Rhodope Mountains, Bulgaria 8-14 June 2013

In my searching for a great place in Europe to see Butterflies, an area of Bulgaria quickly came to the fore, as having great diversity and natural beauty. A big thank you to Nick Greatorex-Davies in my local Butterfly and Moth group, and his advice and information was invaluable. Nick gives guided tours of Bulgaria, more info here http://www.bbfs.org.uk. I would recommend a trip to Bulgaria not just for Butterflies, but the scenery, food and friendly people.

8.6.13

Bachkovo - a lovely village nestled in a high sided valley, and a picturesque river rumbling along through it, which was our base for 5 days.  

Species seen on a short walk along the hillside in the late afternoon: 

Marbled Fritillary

Nettle-tree Butterfly

Large Skipper

Queen of Spain Fritillary

Eastern Festoon

Eastern Festoon

Queen of Spain Fritillary

9.6.13

Dobrostan - A high plateau area, mixed grassland and scrub. A very pretty place, and loads and loads of butterflies and insects, it was great. 
Species seen on walk roughly between 10am - 3pm:

Black Veined White

Queen of Spain Fritillary

Woodland Ringlet or Bright Eyed Ringlet (not sure)

Glanville Fritillary

Spotted Fritillary

Niobe Fritillary

Common Blue

Chapman's Blue

Amanda's Blue

Mazarine Blue

Small Heath

Small Tortoiseshell

Painted Lady

Brown Argus

Blue Argus? (checking)

Owly Sulphur

Black Veined Moth

Niobe Fritillary

Woodland or Bright Eyed Ringlet - contact me if you know!

Owly Sulphur

Glanville Fritillary

Pair of Amanda's Blue

Amanda's Blue (m)

Spotted Fritillary (m)

Spotted Fritillary (f) form meridionalis

10.6.13

Wonderful Bridges - A beautiful formation in the rocks, surrounded by wooded hills. 

Species seen roughly between 10:30am - 1pm:

Painted Lady

Pearl Bordered Fritillary

Common Blue

Glanville Fritillary

Grizzled Skipper

Woodland Ringlet

Chestnut Heath

(up on the wooded hill above the Wonderful Bridge)

Large Wall Brown

(on the road side on the way)

Scarce Swallowtail

Chestnut Heath

10.6.13

Track at Siniakhan (between Hvoyna and turning for the Wonderful Bridges)

Stopping off in a lay by and exploring a track running off the road. Species seen roughly between

Nettle Tree Butterfly

Twin Spot Fritillary

Wood White

also - 

Dactylorhiza saccifera Orchid

Nettle-tree Butterfly

Dactylorhiza saccifera

10.6.13

Meadow at Siniakhan roadside

By the lay-by on the same road there's a really lovely meadow with lots of activity -

Meadow Brown

Adonis Blue

Black Veined White

Queen of Spain Fritillary

Clouded Yellow

Small Tortoiseshell

Painted Lady

Large White

Owly Sulphur

 Queen of Spain Fritillary

Black-veined Whites

11.6.13

Roadsides near Oreshets

Stopping off on the way to see the Stork nest in Cherven, we headed to the hillside town of Oreshets, which were alive with Butterflies. Species seen roughly between 10am - 12:30pm. 

Great Banded Grayling

Spotted Fritillary (m & f)

Niobe Fritillary

Idas Blue or SS Blue? checking

Amanda's Blue

Large Skipper

Eastern Festoon

Marbled White

Cardinal

Scarce Copper

Meadow Brown

Burnet Moth

Garden Tiger moth caterpillar

Stork and chick (commonly take up residence on telephone poles)

Great Banded Grayling

Cardinals

Scarce Copper

Niobe Fritillary

12.6.13

Zabardo (hillside above village)

Zabardo is a premier site, but was very quiet due to the chilly day and lack of sun, and rain showers. 

Black Veined White

Chestnut Heath

Meadow Brown

Chimney Sweep Moth

(roadside at entrance to village)

Queen of Spain Fritillary

12.6.13

Hvoyna (Riverside meadow and base of hillside to the north of village)

Again things were very quiet due to the weather, but the meadow was quite active. 

