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.

Back to Sierra Nevada

When I visited the Sierra Nevada on 4th July I had been disappointed to see so few butterflies in the mountains because of the high winds. I was delighted to see so many species in a lower meadow, but it seemed a shame to be in Spain and miss the opportunity to see some very special butterflies that live high in the Sierra Nevada.

So, on 10th July I drove back to take another look. I was very relieved when I arrived that it was a lovely sunny, still day, so I set of up the mountain from the Hoya de la Mora car park.

Initially, I didn’t see many butterflies, but suddenly I found myself in the middle of a colony of Nevada Blues, Polyommatus golgus. There were at least 20 of these beautiful butterflies catching the morning sun in a sheltered area.

A little further up the mountain I noticed a subtle change in the shade of blue and realised that I was now walking amongst Escher’s Blues, Polyommatus escheri. I was interested to notice that they were in discrete colonies, whereas on previous occasions I have seen these two species sharing the same space.

I continued up the mountain to an area where I had seen Zullich’s Blues, Agriades zullichi, in the past. I spent some time searching the area, with little luck. The ground seemed quite churned up, as if cattle had been grazing there on the very sparse vegetation. Certainly when I look back at pictures taken in the same area two years ago, it was a lot greener then.

I found some Spanish Argus, Aricia morronensis, which look quite similar.

And two or three Painted Ladies, Vanessa cardui.

There were also a few Spanish Brassy Ringlets, Erebia hispania, but as usual they were really difficult to approach without disturbing them.

Finally, I saw a Zullich’s Blue. They are very difficult to follow, as they fly low and blend into the background. Those that I saw looked very worn, but just as I was about to leave I saw a fresher-looking female. I was delighted to see this lovely butterfly again, but it is a little concerning that I only saw five individuals. Two years ago I estimate seeing more than 15 in this same location.

I then headed back down the mountain towards a stream that I have visited a few times in the past. It was interesting to see the difference in the butterflies I saw this time. The numbers were certainly lower than I had previously seen. There were the occasional Nevada Blue and Escher’s Blue, but the Common Blue, Polyommatus icarus, was more numerous.

There were very few Silver-studded Blues, Plebejus argus, in amongst the low-growing junipers. On previous visits there were a lot more numerous.

Occasionally I would see a Small Tortoiseshell, Aglais urticae, or Wall Brown on the more rocky slopes.

Down at the stream and along the wet grassy areas, where last year I had seen several Meadow Fritillaries, there were surprisingly few butterflies this year. I crossed the stream and searched a scrubby area, which had looked good from a distance, but amazingly there were no butterflies there, other than a couple of Small Coppers, Lycaena phlaeas.

The highlight for me was a beautiful Cardinal Fritillary, Argynnis pandora, that was sun bathing on a rock in the stream.

On my way back to the car I saw a couple of Small Whites and a long chase eventually allowed me to identify a Bath White. These white butterflies reminded me that I hadn’t seen any Apollos this trip. Just as I thought that, one flew past me and glided down the hill side. What a difference from two years ago when I saw so many.

Towards the end of my walk, I was surprised to find a snow bank blocking my route. I diverted around it and rejoined the path on the other side, which was wet with snowmelt. I was delighted to see some butterflies puddling on the path.

There were two Cardinals, two Small Tortoise shells and three blues.

The blues turned out to be a Common Blue, a Nevada Blue and an Escher’s Blue, demonstrating nicely the subtle differences between the species.

Had this been my first visit to the Sierra Nevada I would have thought that there were a lot of butterflies, but having visited previously I noticed that numbers were a lot lower than on previous visits. It is interesting to speculate why this would be.

Certainly, there was a lot more snow around, so possibly it had been cooler than in previous years. I also noticed that there were more cattle and goats than I had seen in previous years. Possibly they had grazed more of the wild flowers.

It is good to know that there are a lot of researchers working in the Sierra Nevada monitoring grazing and climate change and their impacts on invertebrates. It would be very interesting to talk to them and find out more about the long-term trends.

Sierra Nevada Fritillaries

I walked a little further down the dry stream bed to where it opened out into a rocky area. There were several fritillaries flying around fighting over this prized territory. It was so nice having time to observe them and take pictures of the upper and underside of the wings. I realised that they usually returned to the same spot after a bout of aerial combat, so I was able to wait for them to return for a photograph!

There were at least two Knapweed Fritillaries, Melitaea phoebe.

They seemed to be continually chasing off some Niobe Fritillaries, Argynnis niobe altonevadensis.

