Dupont's, Nettle-trees and Festoons, Spanish Triple.
Written by Jos   

Spanish Festoon

 

Primarily a short trip to Catalonia to search for Spanish Festoons, Nettle-tree Butterflies and other early season butterflies, the trip evolved a little to include a detour to seek Dupont's Lark, one of the last of Europe's regular breeding birds that I had yet to see. With this in mind, traveling from 7-14 April 2017, the basic itinerary was a day on the Belchite Steppes for the Dupont's Lark, then a day in the Ebro Delta, then the remainder of the week in northern Catalonia, looking for the target butterflies.

 

 

Green-underside Blue

 

 

 

By the week's end, I had amassed a total of 45 species of butterfly, including both Spanish Festoon and Nettle-tree Butterfly, as well as a nice selection of other species including Provence Hairstreak, Black-eyed Blue, Panoptes Blue and Green-underside Blue.

 

 

 

 

In addition, though very much a secondary activity on this trip, I also recorded 155 species of bird, the highlights being the Dupont's Lark and a number of classic Spanish species such as Purple Swamphen, Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Lesser Kestrel and Stone Curlew.

 

As little information is currently available to assist in the planning of a butterfly trip to this area, this report firstly details the localities visited, then provides a day-to-day account of key species seen and finally concludes with a full systematic list of all species seen. As this was a trip specifically targeting early season species, it is worth noting that a similar trip later in the year would provide a far higher diversity of species, albeit without several of the species recorded on this trip. This would especially be the case in the Pyrenean foothills, where a summer trip would greatly benefit from exploration of high altitude meadows (that were not visited on this trip). Details are not given for the Ebro Delta, as almost no butterflies were seen at this locality (though Provence Hairstreak and other species were seen in the dry hillsides to the immediate west of the delta).

 

 

KEY LOCALITIES

 

1. BELCHITE

Coordinates: El Planeron track: 41.36809, -0.63095

                      Butterfly area: 41.32211, -0.72015

Altitude: 255-370 meters.

Belchite

 

A birding locality, the main species being Dupont's Lark on the La Planeron track, with Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Stone Curlew, Lesser Kestrel and Griffon Vulture also seen, as well as Short-toed, Lesser Short-toed, Calandra, Thekla & Crested Larks. Few butterflies noted on the dry steppe, but vegetated roadside verges in the area, particularly aside olive groves a few kilometres south-west, supported a number of species, including Swallowtail, Mallow Skipper and Spanish Brown Argus.

 

 

 

2. JAFFRE

Coordinates: 42.05890, 3.00362

Altitude: 20 meters.

Spanish Brown Argus

 

 

Open riverine woodland, meander loops and grassland. Excellent site for Spanish Festoon and a number of other species, including Swallowtail, Cleopatra, Spanish Brown Argus, Queen of Spain Fritillary and Mallow Skipper.

Scop's Owl, Wryneck, Hoopoe, European Bee-eater, Woodlark and Crested Tit also here.

 

 

 

 

 

3. MONTGRI

Coordinates: 42.05877, 3.12779

Altitude: 15-170 meters.

Montgri

 

 

Limestone massive, with rich assortment of habitats including meadows and olive groves at lower altitudes, then scrub and open stony slopes higher up. Good access via a track leading to Santa Caterina hermitage – many butterflies seen from this track, including Province Hairstreak, Lang's Short-tailed Blue, Black-eyed Blue, Panoptes Blue, Green-underside Blue, Province Orange Tip and Southern White Admiral.

 

 

Meadows and olive groves immediately above Torres de Montgri also productive with species including Swallowtails, Clouded Yellows and Province Hairstreak. Birds included Woodlark, Firecrest and Crested Tit.

 

 

4. GARRIGA D'EMPORDA

Coordinates: 42.27806, 2.90307

Altitude: 275 meters.

