flora over there.

I really hope you are right David! It needs some serious rain though, over an extended period of time, to fill the reservoirs up.

The weather remained excellent in Gran Canaria, the whole week we were there. In Maspalomas, there were clear blue skies all day, every day, with the temperature in the shade reaching 23C in the afternoon each day. 20250208_122244 v2.jpg Around the hotel, Monarch ( Danaus plexippus ) and Small White...

Indeed David, I'm not 100% sure myself. There is evidence in southern Spain about the related African Babul Blue ( Azanus jesous ) making repeat brief colonisations on the same trees. And of jesous being found on exactly the same 5km square in Cyprus in both 1940 and 2015, with no intervening sighti...

Hi Paul Congrat with that ubaldus, it is such a beautiful little blue, I have seen ONE in the Taurito Valley (Gran Canary) march 2014, a female, so I still need the male :D Thanks John! It was a great start to my 2025 butterflying! My first species being a brand new species! I saw three more new sp...

Regular readers of this Personal Diary of mine will know that I always head to one of the Canary Islands or Madeira each January, for a proper relaxing break and to top up my Vitamin D levels. I always try to get one day of butterflying in, if I can. This year, I delayed my trip by a month, explicit...

Giving everything that is going on with climate and pollution, who knows!

Fingers crossed for a 2025 filled with many more butterflies than seen in 2024!

Happy New Year David!

Hi Paul. That's very interesting. I spent a week on La Palma in March 2001, by which time Canary blues, Canary large whites, Canary speckled woods, Canary Lulworth Skippers, plain tigers and Canary red admirals were all on the wing. I stayed in Los Llanos de Aridane, in the west of the island, and ...

On Thursday 7th November 2024, I set off for a week in La Palma, in the Canary Islands. It was explicitly not a holiday focused on butterflies, I needed a proper rest after an extremely busy year. That said, my partner did do a walk on one day in the Laurel forest, and I did keep an eye out for any ...

Tuesday 17th September – Botanic Gardens… If ever I needed evidence of how awful this year has been for butterflies, I got it today during my annual visit to the National Botanic Gardens of Wales. Fewer than three dozen butterflies in just less than three hours is by far the worst return I’ve ever ...