10th - 17th September - Corfu, Greece - Butterflies and Insects

I had the chance to find some butterflies around the gardens of the resort in Corfu over the course of the week we were away.  A surprise was to find this Silver-washed Fritillary, but I suppose with the warm weather their flying time is extended.

It was attracted to the verbena that was flowering under one of the many Olive Trees.

Here showing off the 'silver wash' on the under hind wing.

Also around the verbena were bees, these were quite distinctive with brown stripes on the abdomen.  These are called Brown-striped Digger or Carder Bees.  They are quite common and are found in the UK and most of Europe to the west of Russia.

Walking to my sun bed around the middle of the week I spotted this Hummingbird Hawkmoth around the verbena.

Any other year I would have been thrilled to see one, but there have been so many in the UK this summer.

Another butterfly that I would have been pleased to find was the Long-tailed Blue.  They could be seen around the flowers, mostly female with a few a males chasing them.  Again, in the UK, Long-tailed Blues have started to appear along the south coast with several being seen in Hampshire.

They are constantly flying about chasing each other, but eventually settle on a leaf.  They are lovers of warm weather and sunshine and this makes them so active.

The only other butterfly of note was another common butterfly seen in the United Kingdom, the Meadow Brown.  This though a female of the Hispulla transitional variation.

A very poor photograph of a Silver Y moth.

On the there was a Praying Mantis that took occupation of one of the lights along the path close to the restaurant.  I saw it first thing in the morning going to Breakfast and it stayed in the same place until rain came along late afternoon.  Almost motionless it was quite simple to photograph.

My favourite with the sparkling water providing the background for a silhouette.

On the second from last night the rain that washed the mantis away was a very heavy thunder storm and as a result on our last day there were more butterflies about.  I saw Berger's Clouded Yellow, Painted Lady and a White Admiral that I could not be specific about.  Neither of these stopped for pictures.  But then in the afternoon just as we were thinking of going back to the room a Swallowtail came through and took a liking to the Bougainville and I was able to get some photos.

Unfortunately nothing new, but all were nice to see and in some really beautiful, well kept gardens.

8th August - Long-tailed Blue - Portsdown Hill, Hampshire

Back in October 2023, there was a small colony of Long-tailed Blue butterflies on Portsdown Hill, over the last three years the site has been checked but they were not found.  This week though at the same time the report of the Queen of Spain came out a Long-tailed Blue was found in the very same spot.

After the success with the fritillary we decided to head south to get another rare migrant of the UK.  After an hours drive we arrived at the car park, had lunch ten crossed the road to the spot with the bench.  The sun was in and out with some cloud about and as we arrived it went in and a butterfly buzzed around and then settled once the sun was behind the clouds.  A close look and there was the Long-tailed Blue.

The Long-tailed Blue is an extremely rare migrant to the British Isles.  The most noticeable influx occurred in 2013 when Long-tailed Blue were seen at 9 sites in Devon, Hampshire, Sussex, Kent and Suffolk. Mating pairs, eggs and larvae were also found, confirming that the species had successfully bred and, on 8th September 2013, the first of the offspring emerged in Wiltshire and Kent. Sightings from other counties followed, with sightings continuing into October.

The adult butterfly has a jerky and rapid flight that is very similar to a hairstreak, but flies closer to the ground. It is also a strong flyer, borne out by its ability to migrate over large expanses of land and water. This butterfly possesses a pair of "tails" that give this species its name, together with an eye spot where the tails meet the wings. These act to divert a predator, such as a bird, away from the essential body parts. When at rest, the butterfly will rotate the hindwings which causes the tails to move, diverting predators from the more-important parts of the body.

This was a female, with the brown upper wing, the males being a graduated blue.

On the continent, this butterfly is considered a pest of pea crops, one of the larval foodplants, where it can cause considerable damage. This butterfly is continuously-brooded on the continent but again like the Queen of Spain is unable to survive our winters, who knows.

The white stripe on the hindwing looks a little faded which suggests these are migrants.  Who knows what has attracted them to the exact same spot as last time three years ago.  The chances are that now these will breed and that there will be a second brood in October.

They can quite feisty and will chase off butterflies much larger than themselves.

