Dolomites Part Two.

Part one I focussed mainly on the brown species of butterfly, these can be prolific in the high mountains, however, some more colourful ones are also to be seen. These can include different sub-species to the lower altitude butterflies.

The most common of the 'blue' species was the Mazarine Blue. This was actually once a UK species, but has been extinct in the UK since around the 1870s. Almost every site we went to held some Mazarine Blue across the Dolomites.

Male Mazarine Blue.

Female Mazarine Blue.

Mating Mazarine Blues.

Another speciality of the high mountains is the Alpine Blue. We saw more of these this year and I also spotted a female egg laying.

Male Alpine Blue.

Female Alpine Blue egg laying.

My favourite blue from the trip though was a sublime male Amanda's Blue, that posed so well and allowed myself and Helen a few superb opportunities.

Male Amanda's Blue.

We did stop at one point hoping for a sighting of Geranium Argus. We were just about to give up when one arrived to do some egg laying!!

Geranium Argus egg laying.

At one of the highest points I came across this blue that was notably larger. Although it is almost certainly a Large Blue, there is a possibility that it could be a Mountain Alcon Blue. Unfortunately, we didn't manage any shots of the top wings which would have confirmed it one way or the other.

Probable Large Blue.

Only 2 Copper species were seen, the Scarce Copper and the Sooty Copper. The Sooty Copper is also a sub-species in the high mountains.

Sooty Copper.

We did see several species of Fritillary, however, I didn't manage myself to photograph many of them, although I did get a short session with a lovely Marsh Fritillary, the mountain sub-species of Marsh Fritillary, and also I found the 2 Thor's Fritillary that we were lucky to see. This is one of the rarer Fritillary species. After the initial sighting, I returned to the spot just before we left the site and managed to see a 2nd individual. This one was in better condition than the first, although it was still far from fresh.

Marsh Fritillary.

Thor's Fritillary.

We were very lucky to see some Alpine Accentor, White-winged Snowfinch and Alpine Chough. The Chough was quite tame and I took this photo with the macro lens!!

Alpine Chough.

On the final day, on the return trip to the airport we stopped off on the last really high point before Venice and saw many different species including a few Apollo. All were a little past their best, but were wonderful to see. We also saw on the way up and down the mountain Woodland Grayling and Great Sooty Satyr. A Golden Eagle being mobbed by Honey Buzzards was also an epic sighting.

Apollo.

Golden Eagle.

Honey Buzzard.

Almost the final butterfly we saw here was a wonderful Southern White Admiral. An absolutely gorgeous butterfly.

Southern White Admiral.

So that was another wonderful trip to the Dolomites. Fabulous scenery and some very winding roads that the cycling fanatics were enjoying (possibly). A great Hotel with some of the best food too.

Two different views of the hotel.

Dolomites 2023 Part One.

 For the 2nd year running I was invited by Naturetrek to co-lead their butterfly tour to the Italian Dolomites. It was certainly an honour to take them up on this offer, with the main leader being Luca, a brilliant Italian naturalist who is a mind of information.

We also had with us 12 enthusiastic clients who all helped to make the trip a tremendous success. Butterflies were the main target, but we also all enjoyed the botany and the stunning scenery, of course.

My camera does take a bit of a back seat when I'm leading as the priority has to go to the people that have paid to be on the trip, but of course, once they have all got their photos, if the butterfly is still there, then I can have a go. There were also moments when I had the odd chance of a quick photo when we were all searching larger areas.

The following 2 blogs will show a few of the highlights from the trip. It was quite a late season over there in Italy, so some of the species that we saw last year were not out yet, although we did pick up a few of the earlier species that we didn't see last year.

On the high mountains there are fewer species than in the lower valleys, but those up high are generally rarer and interesting. Last year we didn't see Alpine Grayling, but this year we saw reasonable numbers. Similar to our British Grayling, they do sometimes like to land on trousers!!

Grayling on Kev.

There are many types of Ringlet up high, all are dark, which probably helps them to absorb heat in the higher landscape. This year the Blind Ringlet was the most numerous. This Ringlet is so called as there are no white eye spots on their wings. We also saw several Dewy Ringlet and a smaller number of Almond-eyed Ringlet as well as several of the more common species.

Blind Ringlet.

Dewy Ringlet.

Almond-eyed Ringlet.

It was good to see the Dusky Skipper this year, a species that I didn't manage to photograph in 2022.

Dusky Skipper.

This year we also saw many more Alpine Heath, a beautiful species that we saw in most localities.

Alpine Heath.

As well as butterflies there were also some great moths. Apart from the daily moth trap that threw up some spectacular species, in the field we saw a few Yellow Banded, a really beautiful species, and many Nine-spotted including a mating pair.

Yellow Banded.

