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John Vergo wrote: ↑Tue Jul 23, 2024 7:34 pm sorry did´nt saw that it was Paul selby that wrote

Glad you are getting better John! That's the most important thing.

6th to 13th June – N Greece cont…

Given the strong heat, I made two trips up to the ski centre at 1,600m in an attempt to avoid the highest temperatures. On both occasions, I found Balkan Grayling:
There was also a patch of bugloss which was irresistible to between three and four dozen Queen of Spain Fritillaries:
A few Clouded Yellows had summited too. Maybe they were feeling the heat as well:

6th to 13th June – N Greece cont…

Probably the most interesting group were the Hesperids. Although I missed Tessellated Skipper, there were plenty of other members of this family about.

Sandy Grizzled Skipper is an imposing, well-marked member of this family:
A handful of delightful Yellow-Banded Skippers were seen too. This is one of the easiest of the Pyrgus to identify; even the uppersides are distinctive:
The undersides speak for themselves:

6th to 13th June – N Greece cont…

There were quite a few desirable species I didn’t photograph, such as Blue Argus, Common Glider & False Eros Blue. I almost didn’t bother with Little Tiger Blue either, until this one with an aberrant underside appeared:
Aside from the butterflies, there was plenty of other wildlife to keep me occupied, including wild tortoises, golden jackals, a huge array of lizards & spiders, and these impressive spoonbills that were amongst many nesting on Lake Kerkini:

6th to 13th June – N Greece cont…

In summary, this was yet another unusual week away in a year which is turning ever more bizarre.

The season was massively in advance of what I’ve experienced before here, meaning some species’ flight periods were over by the time I arrived, e.g. Iolas Blue, Large Copper, Tessellated Skipper, Eastern Festoon.

Of course, that meant others which are usually mid-June to late June had already emerged, e.g. False Eros Blue, Scarce Copper, Hermit, Balkan Copper.

After initial concerns at the start, things developed very njcely although the extreme heatwave meant two visits to the ski station at 1,600m in three days!

Full list of species was as follows:

1. Small Skipper
2. Essex Skipper
3. Large Skipper
4. Dingy Skipper
5. Grizzled Skipper
6. Sandy Grizzled Skipper
7. Tufted Marbled Skipper
8. Mallow Skipper
9. Orbed Red-Underwing Skipper
10. Yellow Banded Skipper
11. Swallowtail
12. Scarce Swallowtail
13. Wood White
14. Clouded Yellow
15. Eastern Pale Clouded Yellow
16. Berger’s Clouded Yellow
17. Cleopatra
18. Brimstone
19. Black Veined White
20. Large White
21. Small White
22. Mountain Small White
23. Green Veined White
24. Balkan Green Veined White
25. Eastern Bath White
26. Green Hairstreak
27. Sloe Hairstreak
28. Ilex Hairstreak
29. White Letter Hairstreak
30. Blue Spot Hairstreak
31. Small Copper
32. Purple Shot Copper
33. Sooty Copper
34. Balkan Copper
35. Scarce Copper
36. Long Tailed Blue
37. Lang’s Short Tailed Blue
38. Little Tiger Blue
39. Holly Blue
40. Eastern Baton Blue
41. Short Tailed Blue
42. Small Blue
43. Osiris Blue
44. Silver Studded Blue
45. Brown Argus
46. Blue Argus#
47. Geranium Argus
48. Mazarine Blue
49. Green Underside Blue
50. Chapman’s Blue
51. Common Blue
52. False Eros Blue
53. Escher’s Blue
54. Amanda’s Blue
55. Anomalous Blue
56. Adonis Blue
57. Large Blue
58. Nettle Tree Butterfly
59. Common Glider
60. Southern White Admiral
61. Lesser Purple Emperor
62. Red Admiral
63. Painted Lady
64. Comma
65. Peacock
66. Small Tortoiseshell
67. Large Tortoiseshell
68. Map
69. Eastern Knapweed Fritillary
70. Lesser Spotted Fritillary
71. Spotted Fritillary
72. Heath Fritillary
73. False Heath Fritillary
74. Dark Green Fritillary
75. Cardinal
76. Silver Washed Fritillary
77. Queen of Spain Fritillary
78. Marbled Fritillary
79. Pearl Bordered Fritillary
80. Lattice Brown
81. Speckled Wood
82. Wall Brown
83. Northern Wall Brown
84. Large Wall Brown
85. Small Heath
86. Meadow Brown
87. Oriental Meadow Brown
88. Woodland Ringlet
89. Balkan Marbled White
90. Marbled White
91. Balkan Grayling
92. Woodland Grayling
93. Great Banded Grayling
94. Hermit
95. Pearly Heath

That's a good haul of species, despite the advanced year. Such a wonderful location, I thoroughly enjoyed my 2019 trip there, and definitely aim for a re-visit in the coming years.

It's a wonderful area, Paul, as you know. Had things been 10c cooler each day it would have been perfect! Still, it made a change from abnormally inclement which has followed me around for much of the year.

14th to 18th June – Italy & French Mercantour…

After experiencing a week of oppressive heat in Greece, it came as something of a surprise to arrive in Nice to find the cols above 2,000m were still closed due to snow and ice, including Col de la Lombarde, which was my preferred route into Italy.

Thankfully, this col was reopened on the morning I was heading over it, although it was quite a shock to see the enormous chunks of ice beside the roadside once I crossed over onto the north side.

My first afternoon in Italy was relatively uninspiring, with cloud cover increasing and butterflies largely inactive.

