Antequera, Spain - Butterflies June 2024

On 21 June I drove up towards Antequera to walk along a track that runs along the north side of the Torcal de Antequera. The track itself is about three kilometres until it joins another track that heads up into the Tocal. However, I have never managed to walk that far because usually I see so many butterflies I run out of time and have to turn back!

I parked the car at the side of the road and spied a large bank of brambles growing at the start of the track. This proved to be quite a magnet for butterflies. The first I was was a little dark butterfly that turned out to be a Spanish Gatekeeper when I caught up with it.

As well as the numerous Small Whites there were some Long-tailed Blues and Bath Whites feeding here.

As I walked along the track I saw Southern Gatekeepers amongst the Thyme growing on the hillside. I must have seen over 50 of them in total.

A very large dark butterfly flew up from under a bush as I walked past and then disappeared, but I soon saw another, which I saw was a Striped Grayling. In total I counted over 30 of them and at one point I disturbed four of them along with some Meadow Browns and Southern Gatekeepers, all sheltering in the shade of one small bush.

Another butterfly that behaved in the same way was the Wall Brown. They would also shelter in the shade and fly up when disturbed, only to land in another shady spot. It was afternoon when I visited and I think that the butterflies would have been less active earlier in the morning.

The smaller butterflies were so active it was difficult to see what many of them where. Most of the smaller ones turned out to be Southern Blues.

There were also quite a few Southern Brown Argus there.

I saw this one Small Copper. It was interesting how big it seemed. I think it was the same size as those that I see back home, but it just seemed large in comparison to the smaller Southern Brown Argus and Southern Blues.

There were also some Lang's Short-tailed Blues to add to the confusion.

There were a few Sage Skippers in the mix, too.

It was a bit frustrating that on the few occasions that a butterfly would settle, it was soon disturbed by another one flying past! I tried to check out all of the white butterflies I saw. Most of them were Small Whites, but I saw about ten Bath Whites and a couple of what could have been Green-veined Whites. They seemed slightly smaller, very active and their upper wing markings looked correct. However, they didn't stop long enough for a photo, so I will never be sure what they were!

I think I saw about four Clouded Yellows on my walk. Maybe there were more, but I just assumed that I was seeing the same ones regularly as they patrolled up and down the track. One in particular caught my eye. It appeared to have no black markings on its wings. I spent ages trying to get a good picture of it, but it was as active as all the other butterflies. The pictures below give a bit of an idea of how beautiful it was.

I had said to the family that I would only be a couple of hours and I had already used up my allotted time on the first section of the track. I thought that while I was there I should quickly walk through the two stubble fields to a different section of the path, but these sections were really exposed and windy and there were no butterflies at all. I therefore quickly walked back along the track to the car.

On the way back it was difficult not to be distracted by the butterflies and one of the blue butterflies seemed particularly fresh and colourful. It kindly stopped on a grass stem in the middle of the track for some time and I managed to get a picture. It was then I realised that this was an Adonis Blue. My first definite sighting and my fist picture of an Adonis Blue!! It hung around for a while and allowed me to take several pictures. Sadly, never with its wings open, but it was a real thrill.

Eventually I had to tear myself away, but I was very happy to have seen it, the unusual Clouded Yellow and so many striped Graylings.

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.

Malaga Butterflies - April 2019

Since 2012 we have spent four summer holidays in a villa near Alora, 45 kilometres north west of Malaga. Each time we have been there it has been early July and very hot! The roads were lined with dried up wild flowers and grasses and everything was brown, other than the orange groves and a few private gardens. We would often say that it would be interesting to see the area in the spring, when everything would be green.

So, this year my wife and I found ourselves able to go away by ourselves now that the children have moved out and we decided to return to Alora in April. This time we stayed in an apartment in the village, so it wasn't quite so easy to pop out and look for butterflies.

Unfortunately, we didn't choose the best week to go away. Firstly, the village was the middle of incredible Easter celebrations, meaning most businesses were closed and it was almost impossible to move at times. Also, while the UK was basking in unseasonably hot weather, southern Spain was suffering from unseasonable cloud and showers!

When we arrived the village was in complete gridlock, so it was a good excuse for me to take a quick trip to my old butterfly spot near the villa we used to rent. This was an area where I saw numerous Southern Gatekeepers and Dusky Heaths in the summer months, but I was too early for them this year. Interestingly, Spanish Gatekeepers, Pyronia bathseba, took the place of the Southern Gatekeepers and I wondered why I had not seen them on my four previous visits to this spot.

Although it was relatively cool and there were only occasional sunny spells there were still a reasonable number of butterflies flying, including Small Whites, Pieris rapae, Southern Blues, Polyommatus celina, Meadow Browns, Maniola jurtina

and Clouded Yellows, Colias croceus.

As in previous visits I saw a few Geranium Bronzes, Cacyreus marshalli, which seemed a little out of place in this natural environment.

There was also a faded Long-tailed Blue, a Small Copper, a Southern Brown Argus and a Large White. Not bad for an hour on a cloudy day.

In the summer this area is full of flowering Thyme, Lavender and Rosemary, but in April there were a lot of annual flowering plants but the more woody herbs were not yet in flower.

The following day I decided to check out my other favourite spot down by the Rio de Guadalhorce. In the summer there is a great patch of mint in flower, which attracts a lot of butterflies. Of course it wasn't yet in flower, but there were plenty of other wild flowers there.

I was frustrated that it clouded over before I arrived and there was quite a strong wind blowing. After about 15 minutes there was a bit of a break in the clouds and a Painted Lady was the first butterfly to brave the conditions. It didn't hang about, but at least it proved that it was warm enough for butterflies.

Not long afterwards I spotted a lovely Long-tailed Blue, Lampides boeticus, in some grass and it slowly opened its wings to absorb a few of the sun’s rays.