Mating Nine-spotted.

Some of the meadows were extremely colourful with so many wild flowers. Martagon Lily was one of the favourite species.

Martagon Lily.

There were also many types of orchids with hillsides full of Marsh Orchid, Small White Orchid, Vanilla Orchid and Round-headed Orchid.

Small White Orchid.

Round-headed Orchid.

A Hint of Purple.

 The day after our visit to see the Large Blues and Lulworth Skippers Lisa was busy working from home, but as I was still in West Sussex I decided on a visit to Southwater Woods.

Although this is a great wood for Purple Emperors I was just a couple of days early for that species. However, on arrival there were a couple of Small Tortoiseshell that were looking good. In fact the Small Tortoiseshell locally seem to be having a better year, which is extremely good to see. It was certainly a lovely start to the walk.

Small Tortoiseshell.

Although I was too early for the Purple Emperor, I certainly wasn't too early for the other larger woodland species such as Silver-washed Fritillary and White Admiral, with both species well represented.

Female Silver-washed Fritillary.

Male Silver-washed Fritillary.

Female Silver-washed Fritillary.

White Admiral.

Several very fresh Comma were also seen including a gorgeous hutchinsoni form, which posed very well, showing both under-wing and top wing.

Female Comma hutchinsoni form.

I then bumped into Paul Day, a local butterfly enthusiast  that I hadn't met before. He was looking for Purple Emperor, but just like me he had failed at seeing any that day. However, just after I finished chatting to him, I spotted a Purple Hairstreak that had presumably just emerged. It was sitting still on some reeds. I called Paul back and showed him the butterfly. After he had taken many photos I spent some time with it managing to get some under-wing shots, but later as the sun moved, and the butterfly had moved a couple of times it opened up showing it was a male, and I managed my best shots to date of a male Purple Hairstreak. I should have actually taken more at this point, but as I had taken quite a few by now I decided I should stop. As the light was so bad though many of the shots were not good at all, but there was enough still to be really pleased. I just wish Lisa was there to share this special moment with me. It certainly is a rare event seeing a Purple Hairstreak up close at ground level.

Male Purple Hairstreak.

Two Go West For Two Butterflies.

 Now that Lisa has seen all of the normal Sussex species of butterflies, we are venturing a little further afield to see other British species new to her. 

It is also an excuse for myself to be acquainted again with species that I have not seen too often. A month ago it was one of my favourites, the Marsh Fritillary. Our planned trip to Kent for the Heath Fritillary unfortunately didn't go ahead this year, but a trip to Somerset and Dorset was achieved, and these species I have neglected over the years, with only two visits to see the Large Blue, and just a single visit to Dorset for the Lulworth Skipper.

As we had decided on an overnight stay near the Large Blue site, we didn't even have to leave home too early, especially as we were starting from Worthing. We even had time for a long river walk at Blandford Forum on the way giving us a couple of views of Kingfisher as well as several dragonfly species.

After Blandford Forum we drove to the pub where we were staying overnight to drop off some of our baggage. 

It certainly didn't take long for Lisa to see her very first Large Blue when we arrived at the butterfly site with several seen after just a few steps onto the reserve. 

Large Blue.

Most of the Large Blue were showing signs of wear and tear, which was a shame, but hopefully it has given us an incentive to go a little earlier in the season next time. By carefully walking around we did manage to spot a handful of butterflies that were looking a little fresher, and one gave us both several opportunities when it stopped to nectar on a Thistle flower-head.

Both sides of a Large Blue on flower-head.

After a few hours spent in the meadows enjoying both the Large Blues and other butterfly species, and hoping to see some roosting we felt it was time to head back to the pub for our evening meal before it was too late. It was a fabulous evening and after eating it was still warm enough for sitting in the pub garden.

The following morning, it was back to the Large Blue to see if we could find some before they woke up too much. However, just as we reached the parking layby the sun came out and by the time we had walked up to the reserve the butterflies were very much awake. We then once again walked around hoping to find more fresh individuals. A mating pair of Marbled White was a nice find, and eventually a reasonable quality Large Blue showed itself.

Large Blue.

I have never managed a decent open wing shot of a Large Blue, and I must confess, that is really what I was hoping for at the start of the trip. Unfortunately, I still haven't got a decent open wing shot of a Large Blue, with the only one that did open its wings being a bit tatty and not in a particularly nice spot.

Female Large Blue.

Another insect that was at the reserve was a Crescent Plume. A species that I can't recall seeing before, so I did spend a little time with one of these that settled nearby.

Crescent Plume.