Garriga d Emporda

 

 

 

Heathland type habitat on limestone plateau, with scattered olive groves and some pines. Relatively sparse butterfly population, but some good species including Panoptes Blue, Long-tailed Blue, Berger's Clouded Yellow and Dingy Skipper.

 

 

 

 

 

5. RIO RICARDELL

Coordinates: 42.36252, 2.85839

Altitude: 110 meters.

Ricardell

 

 

 

Excellent meadows and riverine vegetation alongside a small stream. Numerous butterflies, including many Spanish Festoon, Swallowtail and Iberian Scarce Swallowtail, Lang's Short-tailed Blue, Black-eyed Blue, Queen of Spain Fritillary and Weaver's Fritillary. Habitat looks good for Nettle-tree Butterfly.

 

 

 

 

 

6. TAPIS-COUSTOUGES

Coordinates: Tapis: 42.37988, 2.70154

                      Coustouges: 42.36553, 2.65542

Altitude: 580-815 meters.

Costoja

 

 

 

Meadows and woodland edge either side of the French-Spanish border. Camberwell Beauty, Iberian Scarce Swallowtail, Berger's Clouded Yellow and Queen of Spain Fritillary, plus numerous Brimstones, Wood Whites, Green Hairstreaks, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

7. OIX

Coordinates: Slopes: 42.28130, 2.52556

                      Stream: 42.26965, 2.52988

Altitude: 395-690 meters.

 

Oix

 

 

 

 

Very good area in the Pyrenean foothills. Two main areas for butterflies:

a. Stony slopes above the village - excellent with species including Iberian Scarce Swallowtail, Berger's Clouded Yellow, Black-eyed Blue, Green-underside Blue, Adonis Blue, Queen of Spain Fritillary, Weaver's Fritillary, Marbled Fritillary and Grizzled Skipper.

Oix

b. Small stream with path through narrow line of riverine woodland – highlight Nettle-tree Butterfly, plus puddling Iberian Scarce Swallowtails, Black-eyed Blues, Green-underside Blues, Panoptes Blues and Dingy Skipper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8. SADERNES

Coordinates:

42.28731, 2.62078

Altitude: 940 meters.

Sadernes

 

 

 

 

High meadow and extensive low woodland, accessed via a long rocky track from the village of Sadernes. Amongst the butterflies, many Brimstones and one Nettle-tree Butterfly, but overall not very productive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

9. AIGUAMOLLS NATIONAL PARK

Coordinates: 42.21272, 3.09153

Altitude: 0.5 meters.

Squacco

 

 

 

Primarily visited for birds and early in the morning before many butterflies active, only species seen Large White, Speckled Wood and Red Admiral. Good for birds however with Squacco, Purple and Night Herons, Little and Cattle Egrets, many White Storks, numerous passage Wood Sandpipers, etc, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

10. DELTA DEL LLOBREGAT

Coordinates: 41.31263, 2.11612

Altitude: 3 meters.

Speckled_Wood

 

 

 

Short stop prior to depature from Barcelona airport. Primarily a birding location, but numerous Speckled Woods and Small Whites present, plus a few other species including Swallowtail, Red Admiral and Painted Lady.

 

 

 

 

 

 

DAY LOG


7 April. Arrival in Barcelona.

Late afternoon flight to Spain, arriving early evening to warm sunshine. Picked up a car and drove a few kilometres south to accommodation in Vilanova i la Geltrú. Unidentified bats hawking in the twilight. Few hours relaxing, then a little after 3.00 am, set out for the three hour drive to Belchite.

 

 

8 April. Belchite.

 

An hour before dawn, barely a degree above freezing on the legendary El Planeron track, steppe vanishing into the darkness either side. Evocative songs of Dupont's Larks already echoing out, one at very close quarters, a wonderful backdrop to roll back the car seat and have a short snooze.

