22 June. Imlil.
Sunny and unbroken blue skies from dawn, started the day with a hike from Aroumd to Toubkal National Park to the south. A broad valley of shingle banks at the outset, bordered by cherry orchards brimming with ripe fruit, much to the delight of a flock of about 200 Alpine Choughs.
In this initial area, catching the early morning sunshine, good numbers of butterflies already active, Spanish Marbled Whites and a few Moroccan Marbled Whites most prominent, along with Clouded Yellows, Bath Whites, Small Whites and lesser numbers of Moroccan Green-veined Whites. In between, some scarcer species, the best being a couple of Common Tiger Blues, two Moroccan Knapweed Fritillaries and a Large Tortoiseshell.
The plan had been to hike to altitude, the slopes beneath the snow patches on Toubkal the basic destination. However, a checkpoint a couple of kilometres up put an end to that - turned out that guides are compulsory for access into the national park. Not my cup of tea, so descended into the now steep well-vegetated valley and slowly scrambled my way back. Abundant Speckled Woods and Wall Browns all the way, plus more of the species mentioned earlier, along with a Purple-shot Copper, at least five Cleopatras and my first Comma of the trip. Lower, as I re-entered the broader valley, one Scarce Swallowtail and one Moroccan High Brown Fritillary.
Now late morning, with my hike to altitude cancelled, I decided instead to take the narrow road to the east towards Tizi n Tacheddirt. With the road rising to 2500 metres, this gave easy access to the excellent semi-Alpine tops - low abundance of butterflies in absolute terms, but some classic species. On steep slopes dominated by small purple-flowering shrubs, the exquisite Vaucher's Heaths proved fairly common, as did both Spanish and Moroccan Marbled Whites. At one locality, a mini-colony of about eight Black-eyed Blues was a very nice treat, while elsewhere a couple of False Baton Blues and a Common Tiger Blue. In reality, it was a continual trickle of excellent butterflies throughout the afternoon, Giant Grayling and Dark Giant Grayling both seen at separate localities, as well as a Glanville Fritillary, my second Large Tortoiseshell of the day, one Moroccan Small Heath and both Moroccan Meadow Brown and Moroccan Greyling.
The day truly had exceeded my expectations, the final tally reaching 37 species, second highest day total of the trip.
Sunny and unbroken blue skies from dawn, started the day with a hike from Aroumd to Toubkal National Park to the south. A broad valley of shingle banks at the outset, bordered by cherry orchards brimming with ripe fruit, much to the delight of a flock of about 200 Alpine Choughs.
In this initial area, catching the early morning sunshine, good numbers of butterflies already active, Spanish Marbled Whites and a few Moroccan Marbled Whites most prominent, along with Clouded Yellows, Bath Whites, Small Whites and lesser numbers of Moroccan Green-veined Whites. In between, some scarcer species, the best being a couple of Common Tiger Blues, two Moroccan Knapweed Fritillaries and a Large Tortoiseshell.
The plan had been to hike to altitude, the slopes beneath the snow patches on Toubkal the basic destination. However, a checkpoint a couple of kilometres up put an end to that - turned out that guides are compulsory for access into the national park. Not my cup of tea, so descended into the now steep well-vegetated valley and slowly scrambled my way back. Abundant Speckled Woods and Wall Browns all the way, plus more of the species mentioned earlier, along with a Purple-shot Copper, at least five Cleopatras and my first Comma of the trip. Lower, as I re-entered the broader valley, one Scarce Swallowtail and one Moroccan High Brown Fritillary.
Now late morning, with my hike to altitude cancelled, I decided instead to take the narrow road to the east towards Tizi n Tacheddirt. With the road rising to 2500 metres, this gave easy access to the excellent semi-Alpine tops - low abundance of butterflies in absolute terms, but some classic species. On steep slopes dominated by small purple-flowering shrubs, the exquisite Vaucher's Heaths proved fairly common, as did both Spanish and Moroccan Marbled Whites. At one locality, a mini-colony of about eight Black-eyed Blues was a very nice treat, while elsewhere a couple of False Baton Blues and a Common Tiger Blue. In reality, it was a continual trickle of excellent butterflies throughout the afternoon, Giant Grayling and Dark Giant Grayling both seen at separate localities, as well as a Glanville Fritillary, my second Large Tortoiseshell of the day, one Moroccan Small Heath and both Moroccan Meadow Brown and Moroccan Greyling.
The day truly had exceeded my expectations, the final tally reaching 37 species, second highest day total of the trip.
