Malaga Butterflies July 2026

This summer we returned to Spain for our summer holidays. We have rented a villa near a village about 45 kilometres north west of Malaga every second year since 2012. Traditionally, we have visited the first two weeks of July, although on our previous two visits we went in June for a change!

Although in June the place was a little greener, this July it seemed particularly dry. Initially I thought this may just be me comparing it to June, but over the two weeks we were there I realised that it was drier than normal.

This Sage Skipper, Syrinthus proto, was guarding a spot on the track outside the villa, where I have seen one every year.

Spain had more than normal levels of rainfall over the winter and spring, causing a lot of vegetation growth, but very hot dry weather since had dried it all out. The wildfires seen across Spain were the result of all of the dry vegetation.

In previous years I would see loads of Southern Gatekeepers, Pyronia cecilia, hiding from the sun in shady areas along the track. This year I only chanced upon a couple.

My usual walks up the track close to the villa didn't result in as many butterflies as I normally see there. A few kilometres along the track there is a small, steep hill, where I have seen Swallowtails and Wall Browns in the past. At least this hill didn't disappoint this year. There were a lot of Painted Ladies, Vanessa cardui, flying in an area of Thyme at the base of the hill.

Higher up there were Long-tailed Blues, Lampides boeticus, and Wall Browns, Lasiommata megera, battling for territories.

Even on days sitting around the pool there were very few butterflies flying through the garden, which was quite unusual. A very bedraggled Lang's Short-tailed Blue was rescued from the pool the first day, and we saw a Swallowtail and a couple of Small Whites flying past.

The places where I used to find flowering Thyme and Lavender had much reduced plants with very few flowers. As well as being very warm and dry it was also quite windy, which didn't help.

I was very disappointed to see that some work had recently been done on the river, to ease flooding and erosion problems. The area of Mint and other wild flowers where I used to see so many butterflies had been completely cleared. However, I spied an untouched area on the other side of the river, so drove round to check it out.

I was delighted to find an area of small flowers where there were about ten African Grass Blues, Zizeeria knysna, flying. 

There were also Southern Blues, Polyommatus celina.

Small Coppers, Lycaena phlaeas.

And Southern Brown Argus, Aricia cramera, a nice selection of small butterflies.

My final count of species seen (22) wasn't too much lower than normal, but there was certainly not the quantity of each species that I would normally see. The number of species was boosted by a visit to Antequera, which I will talk about in my next post.

East Lothian Butterflies 2025 part 1

I collect the butterfly records from the East Lothian Countryside Rangers and about 40 volunteers. At the end of the season I put together an annual round-up that I send to the volunteers to let them see how their records fit into the big picture. Below is an edited version.

2025 was pretty dry and sunny in East Lothian, but there was often an easterly wind keeping the temperatures down. The general lack of rain and the wind caused the vegetation to dry up, particularly in coastal areas.

We had a couple of very early records. Firstly, a Speckled Wood that was seen on 15th January in Butterdean Wood. I can only assume that it had crawled into a nearby greenhouse as a caterpillar last autumn and was tricked into thinking that spring had arrived.

The next butterfly was a Small Tortoiseshell, which was seen on 28th February. Maybe this wasn't such a surprise as they spend the winter hibernating as adult butterflies, so can make an appearance on a mild day.

There was then a flurry of Small Tortoiseshells and Peacocks on 6th March. Both species had a fairly average year, but at least Small Tortoiseshells bounced back from last year's low numbers.

There were a few Red Admirals seen in March, indicating that they may have survived the winter here. They went on to have an amazing year, with us recording about three times the average number.

The first Comma was seen on 15th March. They went on to have a great year, particularly later in the season, and I received the highest number of records since I started collating them in 2008.

A few days later a Painted Lady was spotted in North Berwick. They also had a good year, with 220 records - a big improvement on last year's 14! Their numbers can be really variable. I would suggest the normal annual average is under 100 records, but the figures are skewed by the 2019 invasion when I received 5395 records!

All four white species had an amazing year. For Orange Tips, Green-veined Whites and Large Whites it was by far the best year since I started recording the butterflies. 

Small Whites also had a fantastic year, way above average, but not quite as high a number as was seen in 2018.