Eventually we decided to call it a day with the Large Blues, and to head to West Lulworth for the Lulworth Skipper. This species is only found along the Purbeck coast between Weymouth and Swanage. It's actually 190 years since it was first discovered in this area, and it was also the subject of my original first post on this blog!! (not 190 years ago)!! when Nigel and I made the trip down there 10 years ago. That was my only previous experience with this species, and that time I also managed some reasonable shots of the males and females. This time I only managed to get shots worth keeping of the male. However, the main purpose of the trip was for Lisa to see this tiny skipper, and we certainly didn't need to search for long as there were 100s of them in the small area we covered. Once again, the condition of most was a little worn, but this species does have a very long flight season, so there were sure to be some fresher ones out there.

Eventually Lisa spotted a male that looked pretty fresh, and after she had taken a few images I had a go. Although it did keep moving, it didn't fly far before settling again. All of the skippers kept landing deep in the grass, which made it very difficult to get good shots, but this little male did settle just the once higher up the grass and I managed a couple of quick shots of it in a clearer position.

Male Lulworth Skipper.

The only problem with stalking the skippers in the long grasses was the possibility of picking up ticks. One point when I stopped for a drink of water I took off my rucksack and found a tick crawling over the rucksack. We then realised that despite being careful there was a chance we may have collected some. 

At the end of the day we sat down on the benches just below the car park and celebrated with some gorgeous home made Devon ice cream.

It was the following morning that, despite thorough searches that had revealed no ticks the previous evening, that we had indeed managed to collect a few with Lisa coming out on top 11-4. Her blood is obviously more tasty than mine!! At least we have now had a lot of practice at removing ticks!!

A Marbellous Summer.

 Each year I look forward to the first Marbled White butterfly flying, as I regard this species as one of the most photogenic species we have, this despite it being principally 'black and white'!!

I am lucky to have several sites within walking distance from home, and indeed, my first sighting this year was on my home patch on the 12th June. 

Since then numbers have built steadily, especially in my local meadow that is called The Marbled Meadow due to the large numbers seen here. This particular site was a few days behind, but once the Marbled Whites start to emerge I try to get some images before they become a little worn.

My first attempt was only half hearted at the end of a long walk and was only a few shots as I passed through the meadow.

Male Marbled White on Agrimony.

The following morning I decided to have a more focussed attempt at getting a few images. I was eventually rewarded by a newly emerged individual that performed well for me as it tried to warm up in the hazy sunshine, fluttering around the Agrimony. 

Male Marbled White on Agrimony.

I then found another one that had a slight kink in the wing. This one was on a Pyramidal Orchid and I managed a couple of quick shots before it moved on.

Male Marbled White on Pyramidal Orchid.

I was also pleased when a very fresh male Small Skipper landed on a tall grass stem at the edge of the path. 

Male Small Skipper.

It was a fabulous hour or so spent in the meadow.

Numbers of the Marbled White have grown quite considerably since then and last night I witnessed an extraordinary sight of 100s of them going to roost. Certainly the highest number of Marbled Whites I have ever seen in a small area. Some grass stems had double figures trying to roost, whilst all around there were countless flying low over the meadow trying to find space to roost.

Marsh Fritillary.

 I have several sites that I do like to visit and most of these are not too far from home so I can easily get there when the conditions are right, however, there are a handful of sites that are further away so I only get to them every other year or more.

Martin Down is one of these sites. It's an awful long drive to do too often, however, when we are staying in Worthing it is at least an hour nearer!!

Arriving on an early morning in mid May it wasn't long before we started to see things of interest with some of the wonderful bird life in the area. A gorgeous male Stonechat was posing in a bush that Lisa tried to get a little closer to. The bird then flew over our head to a further bush. As I wasn't too worried about getting a Stonechat photo I stayed put, but then the bird flew back over to my area and posed in such a wonderful position that it would have been rude not to take advantage.

Male Stonechat.

The next sighting was of an Adder basking in the early morning sunshine. Although it was tucked into the bushes it was worth photographing, as it was shortly going to be sloughing its skin, shown by the cloudy eyes.

Male Adder.

The main purpose of the visit was for Lisa to see her first ever Marsh Fritillary. It appears it wasn't the best year for the species this year and it was sometime before Lisa spotted one. Although we did see several more during the visit this one was the best condition one we saw, it was also the best poser as we saw it before the temperature got unusually warm. I even managed to get a few photos of him, which wasn't really the plan, but when you have a really good one that moves only small distances between posing I took advantage.

Male Marsh Fritillary.

Burnt Orchids are also worth seeing at Martin Down with family groups of them, along with the scarce plant, the Field Fleawort, which I have recently become familiar with as it has now been found on my local patch.

Burnt Orchid groups.

Field Fleawort.

We also saw huge numbers of Small Blue, several Grizzled Skippers, as species that has been very hard to find locally this year, lots of Brown Argus and Common and Adonis Blue.

It was a very long but enjoyable visit as ever!!