 

Belchite

 

Closer to 7.00 am, light trickles across the landscape, Lesser Short-toed Larks and Calandra Larks join the dawn chorus. Began scanning the semi-twilight for the closest of the Dupont's Larks, this individual though falling silent as the light builds. No luck, the bird is not showing.

 

Corn Bunting

 

Moved a few hundred metres, more Dupont's Larks singing, though also rather intermittent. Crested Larks, Lesser Short-toed Larks and Calandra Larks also singing and showing, plus Corn Buntings. No visual on any of the Dupont's Larks. Bubbling calls as Black-bellied Sandgrouse pass over, a Marsh Harrier sweeps over the southern horizon. Sun climbs and I fear my critical dawn window for the Dupont's Lark might be closing for the day, none are now singing and none are showing.

 

 

A solitary Stone Curlew stalks across open land, more Black-bellied Sandgrouse flying over. Sun rising, I began to resign myself for a long haul on the Dupont's Larks, but decided to return to my original site some hundreds of metres back. Dupont's Lark singing again! And there, as prominent as could be, the bird sitting atop a scrubby bush and singing in the bright sunlight. A weird looking species, almost like the body of a lark with the head of a chunky pipit stuck on an extended neck! And there it stayed, singing and showing near continuously for a full hour from 9.30 am, occasionally shifting from bush to bush but rarely disappearing for more than a few minutes.

 

Duponts Lark

Duponts Lark

 

I now had the rest of the day to explore the general area and to divert some attention to butterflies. Back towards the main road, a Little Owl and a pair of fine Lesser Kestrels graced a tumbled down farmhouse, while a meander through an area of low hills and rocky outcrops added both Short-toed Lark and Thekla Lark to the day's growing lark list. Also visited the bombed out ruins of Belchite town, Blue Rock Thrush the most impressive inhabitant today, along with huge numbers of chattering House Sparrows. Here too my first butterfly of the day, a Small White fluttering by.

 

Mallow Skipper

 

 

 

In this arid landscape however, a land largely devoid of flowers and significant greenery, butterflies seemed initially thin on the ground. It was only as the temperature finally cruised past a decent 18 C that a few butterflies took to the wing. Best areas were the verges on the local road a little to the south-west of the El Planeron track, especially where it passed through a few orchard groves. Here I finally stumbled across an assortment of species, Small Whites, Bath Western Dappled WhiteWhites and Western Dappled Whites predominating, but also quite a few Clouded Yellows, Spanish Brown Argus and Common Blues. Also one Swallowtail, one Mallow Skipper and a couple of Wall Browns. A bit below what I expecting though – a grand total of nine species and perhaps 110 individual butterflies. Only hoped it would get better on the coast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Having seen Dupont's Lark, my main target, I decided to quite the steppes and return to the coast, heading towards the Ebro Delta for the next day. Griffon Vultures and Golden Eagle circling as I departed. Stopped at a random roadside valley near Lleida en route back – lots of the same species of butterflies, plus Painted Lady and a rather nice Iberian Scarce Swallowtail. Back at the coast, returned to the hotel in Vilanova i la Geltrú, Monk Parakeets on the seafront, Crested Tit in small trees in the main shopping street, Alpine Swifts overhead.

 

 

9 April. Ebro Delta.

 

I had thought the Ebro Delta might be a land of lush green area, perhaps meadows full of flowers and associated butterflies. How wrong I was! Bar the actual wetlands, the entire delta was quite a hot dry place, very few flowers bordering verges or indeed anywhere else.

 

Audouins Gull

 

From a bird angle, the lagoons and marshes were everything you'd expect from one of Spain's premier wetland localities - large breeding colonies of Audouin's Gulls, small flocks of Slender-billed Gulls, a few Gull-billed Terns, hordes of Glossy Ibises, a good assortment of herons, including Night Heron, Squacco Heron and Purple Heron, plus Greater Flamingoes, abundant Purple Swamphens, a few Collared Pratincoles and much more. In total, I saw a grand total of 79 species of bird.

