• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

An Odyssey of Butterflies, Greece 2018. (1 Viewer)

Jos Stratford

Eastern Exile
Staff member
United Kingdom
Long time getting this report together, it actually covers two trips - a spring trip targeting False Apollo and Southern Festoon in the north of the country, then an early summer trip to the mountain massifs of Parnassus and Chelmos in the south, hoping to find Europe's smallest butterfly, the Grass Jewel, plus a rich abundance of and diversity of other species.
 
PART ONE. Quest for the False Apollo.

Full report with photographs and details is already on my website HERE so just a few photograph highlights here. Did pretty well for so early in the season, notching up 49 species of butterfly in all.

First batch - False Apollo and Southern Festoon
 

Attachments

  • False Apollo gr 1.jpg
    False Apollo gr 1.jpg
    138.6 KB · Views: 30
  • False Apollo gr 2.jpg
    False Apollo gr 2.jpg
    133.8 KB · Views: 21
  • Southern Festoon gr 2.jpg
    Southern Festoon gr 2.jpg
    146.4 KB · Views: 24
  • Southern Festoon gr 5.jpg
    Southern Festoon gr 5.jpg
    145.5 KB · Views: 29
  • Southern Festoon gr 6.jpg
    Southern Festoon gr 6.jpg
    94.1 KB · Views: 13
Last edited:
Some of the other highlights - Gruner's Orange Tip, Inky Skipper, Little Blue, Powdered Brimstone and numerous Nettle-tree Butterflies.
 

Attachments

  • Gruners Orange Tip gr 1.jpg
    Gruners Orange Tip gr 1.jpg
    72.5 KB · Views: 20
  • Inky Skipper gr 1.jpg
    Inky Skipper gr 1.jpg
    91 KB · Views: 20
  • Little Blue gr 1.jpg
    Little Blue gr 1.jpg
    84.8 KB · Views: 16
  • Powdered Brimstone gr 1.jpg
    Powdered Brimstone gr 1.jpg
    91.9 KB · Views: 17
  • Nettle-tree Butterfly gr 5.jpg
    Nettle-tree Butterfly gr 5.jpg
    86.8 KB · Views: 22
And non-butterflies:
 

Attachments

  • Carpathian Scorpion gr 1.jpg
    Carpathian Scorpion gr 1.jpg
    151.5 KB · Views: 26
  • Carpathian Scorpion gr 2.jpg
    Carpathian Scorpion gr 2.jpg
    149.5 KB · Views: 22
  • European Pond Turtle gr 1.jpg
    European Pond Turtle gr 1.jpg
    127.6 KB · Views: 18
  • Spur-thighed Tortoise gr  2.jpg
    Spur-thighed Tortoise gr 2.jpg
    129.9 KB · Views: 13
  • European Glass Snake gr 2.jpg
    European Glass Snake gr 2.jpg
    222.1 KB · Views: 31
PART TWO. A Tale of Two Mountains.

Concentrating on Mount Parnassus and Mount Chelmos in southern Greece, this short summer trip focussed on the rich assortment of endemics and semi-endemics, though the primary target really was Grass Jewel, Europe's smallest butterfly.

Full report also on my website HERE, but managed 87 species of butterfly on this trip.


Some of the blues...
 

Attachments

  • Grass Jewel gr 1.jpg
    Grass Jewel gr 1.jpg
    62.3 KB · Views: 28
  • Grass Jewel gr 2.jpg
    Grass Jewel gr 2.jpg
    81.8 KB · Views: 16
  • Adonis Blue gr 1.jpg
    Adonis Blue gr 1.jpg
    71.6 KB · Views: 14
  • Turquoise Blue gr 1.jpg
    Turquoise Blue gr 1.jpg
    78.1 KB · Views: 11
  • Chelmos Zephyr Blue gr 1.jpg
    Chelmos Zephyr Blue gr 1.jpg
    59 KB · Views: 16
And the three anomalous blues...
 

Attachments

  • Anomalous Blue gr 2.jpg
    Anomalous Blue gr 2.jpg
    67.2 KB · Views: 15
  • Grecian Anomalous Blue gr 1.jpg
    Grecian Anomalous Blue gr 1.jpg
    64.2 KB · Views: 16
  • Riparts Anomalous Blue gr 1.jpg
    Riparts Anomalous Blue gr 1.jpg
    61.2 KB · Views: 15
Oodles of skippers
 

Attachments

  • Orbed Red-underwing Skipper gr 5.jpg
    Orbed Red-underwing Skipper gr 5.jpg
    58.2 KB · Views: 20
  • Oberthurs Grizzled Skipper gr 2.jpg
    Oberthurs Grizzled Skipper gr 2.jpg
    55.1 KB · Views: 10
  • Persian Skipper gr 2.jpg
    Persian Skipper gr 2.jpg
    76.7 KB · Views: 15
  • Olive Skipper gr 1.jpg
    Olive Skipper gr 1.jpg
    122.5 KB · Views: 12
  • Dingy Skipper gr 1.jpg
    Dingy Skipper gr 1.jpg
    87.6 KB · Views: 12
Some of the more spectacular
 

Attachments

  • Clouded Apollo gr 3.jpg
    Clouded Apollo gr 3.jpg
    62.7 KB · Views: 23
  • Two-tailed Pasha gr 2.jpg
    Two-tailed Pasha gr 2.jpg
    114.4 KB · Views: 32
  • The Hermit gr 1.jpg
    The Hermit gr 1.jpg
    78.9 KB · Views: 23
  • Black-veined White gr 1.jpg
    Black-veined White gr 1.jpg
    68.9 KB · Views: 13
  • Cleopatra gr 1.jpg
    Cleopatra gr 1.jpg
    86.6 KB · Views: 17
Warning! This thread is more than 6 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top