Creatures of the Cols part I

If the birding was hard work on our recent holiday in the French Alps, butterflying was a bit easier and more productive - we caught the end of the continental heatwave, enjoyed good weather even at altitude, and I saw several species for the first time. Colleagues are still helping me with some of the trickier identifications - oh for the simplicity of the British butterfly list and its 59 reasonably discrete species! So this post, the first of a couple focusing on the species I was reasonably confident about identifying myself, may be followed by others as my tentative identifications are either confirmed or corrected.

Queen of Spain Fritillary, Col du Grand Colombiere

The closest I got to photographing the stunning pearls of the Queen of Spain's underwing

Queen of Spain Fritillary

One of our first excursions to higher altitude from our base near Annecy took us west to the Col du Grand Colombiere, just shy of 1500m. This was a recommendation from Dr Martin Warren who kindly provided some site info before I left - and a good recommendation it was too. Within a few minutes I had seen Apollo, Scarce Copper, Queen of Spain Fritillary, Large Wall Brown as well as species familiar from home in the UK like Adonis Blue, Chalkhill Blue and Silver-spotted Skipper.



Scarce Copper - the first of several new species for me

A view of the Scarce Copper underwing

The first Apollo of the trip was the smartest - but a bit distant for a good photo

From there we dropped down into the lowlands and the beautiful Marais de Lavours, another recommendation from Martin. A boardwalk took us through a variety of wetland habitats but it was too hot for both us and the wildlife it seemed - a False Heath Fritillary and a fleeting view of a probable Southern White Admiral were the highlights.

Adonis Blue was one of a number of species familiar from home

Ditto, Chalkhill Blue...

...and Silver-spotted Skipper - this species appeared quite widespread - more range restricted back at home

From there we again went in search of the cooler air of high altitude, driving up to the top of Mont du Chat, an attractive location who phonetic pronunciation caused much mirth with my increasingly puerile children. I really don't know where they get it from. As well as spectacular views, Mont du Chat offered a close encounter with a hilltopping Swallowtail of the gorganus sub-species which prevails in continental Europe.

The Silver-spotted Skippers (this a female) appeared darker to my eyes than those we see at home...

...the field guide suggests this is a feature of higher altitude specimens - this one a male

False Heath Fritillary at Marais de Lavours

With the heat of the day receding we descended to the lowlands to meet up with friends for a swim in Lac de Bourget. The lakeshore area was too developed to see much in the way of wildlife but for someone who is not much of a swimmer I must say even I enjoyed a dip in the refreshing mountain waters.

This Swallowtail was in excellent condition

Found in very different habitats to the britannicus sub-species I saw in Norfolk earlier this year

Swallowtail

Returning to base near Annecy was a reminder that we didn't need to climb into the high mountains to see good butterflies - there were Brown Hairstreaks nectaring in the garden and I even rescued a Glanville Fritillary from the swimming pool!

Brown Hairstreak - not bad for a garden butterfly

This Glanville Fritillary was water-logged in the pool

I was able to see the attractive underwing pattern as it dried out

Ragged royalty

Barra for an American Redstart would have been a bridge too far this weekend: Brighton was a more practical destination to see a new species for me in Britain: a Queen of Spain Fritillary butterfly. It's difficult to believe that almost eleven years have passed since I saw my last new British butterfly. That was a Monarch, one of which was just around the corner from a Long-tailed Blue I found earlier in the day on the Isles of Scilly back in October 2006. A few days after that, a Queen of Spain Fritillary was also seen on the islands near the Trenoweth flower farm but despite much searching I was unable to find it.

Male Queen of Spain Fritillary - it looks like it survived a bird attack judging by the state of hind-wing on the right hand side

A slightly more flattering photograph of the fritillary showing the most intact hind-wing

Details of a sighting of three of these rare migrants at Halcombe Farm near Piddinghoe first emerged two weekends ago and was immediately of interest. Unfortunately, the news broke the day before the gloriously sunny Bank Holiday Monday - not the sort of day you want to be driving along the south coast, and I couldn't get away in any case. Last weekend was equally compromised, as being on call for emergencies meant that I was unable to leave Dorset.

The species is known for spending much of the time basking on the ground: this one was no exception

A brief bout of nectaring provided one of the few opportunities to get a shot of the bold silver spots on the underwing

Discussing the survival chances of the fritillaries with Phil Sterling during the week, he was pretty convinced that unless the weather turned really foul, they would still be present this weekend. So with one eye on the forecast, and the other on Butterfly Conservation's excellent Sussex branch website, I resolved to go on Saturday as full sunshine was promised throughout the morning. Internet updates suggested that two individuals were still present on Thursday, both looking more than a little worn, and that was enough to persuade me to make the effort of an early start to beat the traffic yesterday morning.

This Clouded Yellow was one of 15 butterfly species on view at Halcome Farm

Comma

I arrived at Halcombe Farm around 0900 and began combing the area around a bonfire which was being used as a lek site by the fritillaries - all three having been identified as males. As the morning warmed up, a Clouded Yellow landed nearby but there was no sign of the fritillaries. Other butterflies, and then another butterfly watcher, arrived. We split up and shortly before 1000 he gave me a shout to indicate he had found one.

A female Adonis Blue was lying low in the grass

A male Common Blue was easier to see

Queen of Spain Fritillary is reasonably common on the near continent but still very rare in the UK with just a few hundred records and a small number of unsuccessful attempts at colonising documented. So despite the slightly ragged appearance of the visiting royalty, I was very glad I got to see one of the trio before their inevitable demise, particularly as the famous bonfire is apparently scheduled to go up in smoke within a matter of days.

Small Copper

Small Heath

Well done and thanks to the diligent transect walker, Dave Harris, who first discovered them, to Neil Hulme for getting the news and directions out to the wider world, and to the landowner Colin Appleton for allowing access to the site which has provided a lot of pleasure to many visitors over the last fortnight.

Brown Argus

Painted Lady - another migrant at Halcombe Farm

The bonfire adopted by the Queen of Spain Fritillaries