When the sun was out at least two were flying around the area, but as soon as it went behind the clouds they settles on the grass stems.

Alo in the area were a Small White.

And of course a Painted Lady.

We decided to go back and try and find the Brown Hairstreak, but once again the search was fruitless.  Quite bizarre we had seen two extremely rare butterflies in the UK today but could not get to see an endemic!

However there was always the Swallows once again flying around the cropped grass.

And a confiding Holly Blue where the Brown Hairstreak should have been.

Some lovely cloud formations looking south from the bottom of the slope, again looking impressive in black and white.

I doubt there are many days when you get to see two rare migrant butterflies in the United Kingdom, so it was special.  Who knows maybe as our climate changes we will see more of these exotic butterflies reaching our shores

4th - 11th October - San Lorenzo, Sicily, Italy

Back in June, Helen and I had a week in Sicily, the trip then had two objectives, one to visit the eastern side of Sicily, an island of Italy we had both always wanted to visit, the other to check out the area we would be staying with the extended family later in the year.  Fast forward and Friday the 4th October saw us setting off at an unholy hour to arrive at Gatwick around 5.00 am where we met the family and flew to Catania.  The morning was not without its struggles but we finally arrived at our beautiful Villa in a little urbanisation close to the fishing village of Marzamemi and about 25 minutes from the city of Noto, both of which we visited in June.

I didn't have my camera but was able to capture some of the wildlife around the garden of the villa with my phone camera and record some of the interesting bird sighting in and around the villa.

The days are much shorter than they were in June and the sun being lower in the sky meant that the sunsets were going to be quite spectacular and this was certainly the case on our first evening.

As the light of the day ebbed away the wailing of Stone Curlews could be heard from the adjacent fields.

The following morning the sun was rising at just around 7.00am, and very quickly things warmed up and the lizards came out on the wall in the sunshine.  These are Italian Wall Lizards, there is a sub-species known as the Sicilian Wall Lizard.

You could hear them as they scurried about below the bushes and as they dropped from their sunny spot on the leaves.

In this light they look brown, but in certain angles they could be seen as a green.

There were plenty of butterflies about, mostly blues flitting around the flowers.  But the first good picture I could get was of a Small Copper.

Finally managed to get one of the blues, this one a Long-tailed Blue.

There were also good numbers of Painted Lady butterflies.

Birds around the villa were mostly identified by song and call.  Behind and by the side of the villa were vineyards and Crested Larks could be seen singing from the fence posts and in the air, while Spotless Starling and Jays were around the wires and conifer trees.  I also missed a fly past by a Greater Flamingo.

The other blue butterfly in the garden were Lang's Short-tailed Blue.

The underwing is very distinctive, even if the picture is a little blurred.

The best image of one of the Italian Wall Lizards.

Late afternoon, Yellow Wagtail were calling and flying around the vineyard, while Swallows were moving through heading south.  The Stone Curlew were wailing once again after sunset and later in the evening there was a Caspian Tern calling overhead, curtesy of the Merlin app.

Here a 360 degree video clip of the garden and villa accompanied by the end of a "Certain Romance" by the Arctic Monkeys

The following morning the sun rise was challenging the sunset for the best colour.

I had hoped I would see a Swallowtail on this trip and I was duly rewarded when this individual arrived.

I was also able to get some video.

A Bath White had teased me for a few days but I finally managed to get an almost acceptable image.

Back in June we came down to the area to check things out, we also had lunch in the little fishing village of Marzamemi.  We went back for lunch with the family.  Walking around the square I picked out these two images.  A Prickly Pear Cactus that resembled a rabbit!

And a new piece of glassware mounted on the wall, the afternoon sunshine sending a nice shadow.

We had a couple of days on the beach, exploring the rock pools at low tide there were small fish and shrimps and hermit crabs amongst the rocks.  Around the beach and rocks there were also Wall Brown butterflies but they would not stop.

Our last day on the beach the sea was calm and warm, the colours in the sea really had to be seen as they were beautiful.

The last day saw high level dust in the sky that finally produced another stunning sunset.

So the end to another wonderful week in Sicily.  Our trip home was no less eventful, finally ending with one of our bags left in Catania, hopefully it will catch up with us soon.