Sierra Nevada Butterflies - June 2024 Part 3

A bit further down the mountain is my favourite butterfly spot. Somewhere where I could spend days just watching all of the different species. There were maybe not quite as many species there as during my July visits, but I still saw more than 22 species in the hour, or so, that I was there.

There were butterflies everywhere I looked. First off was a Silver-studded Blue. At least I think it was, as I am still a little uncertain about the difference between Silver-studded and Idas Blues in the Sierra Nevada.

There were some Small Skippers flying there.

Also some beautiful Marsh Fritillaries each with their favourite perch that they would return to when disturbed.

Obviously Small Whites were the most numerous butterfly there, too, but close behind were Common Blues. I must have seen more than 15 of them.

Other common butterflies were Meadow Browns and Wall Browns.

I was also really pleased to see Mother-of-Pearl Blues. These are really beautiful butterflies and there were several of them flying there this year.

Again, there were plenty of Wall Browns, Bath Whites and Clouded Yellows.

Quite a number of butterflies flew past, which I could identify, but they didn't land. These included Black-veined Whites, Large Whites and Cleopatras. There were also a few that I couldn't identify, that looked as though they were Graylings of some kind.

I took a picture of this skipper and later identified it as a Large Grizzled Skipper.

There were a few Knapweed Fritillaries, which had taken up territory on prominent branches, seeing off any other butterflies that flew anywhere near.

I also saw lots of little Southern Brown Argus flying...

...and after I returned home and looked at my pictures, I noticed that some of them were Mountain Argus.

I also saw a few Speckled Woods, which I haven't seen in the Sierra Nevada before.

I saw some Iberian Marbled Whites and a Red Underwing Skipper, but wasn't quick enough to photograph them.

Eventually, I had to drag myself away, knowing that I had a three hour drive to get back to the villa. It had been a fantastic day, though and in total I managed to identify 36 species. Not as many as I would have seen in July, but still a fantastic number in one day.

Sierra Nevada Butterflies - June 2024 Part 2

My next stop was a little further down the mountains at a viewing area about 2,250 metres above sea level. It isn't obvious from the road, but this has proved to be a real hot spot for butterflies and is a must to visit.

As soon as I arrived I saw a fritillary on an enormous thistle. It was a Cardinal Fritillary and was one of six flying there.

Amongst the Small Whites were some Clouded Yellows and a couple more Bath Whites. One of what I thought was a Bath White turned out to be a Western Dappled White.

There were Wall Browns everywhere dashing around chasing other butterflies. They would settle briefly before spotting another butterfly and chasing after it.

As I approached the viewpoint, which overlooks the Canales Reservoir, I could see Swallowtails flying. This is an amazing spot for hill-toping butterflies of all sorts of species.

There were also some Iberian Scarce Swallowtails joining in the fun.

I noticed a really small butterfly, which turned out to be a Panoptes Blue. I think I saw two of them, but at this stage I was joined by a friendly German motorcyclist who was keen to tell me about his exploits! He told me that the Spanish drive very slowly and part of his annual holiday allowance goes towards his inevitable speeding tickets!

I felt a little rude as I slowly moved away from him when I saw in interesting butterfly! Eventually he departed and left me to my strange obsession! There were some Dusky Heaths joining in the chasing about.

By far the most aggressive butterfly was this very worn Spanish Marbled White. It would chase anything that landed within a couple of metres of it!

Amongst the shrubs there were Blue-spot Hairstreaks.

And some Purple-shot Coppers.

It was quite intoxicating watching all of this butterfly activity.

On my way back to the car I saw various Skippers. The only one I could identify was this Southern Marbled Skipper.

Again, I wished I could have stayed there far longer, but I still had my favourite place to visit.