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Swallowtail - Favourite Photo of 2024

Week 18

Finally we’re leaving the Small’s behind! But that can only mean that we’re drawing closer to the grand finale! Make sure that you have your overall Faves ready to go!

Please could I ask that everyone waits until a topic has been opened by me for a particular species before posting photos as then it will be easier to keep track of things? Of course our overseas members are very welcome to fill in the obvious gaps relating to rare UK migrants. As in previous years details of locations, dates, times and circumstances would be welcome as would any accompanying stories and anecdotes or other observations of behaviour and interesting other points.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

I'll kick off with a freshly minted swallowtail from Switzerland. Unusually for this very flighty species, which even nectars on the wing, it settled in a perfect position for a photo. This was taken on 22nd August in the Rhône valley near Leuk:



Guy

Not so much a favourite, more a least rubbish picture I took of an all too brief encounter of the only one I saw last year.

Padfield wrote: ↑Sun Feb 09, 2025 6:14 pm...Unusually for this very flighty species, which even nectars on the wing, it settled in a perfect position for a photo...

That was good fortune to get one that's not flapping to balance itself, particularly given that it's on a clover flower!

This fresh individual from the French Pyrenees in May was the finest looking individual I photographed last year:
However, my favourite was undoubtedly this ragged specimen, which suddenly appeared at 70 degrees north when I was visiting the Arctic Circle in July:

Swallowtail

This is something of a slight cheat as the image was taken in France at the top of Mont Saint-Clair in a small coastal town called Sete. It was one of only two Swallowtails I saw over the whole holiday that I was able to get a shot of which I thought odd as its supposedly ‘Scarce’ relative was anything but. When sorting through my various images this was the one that stood out head and shoulders above the rest and was an obvious choice.
Have a goodun

Wurzel

I didn’t get a chance to visit The Broads last year so like others my favourites are from overseas. In my case an April trip to La Rioja in N. Spain provided several to choose from, including three of this individual that allowed me to record the fine detail.