 

 

 

As for butterflies however, it was a bit of a wash-out. A mere two species and just five individuals noted – two Red Admirals, the remainders Small Whites!

 

Provence Hairstreak

 

Attempting the remedy the lack of butterflies, next stops were in the lightly forested slopes west of the delta. Still pretty poor for butterflies, but after quite a bit of meandering, I finally hit a purple patch – first an exquisite Provence Hairstreak, a new species for me, then a nice selection of added extras in a single meadow, perhaps 70 or so butterflies in all, 12 Swallowtails heading the cast, Western Dappled Whites, Mallow Skipper and Wall Brown amongst the rest.

 

 

Nice end to the day, but still only nine species this day, sincerely hoped things would improve as I moved north into northern Catalonia in the coming days.

 

 

10 April. Jaffre & Montgri.

 

A shift of location this day, moving 250 km north of the Ebro Delta to the Girona region. And with the kilometres rolling by, so the landscape became ever greener and ever better for butterflies. First stop was in a quite splendid setting near the small town of Jaffre, an area of open alluvial forest, ox bows and meadow patches in a meander of the Ter River. Had identified this area via satellite maps, but had high hopes that it might produce Spanish Festoon, my main target of the trip. Got there a little before 10 a.m., a warm sun already taking the temperature up over the 16 C mark, Cetti's Warblers in the rank stuff, Wryneck and Golden Oriole singing from the pines, the plaintive calls of a Scops Owl also gently floating across. A couple of Hoopoes flopped up from sandy tracks, two Bee-eaters adorned a snag above an old meander loop.

 

Spanish Festoon

 

No butterflies flying on arrival, but it took all of five minutes to find my first ...and what a corker it was, exactly what I was looking for, a superb Spanish Festoon sunning on a flower stalk! And then I found another! All too soon, as the temperature continued its upward path, more and more butterflies began to appear, amongst them plentiful Spanish Brown Arguses and Common Blues, a couple of dozen Green Hairstreaks, the occasional Clouded Yellow, a dozen Small Heaths and a Queen of Spain Fritillary.

 

Small Copper

 

 

Also added my only Small Copper of the trip, plus both Large and Small Whites, a Red Admiral and a couple of Painted Ladies. Best of the lot however, loads of Spanish Festoons, at least 30 in all, mostly preferring slightly damper areas with flowers. Truly nice. And as a perfect compliment, several Swallowtails and quite a few vivid Cleopatras too.

 

 

 

Spotless Starlings, Crested Tits and Wood Larks also present, it was really a pleasant couple of hours here. Early afternoon I finally departed, driving a half hour or so to the beachside Gola del Ter, my base for the next few days. Dumped my stuff in accommodation and backtracked a little to Montgri, an impressive limestone massive that towers above the town of Torroella de Montgrí.

 

 

Provence Hairstreak

 

 

Pleasant 25 C now, I zigzagged through the backstreets of Torroella de Montgrí to try and find a suitable route to tackle the slopes above. First stop, meadows adjacent to olive groves, wasn't too bad at all - a few Swallowtails in flight, my second Provence Hairstreak of the trip, plentiful Speckled Woods, a couple of Cleopatras.

 

 

 

 

Provence Orange Tip

 

 

No easy access to the higher slopes from this point, so continued a little to the west and stumbled across an excellent track that led to the Santa Caterina hermitage, cutting through excellent habitat all the way. Three main targets here, namely Provence Orange Tip (split from Morocco Orange Tip), Black-eyed Blue and Panoptes Blue.

 

 

 

The first proved easy enough – from olive groves at lower altitudes right up towards the hermitage itself, occasionals of these dainty yellow and orange butterflies graced the slopes, very rarely settling however. Alongside, standard Orange Tips were also on the wing, along with plentiful Green Hairstreaks, Speckled Woods, Clouded Yellows, Cleopatras and both Common Blue and Spanish Brown Argus. Also a couple of Holly Blues, a Lang's Short-tailed Blue, a Mallow Skipper, a couple of Red Admirals and two Painted Ladies. As for the rarer blues however, it took a lot of searching – failed to find a Black-eyed Blue, but eventually located the quaint Panoptes Blue, a single individual on short turf near a clump of pines.

