Although the tour to Bulgaria was mainly aimed at dragonflies, the country is so diverse with insects, there was always going to be lots of butterflies to enjoy.
We actually ended up seeing over 90 species, which considering the tour was only over 9 days, is pretty amazing.
Following photos are my favourites from the trip. This did include several new ones for me too and some that I was hoping to see again.
Our first stop after leaving the airport gave me my first new species in the form of a Freyer's Purple Emperor, however, despite seeing them again later in the tour, I never did manage to get a photo of this species.
Also on the way to the first hotel, a meadow was full of colour with a couple Twin-spot Fritillaries and Balkan Coppers.
Twin-spot Fritillary.
On the 2nd day, we thought we had found a Yellow-banded Skipper. Unfortunately, the butterfly remained open winged, so we couldn't see the distinctive underside. However, after returning home, and studying the photo, it appears that this butterfly is actually the Sandy Grizzled Skipper, which is quite a scarce species.
Sandy Grizzled Skipper.
Throughout the tour we occasionally came across hoards of butterflies taking minerals and moisture from the tracks. Although these were mainly members of the 'blue' family, we did get the odd Grayling including the Delattin's Grayling and The Hermit.
Delattin's Grayling.
The Hermit.
Several Marbled Fritillaries were seen in a couple of locations.
Marbled Fritillary.
As well as the first day, we also saw the Balkan Copper in the meadow in front of one of the hotels. I got up early on the morning we were at that hotel to search for roosting butterflies. The best of which was a Balkan Copper. As the sun came up the butterfly opened its wings to reveal the brilliant top wings. We also saw a female , which was not quite so dramatic!!
Balkan Copper.
Male Balkan Copper.
Female Balkan Copper.
The Lesser Fiery Copper was also seen a few times, although they didn't open their wings so far as it was during the heat of the day when we saw them.
Lesser Fiery Copper.
Sloe Hairstreak were very common at several sites. Unfortunately, this was the only hairstreak we saw to photograph.
Sloe Hairstreak.
By the side of one of the small reservoirs, one of the clients found a stunning pupa, which almost certainly is the pupa of the Spotted Fritillary. This was one of the most numerous fritillary species that we saw, and one of the brightest coloured. Interestingly, the female is a sort of two tone, with brighter hindwings than the forewings.
Spotted Fritillary pupa.
Female Spotted Fritillary.
Male Spotted Fritillary.
At a woodland site in the Pirin Mountains, I spotted a female obviously searching for somewhere to lay her eggs. Fortunately I spotted her as she flew under a leaf and started to egg lay. After watching her for a couple of minutes, we decided to leave her to it, and to check on her when we walked back. She had left the leaf when we returned, and looking under the leaf we were amazed to find that she had laid over 70 eggs.
Spotted Fritillary egg laying.
Spotted Fritillary eggs.
Another new species for me was the Eastern Festoon. These were quite numerous, although I didn't get any decent shots of them, particularly the top side.
Eastern Festoon.
Plenty of Queen of Spain Fritillaries were seen.
Queen of Spain Fritillary.
Heath Fritillary.
Apollo are always impressive to see. This one was nectaring for some time in a meadow that was full of butterflies.
Apollo.
Ever since my 2018 trip to Bulgaria with Matt I have wanted to see the Poplar Admiral again. This large impressive species we only saw briefly back then, although it did fly into the car and land on our butterfly field guide!! We only saw this species once also during this trip, although we did have 2 together. One vanished quickly, but the other flew down to the shallows at the edge of the river to drink from the river. It was in immaculate condition. Most Poplar Admirals have wide white markings on the wings, but this one is of the form tremulae which doesn't have the white markings.
Poplar Admiral. form tremulae.
Until this trip, I had also never seen the Small Tiger Blue. Such a tiny gem of a butterfly. We saw them in 2 different locations, although mostly they were a little worn. At the 2nd site I was lucky to find a lovely fresh individual.
Little Tiger Blue.
One spot was extremely memorable as it first produced a Chapman's Blue, and then my most memorable butterfly moment of the trip, when a newly emerged Southern White Admiral was sheltering in the bush where we were both sheltering from the 40 degrees heat.
This is one of the best butterflies I've ever photographed. A truly spectacular individual, despite it not opening its wings. The undersides though are pretty amazing.
Chapman's Blue.
Southern White Admiral.
After leaving our final hotel, we stopped off in a couple of spots on our way back to the airport. Dansko, our other leader suddenly called us over, as he had found a mating pair of Large Coppers. How lucky were we to see this quite scarce butterfly mating. After we left them to it, I checked on them on the way back to the van to find that they had split up, but 2 males were seen fighting over territory. Eventually they split up, and one of them landed close to me to give me one final opportunity with him.
Mating Large Copper.
Male Large Copper.