INTRODUCTION

Inspired by a trip report on BirdForum and following on from several birding trips to the neighbouring states of Georgia, Turkey and Iran, it was time to visit Armenia. The focus this time however was butterflies - in the varied habitats of the high Caucasian mountains, expanses of steppe and arid semi-deserts, a total of over 240 species of butterfly have been recorded in the country, many of which do not occur further west. In my ten-day trip, I would see approximately 125 of these. Naturally, though most of my attention was dedicated to butterflies, birding also figured prominently, not least at the superb Armash Fish Pools (White-tailed Lapwing, Blue-cheeked Bee-eater), at Mount Aragats (Radde's Accentor, White-throated Robin, etc) and at Vedi Gorge and Novarank (Grey-necked Bunting, Eastern Rock Nuthatch, Persian Wheatear, etc).