 

Panoptes Blue

Langs Short-tailed Blue

 

At the hermitage itself, quite a few whites drifting around, several Bath Whites amongst them, but rarely did the smaller whites settle to allow confirmation if Southern Small Whites were present ...one for the next day!

 

 

11 April. Montgri & Garriga d'Emporda

 

Back to the excellent track at Montgri in the morning, another day of splendid weather and again plentiful butterflies in the form of Provence Orange Tips, Cleopatras, Clouded Yellows, etc. Even more so than the day before, lots of Green Hairstreaks too, plus a good bunch of Speckled Woods and Wall Browns. Stopped for a while at a scrubby patch about midway to the hermitage ...truly a good area this, as well as both Orange Tip and Provence Orange Tip, bumped into three most pristine Black-eyed Blues, all sunning on low vegetation in an area that had been cleared at some fairly recent point. Also Swallowtail and a rather early Spanish Gatekeeper here.

 

 

Southern White Admiral

 

 

 

A little further up, at a spot where a clump of mature pines punctuate the slopes, yet more treats with my third Provence Hairstreak of the trip, one Iberian Scarce Swallowtail and, rather a surprise, a superb Southern White Admiral, surely a very early individual.

 

 

 

 

Up at the hermitage itself, I tuned my focus to the whites – all still very mobile, spent half the time just chasing butterflies on the wing. Did manage a few on the ground though – Bath Whites and Western Dappled Whites easy enough, the 'small whites' rather harder. End result, most that I conclusively identified at this higher altitude were Southern Small Whites, contrasting with the situation at lower levels, where all appeared to be Small Whites. However, it has to be said that I didn't check all with enough scrutiny to confirm how much they overlapped.

 

 

Long-tailed Blue

 

 

Returned to Gola del Ter for a while midday, then journeyed across to Garriga d'Emporda in the afternoon, a large area of limestone plateau characterized by heath, dotted by olive groves and areas of pine. Hot and sunny on arrival, but immediate impression was a generally low abundance of butterflies.

 

 

 

 

Dingy Skipper

 

 

Despite the lack of abundance, plenty of quality – only about 70 butterflies of 12 species, but these did include my only Long-tailed Blue of the trip and no less than five Panoptes Blues. Also 12 Green Hairstreaks and ten Cleopatras, plus a half dozen Berger's Clouded Yellows and four Dingy Skippers, these both being new species for the trip.

 

 

 

Late afternoon, and the only time on this trip, the wind picked up by quite a degree and it clouded over. Quite the area and headed back to Gola del Ter, had a short walk along the beachfront, but rather late now for butterflies. Did see some very impressive Egyptian Locusts though.

 

Egyptian Locust

 

 

 

12 April. Rio Ricardell & Tapis-Coustouges.

 

Pyrenean foothills this day, my primary target Nettle-tree Butterfly. Focussed on the area around the small town of Darnius, in particular along the small Rio Ricardell. A lush strip of land, some nice flower meadows alongside, I was pretty impressed with my first location of the morning, even more so when I spotted some fine specimens of nettle-trees on the banks of the stream.

 

Small Heath

 

 

Food plant of the butterfly, this raised my expectations considerably. Dew-drenched meadows drying in the early morning sun, butterflies were already appearing on exposed stalks to take in the warmth, Bath Whites and Small Heaths among the early ones, so too quite a number of Queen of Spain Fritillaries.

 

 

 

 

Very soon it was turning into a little paradise, a whole host of species appearing on the wing, species such as Clouded Yellow, Orange Tip, Common Blue, Spanish Brown Argus, Brimstone and Speckled Wood all proving most common, with other goodies including my first Weaver's Fritillary of the trip and a couple of Swallowtails.