A Spotted Fritillary, Melitaea didyma, seemed to be at the bottom of the pecking order and was quickly seen off.

But a Marsh Fritillary, Euphydryas aurinia beckeri, was more persistent, constantly returning to its favourite rose bush.

Occasionally a larger Fritillary would fly past, but it would soon be chased off before it had even landed. I suspect they were High Brown Fritillaries, Argynnis adippe, as that is the largest fritillary occurring in the Sierra Nevada.

There were also a few Queen of Spain Fritillaries, Issoria lathonia. They seemed to be the top dogs in the area.

I returned to the car to have a drink of water and while I was there I noticed two fritillaries on a yellow flower below me. I cautiously approached them and saw that they were Cardinal Fritillaries, Argynnis pandora.

Despite a disappointing start to my day, I ended up seeing 33 species. It was so nice being able to spend some time watching the butterflies in this little meadow.

Valencia, Spain - Butterflies - July 2009

We spent two weeks in the Jalon Valley in South East Spain towards the end of July 2009. The area looked as though it should have been good for butterflies, but I was a little disappointed in the number I saw. Mostly "little brown jobs"!
I suppose I saw more than I managed to photograph, but with the heat many of the butterflies were very active. I think I would have seen more earlier in the year when there would have been more flowers out and everything would have been a little greener.

The Southern Brown Argus, Aricia cramera, was probably the most common butterfly around the village where we were staying. It was interesting that most of the butterflies I saw rested with their wings closed and with their heads pointed towards the sun. This made photographing them a little difficult as their wings would usually be in shade.

The other butterfly that could be relied on was Lang's Short-tailed Blue, Leptotes pirithous. As this one is doing, many of them seemed to be laying eggs on a variety of different plants.

I was very excited when my wife called me over to see this butterfly in a Lantana bush in the garden. It turned out to be a Cardinal Fritillary, Argynnis pandora. It is a beautiful, large butterflies with green and red shading on the underside of its wings.

I chased a number of little blue butterflies around the scrub area above the villa we were renting. They all turned out to be Common Blues, Polyommatus icarus. There are a lot of different blues occurring in Southern Spain, so I have to admit to being a little disappointed to find a species that occurs back home!

This is the one and only Dusky Heath, Coenonympha dorus,  I have ever seen. It settled under a root, which unfortunately cast a shadow across it. I managed this one picture and then it flew off. Although it is predominantly shades of brown it has a row of metallic silver scales towards the edges of its wings and I find it very beautiful.

These little South African interlopers had made themselves at home in a flower bed at the villa which was planted with Geraniums. The Geranium Bronze butterfly, Cacyreus marshalli, was found all over the village enjoying the Geraniums in window boxes and tubs.

Another first for me was this Holly Blue, Celastrina argiolus. It was spotted by my daughter as we returned to the villa late one afternoon.

While I was watching the Holly Blue I thought I saw a leaf move and noticed this Meadow Brown, Maniola jurtina, among the dry leaves next to the path to our villa. This is a very common butterfly back in Scotland and it seemed a little incongruous in the Spanish heat.

 This is a Mallow Skipper, Carcharodus alceae.

One day we went for a walk to what was supposed to be a lovely river with pools of clear water. The thought of jumping into the cool water after a hot walk was very appealing, but was dashed when we arrived to find a dried out river bed! A consolation on the way back was this Purple Hairstreak, Favonius quercus, that was flying around a shady spot. This is the subspecies ibericus, which is much more faintly marked than the regular Purple Hairstreak.

The Small Coppers, Lycaena phlaeas, would always rest with its wings closed in the Spanish heat. In Scotland I always see them resting with their wings open, trying to absorb the sun's rays.

This Southern Gatekeeper, Pyronia cecilia, gave a quick flash of colour and just long enough for me to take a slightly blurred picture before it flew off.

This Wall Brown, Lasiommata megera, was nicely camouflaged against a wall. This is another beautifully marked butterfly.

As well as the above I saw various other butterflies that didn't stop for a picture:
Large White - Pieris brassicae
Painted Lady - Vanessa cardui
Swallowtail - Papilio machaon
Long-tailed Blue - Lampides boeticus
Scarce Swallowtail - Iphiclides podalirius
Clouded Yellow - Colias crocea
Small White - Pieris rapae
Speckled Wood - Pararge aegeria
Wood White - Leptidea sinapis
A total of 22 butterflies which isn't bad and is more than occur back home!