Speckled Wood numbers picked up in April and they also had a very good year. I received records of 1608 of them, which is the second highest number since they reappeared in East Lothian in 2009.

Small Coppers had a fairly average year.

The same could be said for Wall Brown. Their numbers look fairly average, but when you look at when they were seen, they were almost exactly two weeks early and there was a small third generation towards the end of September, with the last one being seen on 7th November.

I will continue this on my next post.

Borders Garden Butterflies 2025

The weather was fantastic here in 2025. After a very wet 2024 it was so lovely having dry and sunny weather. We didn't have the drought seen in England and we had just enough morning dew and occasional shower to keep the grass and wild flowers growing.

I record butterflies all the time when I am outside on our property, taking the dogs for a walk, or working in the woods and then I tend to keep the records from roughly twice a week. I think this gives me something that is comparable year on year, to see how butterflies are doing. And it has been amazing seeing how things have changed over the last six years since we moved here.

I have done a lot of work in that time, removing Rhododendron, having a spruce plantation felled, planting hedges, native trees and wild flowers.

The first butterflies I see each year are those that hibernate as adults. The first butterfly I saw this year was a rather sickly looking Peacock, which I think had been tricked into waking up on an unseasonably warm day at the end of February. Peacocks went on to have the best year I have known here. Strangely my perception was that there were fewer around but the figures show otherwise!

Commas also had a great year. It is great to see them doing so well.

Red Admirals also did really well, with 2025 being the second best year since we moved here.

Many of these species feed on an orange Buddleia that flowers late in the season, up until November. I often wonder what these butterflies would feed on it I hadn't planted the Buddleia.

The Whites, or Pieridae, had a great year. The first to appear was a Small White on 8th April. They went on to have a fantastic year and I recorded 164, way up on my previous best of 99.

Later that same day I saw my first Orange Tip of the year. They also had a good year, but not quite as good as last year.

Green-veined White also had a fantastic year, with me recording more than twice the number I have seen in previous years.

And Large Whites were the best of all with me seeing more than three times the previous best count.

I was thrilled to see a Speckled Wood here on the 28th of April, which suggests that they are now breeding here. The first Speckled Wood arrived here only two years ago and it is such a thrill to have them here. I recorded 140 this year with the best count being 18 one day. This is a picture of the first one I saw this year, a particularly lightly marked individual.

And one of the last Speckled Woods I saw was unusual in only having very feint marks.

2025 was one of the better years since we moved here for Small Tortoiseshells, but I only saw 23. There is concern about the decline of this species across the UK. It is quite difficult to judge how well they are doing as an individual, as if one has laid eggs on a nettle patch it can lead to there being a high number of butterflies being seen locally. The County figures give a clearer picture on how well they are doing.

On 13th June I was delighted to see a Northern Brown Argus on my area of Rockrose. This is the third time I have seen one here over the last six years and they must fly down from the colony up the valley. Northern Brown Argus are said not to be very mobile, but this butterfly must have flown over 600 metres through thick woodland. Unfortunately, it was a male, so no chance of eggs being laid on the Rockrose this year!

As has happened every year since I moved here I saw one Small Heath in my meadow. There isn't really very much suitable habitat around, and it seems strange that each year there has been just the one!

It was a great year for Large Skippers here. This year I saw 29 with my previous maximum being 7. As well as being found in the meadow they have now moved into the new woodland I have planted where they are enjoying the uncut grass.

Small Skipper also had a good year with me counting 21. Both species of Skipper have only arrived in the area in the last 7 or 8 years.

Ringlet also had a good year. I saw 396, about twice the average number. When we first moved here they were only found in a grassy area under mature trees, they then turned up in the meadow when I started managing that and now they are found in the area of new woodland.

Meadow Browns also had a good year. Their numbers had been picking up until last year, when numbers crashed. It was good to see them doing better this year.

I had thought it was a poor year for Dark Green Fritillaries, seeing only seven. However, this number was only beaten in 2020, when I saw 12.

Wall Brown. Also only arrived here in 2023. I saw four of them this year, so numbers are slowly increasing. They seemed to enjoy the sunny bank where I have removed Rhododendron.