 

Spanish Festoon

 

 

Pride of place yet again had to go to Spanish Festoons however, an impressive 30 or so gracing these meadows. Try as I did though, I failed to find any hint of a Nettle-tree Butterfly, several false alarms proving to be high-flying Speckled Woods moping about the crowns of a couple of the nettle trees.

 

 

 

 

Shifting locality a little, I found another good site a few kilometres downchannel, a narrow wedge of meadow sandwiched between the stream and rising slopes. Cirl Buntings and Black Kite here, a few Alpine Swifts over. And yet again, plentiful butterflies, not least a few more Spanish Festoons, three Provence Orange Tips (heavily outnumbered by Orange Tips), at least three Iberian Scarce Swallowtails and, clustered around small purple flowers, four Black-eyed Blues and one Lang's Short-tailed Blue. Also added my first Wood Whites and Peacocks of the trip and my only Small Tortoiseshell. As for Nettle-tree Butterfly, did have one frustrating glimpse of a potential individual flying high in a canopy ...never saw it again though, so that remained a 'maybe'!

 

Black-eyed_Blue

 

Thereafter decided to venture higher, passing through Darnius and up towards the French border, the basic goal to try and find further meadows and hope for the best, though higher altitude areas do tend to be far better later in the summer. As it turned out, most of the habitat crossed was fairly dense bush-forest, not very conducive to finding butterflies. Found one small area of meadows adjacent to the village of Tapis which was alive with Brimstones and at least 15 Iberian Scarce Swallowtails, but not much else. Continued upward, hoping the wooded slopes would evolve into something more akin to an Alpine meadow ...got to the next village and noticed everything was in French! I had inadvertently crossed the border into France and was now in Coustouges!

 

 

Wood White

 

 

Not bad as it turned out, the village straddled a col and was quite open woodland with good rides and some meadow ….oodles of Brimstones and Wood Whites, a few Queen of Spain Fritillaries and Berger's Clouded Yellows and, surprise of the day, one quite stunning Camberwell Beauty! Very nice little trip to France!

 

 

 

 

About turned and crossed back into Spain, gradually wind back towards the coast, stopping one more time at the Rio Ricardell for a last attempt on Nettle-tree Butterfly. Didn't find, but with 28 species of butterfly notched up during the day, I wasn't complaining too much.

 

 

13 April. Oix.

Didn't really have any further localities for Nettle-tree Butterfly, so thought I would take a random stab at one of the Pyrenean sites better known for mid-summer butterflies, assorted reports describing the slopes above the village of Oix as very good.

 

Black-eyed Blue

 

With the meadows at almost 700 m, I was not sure what to expect so early in the year and arriving at about 9.00 a.m. it was certainly a little nippy for much to be active. Strolled up a slope immediately behind the village as the sun began its battle to warm the slopes, soon flushed a few Wall Browns and then found a Black-eyed Blue taking in the morning rays, an Iberian Scarce Swallowtail floating over just afterwards.

 

 

 

Maybe things would be okay! And indeed they were, as it passed 10 a.m., the temperature was soon soaring and the resultant variety of butterflies was far better than I was expecting. Shifting a little further up the slopes, Iberian Scarce Swallowtails and Berger's Clouded Yellows, Small Heaths, Weaver's Fritillaries and Queen of Spain Fritillaries, Panoptes Blue, Common Blues and plentiful Brimstones. Some surprises too - a bunch of Grizzled Skippers, a Marbled Fritillary and, quite stunners, two Adonis Blues. Actually managed 23 species on these slopes, considerably more than I expected.

