On 17th June I went on my traditional butterfly pilgrimage to the Sierra Nevada. It is a 200 kilometre drive in both directions from the villa we were staying in, but well worth the effort. There are four places I always visit there, which I know offer a great variety of butterflies. Initially I drive right up to the main ski resort at Hoya de la Mora and leave the car in the car park before the road barrier. From here I take the path down to the San Juan stream.
This is mostly quite rocky and barren, but there are a lot of little Alpine-type plants between the rocks.
Down by the stream there are a few areas of damp grassland, where amazing Gentian grow along with Tirana, which has sticky leaves for catching insects.
Almost as soon as I started walking I saw a Painted Lady drinking from a damp area below a patch of snow. I saw a few more of them on my walk down the hill.
A little further on and a blue butterfly landed ahead of me, which turned out to be a male Escher’s Blue. And further down the slope I saw a couple more, but those were the only Escher’s Blue I saw. Quite different from my visits in early July when they are quite common.
Small Tortoiseshells were dotted along the route and I saw about ten of them.
More numerous were Wall Browns which flew rapidly among the rocks and seemed to disappear when they landed!
As with everywhere else on my trip Small Whites were very numerous. It is always worth checking each white butterfly, as two of them turned out to be Bath Whites!
I saw this one, beautifully marked, Safflower Skipper.
As the ground became a little damper and more vegetated there were a few Nevada Blues about. I was very pleased to see these as I didn’t expect that they would be flying until July.
There were about five Clouded Yellows on this walk. Most of those I saw were the pale form, helice.
I returned to the car park and continued up the closed road beyond the barrier. My intention was to see if any Zullich’s Blues were flying yet. I met a group of about ten butterfly enthusiasts with big lenses who were patrolling the area. They told me that there had been a Zullich’s Blue photographed there the day before. Sadly, none of us saw one that day. However, I did see a Spanish Argus.
There were also a few Nevada Blues flying there and Queen of Spain Fritillaries.
I could have spent so much longer walking these areas, but I had quite a tight itinerary and two more exciting locations to visit.
I can't believe the variety seen in Sierra Nevada. It's interesting to see how the Alpine-type plants and the areas of damp grassland bring out such variety of butterflies. I love the Nevada and Escher’s Blue and the Safflower Skipper. I think all of them are so diverse!
ReplyDeleteThank you Maria. The Sierra Nevada is a really special place. There is so much interesting fauna and flora. I could spend weeks there exploring all the different habitats!
DeleteHello Nick :=)
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for your visit, I hope you enjoyed your holiday. What a numerous and varied array of gorgeous butterflies you found, and all beautifully photographed. I can see by your text that other butterfly enthusiasts enjoy the same location. I have never seen the Safflower Skipper, the Spanish Angus nor the Nevada blue or Etcher's Blue., but I did see a Short-tailed Blue in the garden yesterday.. Nature can be so cruel. Your tale about the ducklings is so sad, but thanks to your intervention with your dogs some did escape with their lives. Lovely blog post Nick.
All the best
Sonjia.
Thank you Sonjia. It really is a great place for butterflies. I saw so many more in different areas, too, which I will mention in future posts.
DeleteYes, the ducklings and the otter. Sad, but everything needs to eat. Maybe there were some hungry little otters waiting for food!! It is odd, though, as my dad had ornamental fish in the pond and it also had trout in it, but in the last three years all of the fish have also disappeared.
Nice pics and excellent blues.Also my personal favorite a Q of S Fritillary.
ReplyDeleteThanks Bob. It is interesting going there at slightly different times of the year. I think early July is probably the best time for various blues, although early June provided a few species I hadn't seen there before. The QofS Fritillary is lovely, particularly the underside.
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