Large Whites were around in good numbers, and the odd Clouded Apollo floated by. However, a sign of the late season was when I thought I had found an Almond-Eyed Ringlet, only for it to turn out to be a De Prunner’s:

14th to 18th June – Italy & French Mercantour cont…

I only had a further day and a half in Italy before crossing back into France, but the weather was good and the two principal target species were found - Scarce Fritillary & Southern Swallowtail:
A sign of how late things were was the almost ridiculous sighting of a Western Dappled White, although Nickerl's Fritillary was a welcome find as they have often finished their flight season by mid June.

14th to 18th June – Italy & French Mercantour cont…

The ice was still there when I went back over Col de la Lombarde, and the only butterflies found above 2,000m were mobile species which were clearly happy to fly higher up given that it was a fine day. Most of these were Large Whites, but there were a few Clouded Yellows & Small Tortoiseshells. I also, rather frustratingly, disturbed a Peak White which had been on the ground.

The day and a half spent in the French Mercantour followed much the same pattern, with emergences way behind where one would expect for the second half of June.

This Blue Spot Hairstreak was one of the better species encountered:

14th to 18th June – Italy & French Mercantour cont…

A truncated visit but in spite of everything, it was enjoyable and a reasonable range of butterflies were recorded:

1. Dingy Skipper
2. Marbled Skipper
3. Red Underwing Skipper
4. Safflower Skipper
5. Southern Grizzled Skipper
6. Large Grizzled Skipper
7. Small Skipper
8. Large Skipper
9. Clouded Apollo
10. Scarce Swallowtail
11. Swallowtail
12. Southern Swallowtail
13. Wood White
14. Orange Tip
15. Black Veined White
16. Large White
17. Southern Small White
18. Small White
19. Green Veined White
20. Peak White
21. Bath White
22. Western Dappled White
23. Clouded Yellow
24. Berger’s Clouded Yellow
25. Brimstone
26. Cleopatra
27. Duke of Burgundy
28. Small Copper
29. Purple Shot Copper
30. Green Hairstreak
31. Blue Spot Hairstreak
32. Ilex Hairstreak
33. Sloe Hairstreak
34. Small Blue
35. Holly Blue
36. Baton Blue
37. Chequered Blue
38. Green Underside Blue
39. Geranium Argus
40. Brown Argus
41. Mazarine Blue
42. Escher’s Blue
43. Amanda’s Blue
44. Common Blue
45. Adonis Blue
46. Queen of Spain Fritillary
47. Pearl Bordered Fritillary
48. Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary
49. Scarce Fritillary
50. Marsh Fritillary
51. Glanville Fritillary
52. Knapweed Fritillary
53. Lesser Spotted Fritillary
54. Spotted Fritillary
55. False Heath Fritillary
56. Heath Fritillary
57. Provencal Fritillary
58. Nickerl’s Fritillary
59. Red Admiral
60. Painted Lady
61. Small Tortoiseshell
62. Comma
63. Large Tortoiseshell
64. Southern White Admiral
65. Speckled Wood
66. Wall Brown
67. Large Wall Brown
68. Pearly Heath
69. Small Heath
70. Meadow Brown
71. Almond-Eyed Ringlet
72. De Prunner’s Ringlet
73. Marbled White

Thursday 20th June – Very, very poor….

Following my return from Europe, I figured I’d get a handful of butterfly species during my hour’s walk in my local woodland.

It wasn’t long before I saw my first Meadow Brown of the year:
Fifteen more followed, including this male who obliged by posing wings open:
Just one female, though she too was happy to give me a flash of the upperwings:
That was it. No Speckled Woods, no Large Skippers, no Ringlets…nothing!

I really hope this year is a one-off.

Saturday 22nd June – Underwhelming again….

I trotted off to Welshmoor today, hoping to see my first Ringlets and Large Skippers of the year.

The latter duly obliged, with a total of 4 males seen:
A big surprise was the appearance of a Marsh Fritillary, the latest I’ve ever seen:
Just half a dozen Meadow Browns and a Small Heath were seen. Ringlets are very late this year.

24th June to 1st July – French Alps….

After the travails of Italy a week earlier, it was with some trepidation that I ventured back to the Mercantour Park on 24 June.

I knew things were going to be well behind where they normally are at this point in the year, and those fears were confirmed upon arrival at the first hotel, where the lavender bushes had yet to flower and butterfly numbers and range of species on the forest track were less impressive than in previous years.

The following morning though there was an immediate reminder that pleasant surprises can occur at any moment, irrespective of the state of the season. This Southern Swallowtail (the first I’ve ever seen in France) was found roosting wings open on the road leading up to the fort:
Two hours later, it was still in the exact same spot exhibiting the exact same pose. A wonderful find.

24th June to 1st July – French Alps cont….

Later that day, the forest track was explored, however butterfly numbers were well down on previous years.

That said, both Heath Fritillary and Pearly Heath were common:
The two most desirable species were, firstly, this Large Tortoiseshell which I didn’t dare approach any further even though there was foliage between me and the butterfly:
Both male and female Purple Shot Coppers were probably the best sightings though:

24th June to 1st July – French Alps cont….

Between 1,200 and 1,800m, Dingy Skippers & Pearl Bordered Fritillaries were still around in good numbers, along with Green Hairstreak.

Usually, they are outnumbered by Almond-Eyed Ringlets but only a few dozen of this species was seen this time:
Only one Large Blue was recorded:
Amazingly, there was just one Apollo, and Small Apollo was entirely absent.

Only Alpine Grizzled Skipper bucked the trend above 1,500m, with decent numbers seen:

You've certainly seen some lovely Butterflies David Goldie

Not complaining, Goldie, although I've seen many fewer than I usually do.

Out of all the many butterflies you've posted from your European travels, David, I keep returning to that Southern Swallowtail. What a striking insect.

Cheers,

Dave

Alexanor is one of Europe's finest insects, Dave.

A truly beautiful thing.