 

Grizzled Skipper

Queen of Spain Fritillary

 

Thought of Nettle-tree Butterfly finally dragged me down, perhaps I would explore the river valley near Besalú I thought. Exiting Oix, I noticed a small meadow near a playground. Decided to give it a quick check, then found a path meandering though a slither of riverine woodland along a stream. Fabulous place – a damp area attracting lots of butterflies to take salts, an impressive 15 Iberian Scarce Swallowtails settled on the ground, along with several Green-underside Blues and both Dingy Skipper and Mallow Skipper. Also Red Admiral and Peacock here.

 

 

Iberian Scarce Swallowtail
 

 

Almost back at the car, a smallish butterfly settled on a branch quite high above ...a Nettle-tree Butterfly! Superb, this snout-nose was one of my main targets and here it was, or rather here they were, I soon found four of them in this little section, with another two further along. Quite arboreal butterflies, they spent most of their time sunning on branches near the tops of the bushes, but fortunately they would grace lower branches from time to time.

 

Nettle-tree Butterfly

Nettle-tree Butterfly

 

Very satisfied, I eventually ambled off and tried to find another area to explore. Next site was far less impressive – took a long rocky track that meandered up the steep slopes above Sadernes. Mostly coated by woodland and thick bush, Brimstones and Wall Browns proved abundant, but otherwise species were relatively limited, the best being both Swallowtail and Iberian Scarce Swallowtail, Berger's Cloud Yellow and several Green Hairstreaks. Did find another Nettle-tree Butterfly though. At the top, small meadows were probably too high for so early in the season – one Grizzled Skipper, but nothing else.

Several Griffon Vultures hanging in the sky, plenty of other birds. It had been a good day, 30 species of butterfly recorded. And with that, I returned to Gola del Ter for the evening.

 

 

14 April. Aiguamolls, Montgri & Llobregat.

Final day in Catalonia, spent the morning birding at the fine wetland of Aiguamolls – Squacco Herons and Purple Herons, stacks of Wood Sandpipers, colonies of White Storks, etc), then had a quick return to the limestone slopes of Montgri. No new butterflies, but still pleasant with both Black-eyed Blue and Green-underside Blue, plus Provence Orange Tip et al.

 

Red Admiral

 

With that, I headed south to Barcelona, stopping for an hour at the Llobregat wetlands near the airport – at least 40 Speckled Woods active, along with two Swallowtails and a mix of common species such as Small White, Painted Lady and Common Blue. My final butterflies of the trip, three Red Admirals in the car park, then a hop across to the airport and departure, end of an excellent short trip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

SPECIES LIST

 

Iberian Scarce Swallowtail

 

 

 

 