Niobe or High Brown Fritillary

Clouded Yellow

Marbled White

Black Veined White

Small Heath

Amanda's Blue

Lattice Brown

Essex Skipper

Burnet Companion

Black-veined Moth

Niobe or High Brown Fritillary (any comments welcome)

14.6.13

Plovdiv 

Species seen in the city parks and hills:

(Park)

Swallowtail

Small White 

(Danov Hill)

Comma

Scarce Swallowtail

Queen of Spain Fritillary

(Bunardzhika Hill)

Mallow Skipper

Swallowtail

Scarce Swallowtail

Queen of Spain Fritillary

Scarce Swallowtail

Please contact me if you'd like to know anything about my trip or the species seen. It was an amazing trip and I would recommend it massively!

Wyre Forest 2/6/2013

2.6.13

Staying in the West Midlands, the western side of the country opens up and the promise of new butterflies comes closer. So I did a little research, and found that the Wyre Forest has both Pearl-bordered Fritillary and Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary, two species I've never seen before.

So being the ideal time of year, we headed there and had a very nice walk in lovely weather. The woods are very beautiful, being quite hilly and having a stream running through. The bluebells were still out and in quite good condition here, and a very good spread in the main clearing. This main clearing, near the new butterfly trail which follows the route of the railway, is the main site for the PBFs, and we saw about 20 individuals at one time near the entrance, feeding on Bugle and basking, and occasionally performing a fluttering mating display on the ground. No SPBFs were spotted as far as I can tell.

Throughout the rest of the wood, we spotted individuals in three other smaller clearings. There were also many Speckled Yellow Moths flying throughout the wood, but curiously very few other butterflies. A few whites and one Speckled Wood were all that were seen. 

Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Wyre Forest Bluebells

Mating display

Totternhoe Knolls and Quarry 27.5.13

 Duke of Burgundy

 Totternhoe Knolls and Quarry

Hoverfly in flight

27.5.13

Another beautiful sunny day, a little windy but still hot. So I took the chance to see the Duke of Burgundy, one of our rarest butterflies, and was rewarded for the long journey - hurrah! A lovely little butterfly, the males are very territorial, chasing off anything that comes near, many times a Brimstone was seen off. They are quite happy to sit on their perch until disturbed, so getting close and some good photos wasn't too difficult. 

I also saw while I was there - Dingy Skipper, Green Hairstreak, Orange-tip, Brimstone, Speckled Wood, Large and Small White, either Holly or Common Blue (saw two - quite early for Common but couldn't be sure). Plants - lots of Cowslips - important for the DoBs, Bird's Foot Trefoil, Common Twayblade, Clustered Bellflower (fed on by a Dingy Skipper). 

Over at the cliff edge I only saw two Small Blues, it was quite windy and wasn't set to change, so gave up. Also saw two Peacock there.

Very pleased to finally meet his grace :-)

Barnack Hills and Holes 26.5.2013

Green Hairstreak 

Burnet Companion

Green Carpet 

Common Heath

Dingy Skipper

Pasque Flower

26.5.13

Fantastic sunny day today, and Barnack Hills and Holes had lots to see. There were lots and lots of Green Hairstreak which were my main intention for coming. I also saw Orange-tip (m&f), Dingy Skipper, Brimstone (m&f), Small Whites, Large Whites, and my first Small Heath and Small Coppers of the year. Didn't see any Brown Argus, had one unsure sighting so may too early.

I also encountered some lovely day flying moths - Common Heath, Green Carpet and Burnet Companion. 

Many Pasque Flowers were still fresh, and some of the Early-purple Orchids weren't too bad either. Didn't see any Man Orchid, though due to the slow start may be too early. 

Woodwalton Marsh, Ravely Wood, Upwood Meadows Evening 21.5.13

21.5.13

A nice end to the day, which had been quite chilly, with the sun coming out for brief periods about 5pm. 

Saw an interesting Hoverfly, either Syrphus torvus or ribesi. Also had a brief visit from a Brimstone. After searching out Grizzled Skippers, I was all set to leave when my foot moved some grass and I saw one, they are so well camouflaged. 

Woodwalton Marsh, north end looking south. 

Then on to Ravely Wood, to see some roosting Green-veined whites and Orange-tips. The Early-purple Orchids had another good year, but they were past their best. 

Then on to Upwood Meadows, to see the Green-winged Orchids, which were of lesser number this year compared to last, but some had a lovely dark purple colour, and I saw one pink one too.