La Pineda Spain 3rd-10th September

[Stevieb]

Certainly nothing like David M's excellent Montes Universales account, this was definitely not a butterfly extravaganza!

Infact butterflies were extremely thin on the ground. Going out most mornings I eventually managed to find a half decent local patch on a nearby golf course until I was politely asked to leave on day 6 by security

I did manage two lifers so all was not lost. Below are a few photos taken during my perambulations.

Species list:

Swallowtail
Southern Marbled Skipper (Lifer)
Mediterranean Skipper (Lifer)
Clouded Yellow
Cleopatra
Bath White
Small White
Lang's Short-tailed Blue
Long-tailed Blue
Geranium Bronze
Painted Lady
Southern Gatekeeper
Wall Brown

Swallowtail

Southern Marbled Skipper

Southern Marbled Skipper

Mediterranean Skipper

Mediterranean Skipper

Long-tailed Blue

Long-tailed Blue

Lang's Short-tailed Blue

Lang's Short-tailed Blue

Lang's Short-tailed Blue

Bath White

[selbypaul]

Two lifers is still a good result. Thanks for sharing!

[David M]

Spain in late summer/early autumn is a strange place.

It's a dry, arid country in the southern half, and much of the habitat has been turned over to agriculture.

There are rewards to be had, but this country is trying too hard to be the epicentre of crops that do not generally grow elsewhere on the continent.

I hope this may be abated at some point, as this part of Europe is unique.

I'm glad you saw a few unusual species, Steve, but redemption is some years away for this country from a wildlife/butterfly perspective.