Casarabonela butterflies June 2024

A couple of days before we left Spain I decided to visit Casarabonela, which is a beautiful village about 20 minutes drive from where we were staying. I have visited a couple of times before and always noted how much greener it is there. Even this time during the extreme dry spell there was still water running in a stream there and I could hear water running in a deep ravine in the middle of the village.

Looking at Google Maps I chose a car park on the northern edge of the village, high on the hill. I was a little disappointed when I arrived, as it was a dry dusty area below a Pine woodland. However, I spotted a couple of butterflies in the car park - a very ragged Geranium Bronze and a Southern Brown Argus.

As I set off on a marked trail up the mountain I spotted an area of Thyme growing above the car park, so I scrambled up to it and I was delighted it was covered in butterflies.

These included Southern Marbled Skippers, Sage Skippers, Small Whites, Dusky Heaths and Southern Blues.

I was also distracted by the arrival of an Iberian Scarce Swallowtail.

I continued up the trail and saw an extremely worn Blue-spot Hairstreak and the odd Dusky Heath on my way.

After a while I came across another area of Thyme. This time there were Small Coppers, Spanish Gatekeepers and Clouded Yellows as well as numerous Dusky Heaths.

Along the path there was the occasional Wall Brown and Speckled Wood.

And then a little further up the path I saw two large Lavender bushes. There were two Cleopatras continually flying around them, briefly stopping for less than a second on a flower before doing another couple of laps.

They were occasionally joined by a Clouded Yellow and more Dusky Heaths!

I noticed that the Thyme close by was covered with butterflies and this area appeared to be a real magnet for them. There was a Striped Grayling, Southern Brown Argus and loads of Dusky Heaths.

There were also some Large Whites, as well as more Wall Browns and Meadow Browns. It really had been worth the climb!

Before I left Casarobonela I decided to check out a ravine in the centre of the village. This had housing and a street above one side with olive and citrus trees growing down the other. In the bottom of the ravine were fig trees and small areas of vegetables. I could only view this area from above, but as on my previous visit I saw a number of Holly Blues flying amongst the fig trees, as well as some Large Whites.

It had been a fantastic two-week holiday to Spain. I now have various favourite spots to visit to look for butterflies when I am there. All together I saw 50 species on this trip, which was primarily a family holiday! It was great to see that butterflies appear to be doing well despite the extremely dry year they have experienced in Spain.

Sierra Nevada continued

There is a meadow is just off the road at about 2,000 metres above sea level that I always visit when I go to the Sierra Nevada. It has a little stream running through it, which I expect is quite ferocious during the snow melt, but is mostly dry in the summer months. It is such an amazing spot, as there are so many butterflies in quite a small area. Again, the butterflies I saw this June were quite different from what I am used to seeing in July. There were far fewer, but they were lovely nonetheless.

Almost immediately a beautiful Knapweed Fritillary landed on a shrub in front of me. I think there must have been about ten of them in this area.

A few Iberian Scarce Swallowtails kept flying across the meadow and there must have been more than 40 Clouded Yellows.

All along the dried up stream bed there were little Lorquin’s Blues.

Despite their size they were quite aggressive, chasing off any other butterflies that dared to land too close! Here is one about to attack a Common Blue!

I normally see a lot of Marsh Fritillaries at this spot, but this year I only saw one. I also saw eight or ten Small Heaths. These had me a bit confused at first as some of them appeared to have some metallic scales on their wings.

The Queen of Spain Fritillaries here were a lot fresher than those higher up the mountains.

I was pleased to see some Common Blues, Polyommatus icarus, here. In most of Southern Spain they are replaced by the identical-looking Southern Blue, Polyommatus celina, but the Common Blue occurs in the Sierra Nevada, having been left behind as the climate warmed after the last Ice Age.

I spotted another little butterfly that I was surprised to see. It was a Green Hairstreak. I think I saw three different individuals. I have never seen these in the Sierra Nevada before and expected that they would occur earlier in the year.