As I watched it a Small Copper, Lycaena phlaeas, landed on a stem close by.

I walked further down stream and found a Southern Brown Argus, Aricia cramera.

While I was watching it, I disturbed a Bath White, Pontia daplidice, which landed on the ground and once warmed up a bit flew to a flower for a feed.

Although it was frustrating that there was so much cloud, at least the cooler weather meant that the butterflies were easier to photograph.

I had specifically gone to this area, as I have always found African Grass Blues here in the summer, but despite extensive searching I didn’t see any on this visit. However, the sun came out and after a while the place was alive with butterflies. Mostly Small Coppers, which looked beautiful glinting in the sun.

There were also a number of Southern Brown Argus flying with them and by far the most numerous, Clouded Yellows were everywhere I looked. There were the occasional Wall Brown and Meadow Brown, some more Bath Whites, a few small whites and one Southern Blue, Polyommatus celina.

And then, as if they had had too much sun they all appeared to disappear!

The following day I decided to walk up a track above the cemetery. This ran between olive groves and what appeared to be fallow fields.

There were plenty of wild flowers and a number of butterflies flitting from flower to flower. They were all white or yellow, being Small Whites, Large Whites, Clouded Yellows

... and what I assumed were more Bath Whites. However, when I examined my photographs back at the apartment I saw that they were all Western Dappled Whites, Euchloe crameri.

I found it interesting that there were no Bath Whites amongst them. Presumably, just a little change in habitat meant that this area was more favourable to Dappled Whites and the flowers down by the river suited Bath Whites.

I had been keeping an eye on the forecast, which had been pretty accurate. Monday looked like it was going to be sunny in the morning and so I planned to go to a area of limestone mountains about 30 miles north. I will report on what I saw there next. Sadly, however, that was to be the only other day with sufficient sun for me to look for butterflies. Typically, the weather improved considerably from the day we left!

The day before we left I drove past the area near the river where I had seen so many butterflies to discover that it had been completely grazed to the ground by a large herd of goats. Although this was rather frustrating, I was pleased that I had been able to visit the area before this had happened. I did wonder where all of the butterflies would go, though!

Sierra Nevada Butterflies - July 2018

We have visited the same holiday villa north west of Malaga every second year since 2012 and more by chance than design I have driven the three hour trip to the Sierra Nevada on the 4th of July each time. It has been interesting to see the differences in butterflies each time.

This year I drove straight up to the Hoya de la Mora ski resort, arriving just before 9 o'clock, with the intention of heading straight up to look for Zullich's Blues, Agriades zullichii. However, as soon as I stepped out of the car I discovered that it was really windy up there.

Having driven so far, I thought that I may as well walk up the mountain to have a look anyway, hoping that the wind may die down. However, I didn't see any butterflies at all.

I then decided to walk down to the stream that I have visited in the past thinking that it would be more sheltered there. However, the wind seemed to be blowing straight down the valley, so all I saw all morning were two Common Blues, a Painted Lady, two Clouded Yellows and a Small Tortoiseshell, all sheltering from the wind.

Rather disheartened, I gave up and headed back to the car. I drove back down the mountain and thought that I may as well have a look in a little meadow where I have seen a lot of butterflies in the past. Normally, I only spend a few minutes here having spent most of my time in the high mountains, but this year I had about two and a half hours wondering around an area no bigger than a football pitch. Luckily this area was completely sheltered and I was able to see hundreds of butterflies.

The grassy area of the meadow had all sorts of small butterflies, such as Common Blues. Both Polyommatus icarus and Polyommatus celina occur in Sierra Nevada...

Silver-studded Blues, Plebejus argus hypochionus...

Idas Blues, Plebejus idas nevadensis...

Southern Brown Argus, Aricia cramera...

and Small Skippers, Thymelicus sylvestris.

On previous visits I have seen the almost identical Essex Skipper, Thymelicus lineola hemmingi. I think this is one that I saw this year.

In amongst the shrubs were various white butterflies, most of which wouldn't stop for a picture this year. There were Large Whites, Pieris brassicae, Iberian Marbled Whites, Melanargia lachesis, Black-veined Whites, Aporia crataegi, Cleopatras, Gonepteryx cleopatra mauretanica, and Small Whites, Pieris rapae.

I spotted one rather faded Long-tailed Blue, Lampides boeticus...

And only one Small Copper, Lycaena phlaeas lusitanicus. I am always surprised that they aren't seen in greater numbers in the Sierra Nevada.

There were also Oriental Meadow Browns, Hyponephele lupinnus, Wall Browns, Lasiommata megera, and Rock Graylings, Hipparchia alcyone enjoying a bit of shade. I was delighted to see a Spanish Gatekeeper, Pyronia bathseba. It was very difficult to approach, but I did manage a couple of distant pictures.

While I was stalking it, I saw a Nettle Tree Butterfly, Libythea celtis, the first time I have managed to see this species. Sadly it flew off before I could take its picture.

But I did manage to get a picture of this Bath White, Pontia daplidice.

There were a few Dusky Heaths, Coenonympha dorus.

In the more open spaces Clouded Yellows, Colias crocea, regularly flew past. Most were the regular yellow colour, but there were one or two of the pale helice form.

There were a few damp areas in an otherwise dry stream bed, which were attracting butterflies. Here are three Silver-studded Blues and an Idas Blue.

There were also some Small Tortoiseshells, Aglais urticae, enjoying the minerals.

I started to follow the stream bed down the hill and I was thrilled to see a Mother-of-pearl Blue, Plebicula nivescens. This was the first time I have seen this beautiful butterfly.

Further down the stream I noticed some fritillaries flying around. I think I had better talk about them in my next post.