And now for something really exciting! I was aware that there were old records of Purple Hairstreaks from the grounds of a stately home on the other side of the river from many years ago. We have a large Oak tree on a steep slope on the other side of our pond which must be at least 200 years old. I am aware that the best time to see a Purple Hairstreak is after 6 o'clock in the evening at the top of an Oak tree in a sunny position. So, since we have moved here I have spent many a summer's evening scanning the tree through binoculars.

This year, on 13th July, I saw a couple of small butterflies flying high in the tree at 8pm. Unfortunately it isn't possible to get close to the tree for a better look, but what else could they have been at that time in the evening. 

Luckily the following evening I was able to get a photograph that was good enough to confirm they were Purple Hairstreaks. I continued to see them until the 16th August with a max of 3 flying together. It would be so interesting to know how long they have been living in this old Oak. I have been observing it for years, but never seen anything before. They have certainly been found in a lot of new locations across South East Scotland, so are they expanding their range, or are more people looking for them?

I saw two Painted Ladies here this year. It doesn't sound like many, but I hadn't seen any in 2023 and 2024, so a big improvement!

As in previous years, I saw two Scotch Argus here again. It does seem strange, as we have no Purple Moor Grass, which is the food plant of their caterpillars. However, one year I did see one laying on a finer grass species. I have always been suspicious that there is a colony close by and I am seeing strays from it here. Anyway, there will be more about this in a separate post.

I only saw two Small Coppers here late this year. I don't understand why they don't do better here. There are plenty of their food plants here, but maybe it just isn't sunny enough.

So, overall it was a great year for butterflies here. No doubt the weather played a big part in this, but I would like to think that all of my efforts to create good habitat for butterflies is starting to pay off.

21 species of butterflies were recorded here this year, one of them a species I haven't seen here before and a couple of them species that generally remain in isolated colonies, but which have somehow found themselves here. I am really looking forward to seeing what happens over the next few years.

Painted Lady, Vanessa cardui

I have only seen a Painted Lady laying an egg on three occasions. The first time was on a Creeping Thistle in a horse field, so I picked the thistle leaf and decided to raise the caterpillar on a thistle at home in my garden. Sadly a few days after hatching we had torrential rain and I never saw the caterpillar after that.

Two years ago I saw a Painted Lady lay and egg on a Woodland Groundsel plant in my woods. I marked the plant and kept an eye on it, but two days later we had torrential rain again and the egg disappeared. I searched the ground around the leaf it had been on, but couldn’t find the egg.

This June, when I was up in East Lothian I watched a Painted Lady as it laid several eggs on a Spear Thistle at the side of a path. I decided to pick one flower head and try raising the butterfly in the safety of a cage at home. The picture below was taken on my work phone. The others were all taken on my Samsung phone, so not the best of quality, but they give an idea of the different stages.

Seven days later, on the 6^th July, I noticed that the egg had hatched, but despite searching the flower head for ages, I couldn’t find a caterpillar anywhere. 

Three days later I found it at the base of the flower. At this stage it was dark brown with three rows of three yellow spines.

I picked a stem of Creeping Thistle and put it in a jar of water with a hole in the lid, but the caterpillar didn’t seem to like this, so I tried a much less palatable-looking Spear thistle and it happy ate that!

I then realised that I had two caterpillars, so there must have been another egg on the flower. Unfortunately, though I wasn’t thorough enough checking the leaves and I discovered that I had introduced a Flower Bug into the cage, which devoured one of the caterpillars. I didn’t know anything about these creatures, so I looked it up and discovered that they area a “gardener’s friend”, as they kill aphids and caterpillars by piercing their skin and sucking out the contents!

The remaining caterpillar munched its way through several leaves, but didn’t seem to have as much of an appetite as the Red Admirals or Peacocks I was rearing at the time.

After going through various very attractive instars the caterpillar left the thistle on the 25^th of July and made its way up to the top of the cage, where it spun a silk pad and hung in a J-shape for a couple of days.

Two days later it had formed a beautiful chrysalis.

It only remained as a chrysalis for 12 days and it emerged as a butterfly on the 8^th August.

Once it had dried its wings I took it outside into the afternoon sun. Almost immediately it took off and flew across the orchard never to be seen again!

I checked my Buddleia plants daily and it wasn’t until the 5^th of September that I saw another Painted Lady. I had quite a few regularly feeding until late September when the weather started to cool down.