Making up the numbers were Small Whites, Painted Ladies and Meadow Browns.

There were some Western Dappled Whites amongst them.

 I also saw a Southern Marbled Skipper.

And I had a lovely view of what I thought was a Spotted Fritillary. It wasn’t until I checked my pictures back home that I realised it was a Lesser Spotted Fritillary, Melitaea trivia, – a species I hadn’t seen before.

On each of my three previous visits to the Sierra Nevada, always in July, I have seen over 40 species of butterflies. This year, with it being earlier in the year I saw 23 species. I didn’t feel disappointed in the slightest. It would have been nice to have seen some of the rarer species higher up the mountains, but this delightful meadow was so lovely and it made up for the lack of variety I had seen earlier in the day.

Sierra Nevada Viewpoint

On my way back down the road, I called into a viewpoint that I have visited on previous occasions. Here, the subtly different habitat attracts some different butterflies. Most notable are the Swallowtails, Papilio machaon hispanicus, which I spotted almost as soon as I parked the car. They patrol this little hilltop, presumably looking for mates.

I also saw one Spanish Swallowtail, Iphiclides feisthamelii, feeding on the same little shrub that I have seen them on when I have visited previously.

In the past I have seen a lot of Wall Browns, Lasiommata megera, chasing each other around. This year I only saw one or two and I didn't see any Large Wall Browns, Lasiommata maera f. adrasta, that I normally see here.

I saw a couple of Common Blues, Polyommatus icarus, which I don't remember seeing in this spot before.

I spent some time watching these two Southern Marbled Skipper, Carcharodus baeticus, chasing around after each other and then locking horns! I have never seen behaviour like that before.

This Safflower Skipper, Pyrgus carthami nevadensis, was behaving a bit better!

I always see Blue-spot Hairstreaks, Satyrium spini, in this location.

Last year when I was reviewing my photos I realised that I had also taken a picture of a False Ilex Hairstreak, Satyrium esculi. So, this time I was looking out for them and once again spotted one.

There was also one Purple-shot Copper, Lycaena alciphron gordius, here. In previous years they had been quite numerous here.

It was interesting that many of the species found in each location that I visited in the Sierra Nevada were the same as I had seen on other visits. There are obvious locations, habits and food plants that will attract them. Some butterflies were in similar numbers and the same locations as in previous years.

Others were notable by their absence or low in numbers. For instance, it was worrying to see so few Zullich Blues and Apollos high in the mountains. Down by the stream this year I saw no Meadow Fritillaries, whereas two years ago I saw several. In fact there were very few butterflies there, but in previous years I have seen hundreds of butterflies enjoying the lush vegetation there.

Each year I visit, I see more species. This year I saw 3 species that I have never seen before and a total of 44 different species. The Sierra Nevada is still by far the best place for butterflies that I have ever visited.

Spanish Skippers - July 2012

I am not very familiar with Skippers - we don't get any in this part of Scotland, so I have problems identifying any I see. This isn't helped by the fact that there are quite a number of very similar-looking species, but each species can be quite variable! During our recent holiday to Spain I came across five different species. Not that I realised that at the time, I had to post my pictures on the UK Butterflies forum, where Guy Padfield and Roger Gibbons kindly identified them for me.
The pictures below are the five species they identified for me, but please don't ask me what the identifying features are!!

This one I managed to identify myself - it's a Mallow Skipper, Carcharodus alceae.

And this is the other one I managed to identify as a Sage Skipper, Muschampia proto.

This is the underside of the Sage Skipper.

This one I am told is a Red Underwing Skipper, Spialia sertorius. I had noted that it was smaller than the others I had seen, but I had no idea what it was!

This is a Southern Grizzled Skipper, Pyrgus malvoides.

And this one is a Southern Marbled Skipper, Carcharodus baeticus. 

A page of brown and beige - very 1970s! I am very grateful to Guy and Roger for their help identifying these pictures.