The below list summarises the 45 species seen during this week in Catelonia, with numbers and locations given for all butterflies noted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Grizzled Skipper. Eight Oix hillside, one Sadernes.
  • Mallow Skipper. One Belchite, one Ebro area, one Jaffre, one Montgri, one Oix stream.
  • Dingy Skipper. Four Figueras, one Oix stream.
  • Swallowtail. One Belchite, 12 Ebro area, four Jaffre, up to six per day Montgri, one Figueras, two Rio Ricardell, one French border area, one Oix hillside, one Oix stream, two Sadernes, two Llobregat.
  • Iberian Scarce Swallowtail. One Lleida, one Montgri, three Rio Ricardell, 15 French border area, eight Oix hillside, 15 Oix stream, four Sadernes.
  • Spanish Festoon. 30 Jaffre, 35 Rio Ricardell.
  • Large White. One Jaffre, one Montgri, one French border area, one Oix stream, one Aiguamolls, one Llobregat.
  • Small White. 30 Belchite, 20 Lleida, 35 Ebro area, 20 Jaffre, up to 40 daily Montgri, five Figueras, three Rio Ricardell, two Oix stream, four Aiguamolls, 40 Llobregat.
  • Southern Small White. Five Montgri.
  • Bath White. 25 Belchite, 30 Lleida, up to eight per day Montgri, five Rio Ricardell.
  • Western Dappled White. 20 Belchite, four Ebro area, six Montgri.
  • Orange Tip. Up to 20 per day Montgri, common Rio Ricardell, common French border area, two Oix hillside, 18 Oix stream.
  • Provence Orange Tip. Up to 30 per day Montgri, three Rio Ricardell.
  • Clouded Yellow. 15 Belchite, 20 Lleida, 10 Jaffre, up to 30 per day Montgri, 20 Rio Ricardell, two Oix hillside, four Oix stream.
  • Berger's Clouded Yellow. Six Figueras, four French border area, eight Oix hillside, two Sadernes.
  • Brimstone. One Ebro area, 15 Rio Ricardell, common French border area, 25 Oix hillside, 15 Oix stream, 45 Sadernes.
  • Cleopatra. 15 Jaffre, up to 30 per day Montgri, 10 Figueras, two Rio Ricardell, one French border area.
  • Wood White. Six Rio Ricardell, 10 French border area, four Oix hillside, six Oix stream, five Sadernes, four Montgri.
  • Nettle-tree Butterfly. Six Oix stream, one Sadernes.
  • Southern White Admiral. One Montgri.
  • Camberwell Beauty. One French border area.
  • Small Tortoiseshell. One Rio Ricardel.
  • Comma. One Oix stream.
  • Painted Lady. Two Lleida, two Jaffre, four Montgri, one Figueras, two Rio Ricardell, one French border area, one Oix hillside, one Llobregat.
  • Red Admiral. Two Ebro area, one Jaffre, four Montgri, one Rio Ricardell, one French border area, two Oix hillside, three Oix stream, four Sadernes, one Aiguamolls, three Llobregat.
  • Peacock. Three Rio Ricardell, one Oix hillside, two Oix stream.
  • Marbled Fritillary. One Oix hillside.
  • Weaver's Fritillary. One Rio Ricardell, 10 Oix hillside.
  • Queen of Spain Fritillary. One Jaffre, 20 Rio Ricardell, one French border area, six Oix hillside, one Sadernes.
  • Spanish Gatekeeper. One Montgri.
  • Small Heath. 12 Jaffre, one Figueras, 20 Rio Ricardell, one French border area, 10 Oix hillside, four Sadernes.
  • Speckled Wood. Five Jaffre, up to 20 per day Montgri, common Rio Ricardell, common French border area, two Oix hillside, six Oix stream, 10 Aiguamolls, 40 Llobregat.
  • Wall Brown. Two Belchite, four Lleida, one Ebro area, 10 Jaffre, up to 15 per day Montgri, eight Figueras, 10 Rio Ricardell, two French border area, 20 Oix hillside, four Oix stream, 25 Sadernes.
  • Provence Hairstreak. One Ebro area, one Montgri, one Montgri.
  • Green Hairstreak. 20 Jaffre, 1up to 25 per day Montgri, 12 Figueras, 25 Rio Ricardell, 10 French border area, eight Oix hillside, two Oix stream, six Sadernes.
  • Small Copper. One Jaffre.
  • Long-tailed Blue. One Figueras.
  • Lang's Short-tailed Blue. One Montgri, one Rio Ricardell.
  • Holly Blue. Two Montgri, two Oix stream.
  • Black-eyed Blue. Four Montgri, four Rio Ricardell, three Oix hillside, two Oix stream.
  • Green-underside Blue. Six Oix stream, one Montgri.
  • Panoptes Blue. One Montgri, five Figueras, two Oix hillside two Oix stream.
  • Spanish Brown Argus. Eight Belchite, 20 Jaffre, ten Montgri, three Rio Ricardell.
  • Adonis Blue. Two Oix hillside, one Oix stream.
  • Common Blue. Six Belchite, 10 Ebro area, 25 Jaffre, up to 25 per day Montgri, 15 Figueras, 25 Rio Ricardell, 15 French border area, 10 Oix hillside, four Sadernes, four Llobregat.

 

 

Last Updated ( Friday, 25 August 2017 )