18 May. Explorations.
After a short visit to Labanoras, I cut west to sunnier skies to exploring new regions in the Kaunas region. Idea was to check out sites that might hold Clouded Apollos and Chequered Skippers in the coming weeks, perhaps get lucky and find an early one. Well, I did find some good sites, one well-worth returning to, but certainly didn't see either Clouded Apollo or Chequered Skipper on this day! I did however see 18 Grizzled Skippers, six Weaver's Fritillaries, two Sooty Coppers and one Short-tailed Blue, the latter two new for the year.
BALTIC YEAR LIST
23. Sooty Copper
24. Short-tailed Blue
25. Weaver's Fritillary
20 May. Scarce Swallowtail, major surprise!
Hottest day of the year so far, a splendid 26 C. Plan was to head to the south of the country and target two localised species – Green-underside Blue (though perhaps too early in the season) and Baltic Grayling.
Not far from Marcinkonys, site one was a set of small meadows flanked by mature open pine forest on all sides, the rich aroma of the pines floating on the air. Could immediately see it was going to be a good day on arrival, it was barely 9.00 a.m., but butterflies of several species already on the wing – Brimstones, Green Hairstreaks, Map Butterflies, etc. Walked a circuit of about four kilometres, mostly investigating meadows up against the forest edge, classic habitat for Green-underside Blue I thought. Grizzled Skippers proved very common, at least 35 seen, so too Small Whites, Green-veined Whites and Wood Whites. Better still however, an impressive number of Swallowtails present, no less than 10 appearing at this locality as I strolled around, plus two Camberwell Beauties, six Weaver's Fritillaries, a couple of Sooty Coppers and a dozen Small Coppers. Also found a Short-tailed Blue, a couple of Speckled Woods and my first Large White of the year.
No sign of Green-underside Blue, but an excellent day anyhow I thought as the species tally steadily rose. It was about to get a whole lot better. At the edge of the pine forest, on a nice sunny slope, a large distinctive butterfly suddenly appeared – flying rapidly though the open pines, flashing tiger stripes on a pale background, it was a Scarce Swallowtail! Typical of the species though, it was highly mobile, exiting the pines without landing, only to flutter briefly around flowers and then vanish down an adjacent sandy slope.
Scarce Swallowtail is a regular species in north-east Poland, breeding right up to the Lithuanian border. In Lithuania however, it remains almost unknown – the only records in the country being specimens thought to have been collected in the Trakai region many years ago and a single near Marijampole three years ago. So why the lack of records in Lithuania ? My guess is that is probably overlooked – even though a striking species, there's a awful lot of perfect habitat to hide in between Marcinkonys and the Polish border, much of it relatively rarely visited. That said, early spring 2017 also appears to be outstanding for Swallowtails – against just 12 in the whole of 2016, I saw more than 20 in the first three weeks of May alone, including 14 this day. Perhaps related?
Failing to relocate this butterfly, I continued my walk. Over the next hour or so, I added a few more species, including three Pale Clouded Yellows and a couple of Small Heaths, both new for the year.
Next locality was less productive – open meadows a few kilometres further south. Three more Swallowtails amongst the haul, plus another 15 or so Grizzled Skippers and a Queen of Spain Fritillary, but otherwise the most numerous butterflies were whites – best being three more Large Whites and one Eastern Bath White.
Decided I was probably too early in the season for Green-underside Blue, so moved on to my next target, Baltic Grayling. A very localised species in Lithuania and flying early in the season, it is restricted to select bogs where it seems to prefer areas with sparce stunted pines in wet areas. Cepkaliai is one one such place, but I opted to try another known locality further west on the Polish border. An hour drive and I was there, skirting the Polish border posts and arriving at the destination. Abandoned shoes and squelched out into good looking habitat – immediate success, settling on the trunks of the pines and occasionally chasing each other around, Baltic Graylings! Actually many Baltic Graylings! In the small area I checked, at least 40 were present, undoubtedly far more in the wider area. Other butterflies were far less prominent – a few Green Hairstreaks, one more Swallowtail, but otherwise just mainly a few Brimstones and Wood Whites.
Slight cloud was beginning to gather to the south, so I opted against a planned visit to sites on the Belarus border and returned instead to the north, stopping for a final walk of the day in sand pits near Merkine. Not bad at all, Camberwell Beauty and Dingy Skipper amongst the first species seen, several Short-tailed Blues and Small Heaths added also.
So a classic day, the best of 2017 so far – 25 species in total, some pretty good ones included.
BALTIC YEAR LIST
26. Scarce Swallowtail
27. Large White
28. Pale Clouded Yellow
29. Small Heath
30. Baltic Grayling