Friends of Groyne No.4: Butterflies of the French Pyrenees, Sournia, The Quarry and "Somewhere in the Pyrenees"

Monday, 28 May 2018

Butterflies of the French Pyrenees, Sournia, The Quarry and "Somewhere in the Pyrenees"

Day three and four rolled together mainly because day four was short and sweet. At least the sun came out and we enjoyed some really warm weather. The increased temperatures brought aout the butterflies and we weren't disappointed. Lots of blues about, not least Chapman's Blue which was invariably seen on Sainfoin.

Chapman's Blue

Chequered Blue

Mmmm - Blue???

Mazarine Blue

The Marsh Fritillaries were really bright - I have a suspicion that most of these are Eurodrya aurinia beckeri

Marsh Fritillary

Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk Moth

Broad-bordered Bee Hawk Moth

Southern Scarce Swallowtail

The late spring in the Pyrenees may have led to fewer butterflies but at least it meant that the Spanish Festoons were still about.

Spanish Festoon

The botanists on the tour seemed to ignore the Broomrapes and concentrated on the orchids.

Common Broomrape

Knapweed Broomrape

Man Orchid

Pyramidal Orchid

Finally a location somewhere in the French Pyrenees. not divulged as it is a very sensitive site with a small population of Violet Copper. I say small and that is justified by the fact that we found just a single specimen. Now 12 photographers trying to capture one butterfly could do an awful lot of habitat damage but I have to say that everyone was patient and well behaved. We took it in turns, two at a time, half a dozen shots then away to let someone else in.