Dupont's, Nettle-trees and Festoons, Spanish Triple. (1 Viewer)

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.

All in all, the week exceeded my expectation -especially on the butterfly front, amassing a total of 45 species of butterfly. Though birding was very much a secondary activity on this trip, not too bad either - 155 species recorded,many of the Spanish classics among them.

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.

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. Moved a few hundred metres, more Dupont's Larks singing, though also rather intermittent now. 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.

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. 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 Whites 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.

Bird of the day...

And a couple of the first butterflies...

It seems more than one of us got the bug to head out to the steppes.

Good work on the Duponts - I failed...

I was just thinking I had pipped you to Dupont's Lark when I noticed the dates - you got it about 12 days before me!

I've been to El Planeron perhaps 10 times at just about every time of day but have still to see Sandgrouse there. We've been quite lucky with Dupont's Lark, though. Our first definite one landed on the track in front of the car, albeit rather further from the main road than where I think you were.

Did you find the little hide by the pool? We sat there for as long as we could stand once being savaged by mosquitos and biting flies in the hope that we might get some sandgrouse coming in to drink. Best ever views of Stone Curlew (until about 15 minutes later, anyway) but not much else. When we got back into the car, not long before sunset, the thermometer was showing +42C so a tiny bit warmer than your visit.

Will there be some more about those butterflies? We're not experts but we've found a few nice fritillaries around Catalunya.

pandachris said:

Will there be some more about those butterflies? .

Click to expand...

Forgot about this thread

Will add the remainder ...

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.

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 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!

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. Fortunately I was moving north next day, things were about to improve as I headed into northern Catalonia.

Province Hairstreak ...

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 this day 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 daytime 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.

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.

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.

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. 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 and cut through excellent habitat on the way. Three main targets here, namely Provence Orange Tip (a recent 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.

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!

Some of the day...

just like the proverbial No 37 bus - nothing for ages and then loads all at once.

Forgive my ignorance, but I thought hairstreaks had false antennae on the lower wings. Mind you its got enough general fluffiness to make up for it!

Cheers
Mike

We're far from experts re butterflies but we like to try to identify our sightings on our Catalan trips. Might have to find an excuse to get up to Jafre next spring. We've not found Festoons so far.

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.

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.

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. What it lacked in abundance however, it made up for in quality – walking a circuit of several kilometres, I only found 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 (including a very small individual which was one of the smallest butterflies I have ever seen). Also added 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.

This day...

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 Ricardell stream.

A lush little strip of land, some nice flower meadows alongside, I was pretty impressed with my first location for the morning, even more so when I spotted some fine specimens of nettle-trees on the banks of the stream. 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. 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'!

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! 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.

Today's batch...

Sounds like fun, Jos.

I don't know whether to be surprised by the dearth of Long-tailed Blue. Unless we are mis-identifying (and I don't think we are), it's one of the most numerous butterflies in the region. I have a strong feeling backed up by no evidence that we have seen them in December and February, albeit at lower altitudes and coastal locations (coastal locations are often at lower altitudes). We call them the castellers' butterfly because we often see them flying over crowds watching that fascinating Catalan tradition, presumably attracted either by the heat given off by the crowd or maybe looking for salts in the prodigious amounts of sweat produced.

Forgot to finish this report, so here goes - the day the main target fell!


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.

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.

Thought of Nettle-tree Butterfly finally dragged me down though, perhaps I would explore the river valley near Besalú I thought. Exiting Oix, I noticed a small meadow near a playground aside a small stream. Decided to give it a quick check, then found a path meandering though a slither of riverine woodland along the 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 along here.

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.

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.