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

July and August...

We're running out of time with this review of the year by instalments thingy, so to quicken the pace here's my equivalent of the Boxing Day sales: two for the price of one. Not sure what I was doing in July, but checking my hard drive it can't have been wildlife photography. Some big gaps between downloads as the birding doldrums set in no doubt. Those barrels which were scraped produced:

Kestrel at Kimmeridge: my photo of the month for July

House Martin in the Lake District - a flying visit to mark my brother's 50th

Collared Pratincole on the Somerset Levels - a short range twitch after work

The Arne café Nightjar - bird of the month for July by virtue of the great views it afforded 

Brown Hairstreak at Alners Gorse - my first in Dorset

August was a bit more productive thanks to a holiday with the family on Dartmoor, a trip to Kent to catch up with my old pal Matt Jones over from New Zealand, a spot of mid-week twitching for a first for Britain and the start of autumn migration on the patch.

Three of us dashed off to Minsmere mid-week for this Western Purple Swamphen - the first record for Britain - which didn't stay until the weekend but later relocated to Lincolnshire. Bird of the month for August

A Silver-spotted Skipper on Fontmell Down was one of the highlights of August

Kingfisher at Grove Ferry in Kent - my photo of the month for August

Goosander on the idyllic River Dart in Devon

Male Redstart on Darmoor

Spotted Flycatcher on Dartmoor

We joined several hundred others at Arne for Hen Harrier Day in August - protesting at the illegal persecution of these rare and remarkable birds of prey

Sedge Warbler at Swineham

Last throes of summer

Despite living in Dorset for eight summers now, there were still two species of breeding butterfly I had yet to see in the county before my ninth began: the Brown Hairstreak and the Silver-spotted Skipper. Both emerge rather late in the year so July and August offered plenty of scope for hunting them down.

Brown Hairstreak, Alners Gorse

The Brown Hairstreak eventually moved higher into an oak

The Brown Hairstreak is an elusive species, spending much of its time in the canopy, descending only occasionally to nectar on brambles, thistles and the like. The eggs are laid on Blackthorn, which grows in abundance at Butterfly Conservation's Alners Gorse reserve in North Dorset.

A flash of the Purple Hairstreak's upperwing

And the underwing

Jol Mitchell and I had been considering a trip there with our respective first borns for a while, and the annual visit to Dorset of my old friend Nigel Kersey (formerly a firebrand campaigner with CPRE, now a respectable apparatchik at DCLG) in mid-July provided the perfect opportunity to make the effort.

Silver-spotted Skipper - a plump-bodied female

This is the male - note the dark sex brand on the upperwing

We arrived mid-morning to find the skies disappointingly overcast but it was just about warm enough for Meadow Browns, Silver-washed Fritillaries and Purple Hairstreaks to be on the wing. We were about to give up on seeing any of the rarer Hairstreaks when what at first glance appeared to be a Gatekeeper on acid danced past at eye level. Despite not having seen one for over a decade, I called it tentatively as a Brown Hairstreak in flight, and fortunately it landed nearby to allow confirmation.

Another view of Silver-spotted Skipper

 A good view of the underwing from which the species gets its name

All enjoyed brilliant views, especially through Jol's new Swarovski scope, and even the teenagers were persuaded to stop looking at their smartphones to admire it for a few seconds. A few weeks later and I was able to catch up with my other late summer target, the Silver-spotted Skipper, at its prime Dorset site on Fontmell Down on another family jaunt. This was a bit easier, not least as one of Dorset's expert ecologists, Bryan Edwards, was leaving just as we arrived and told us exactly where to look near the top of the combe. A spectacular species in a spectacular setting.

Some other highlights from Fontmell Down below:

2nd brood male Adonis Blue

Adonis Blue underside

Brimstone

Male Chalkhill Blue - not doing terribly well in Dorset

Chalkhill Blue underside

Large White

Common Blue underside

Son George catches the bug with a meadow Brown

Ravens gronked over Fontmell Down

Small Heath

Spotted Flycatcher at Fontmell Down

Spotted Flycatcher