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Violet Copper
Lycaena helle
4th June 2017. Doubs. France.
The Violet Copper was top of my "most wanted" list of European butterflies for decades. I finally caught up with it in the bogs of eastern France, late spring 2017, in a damp meadow full of Bistort. It was flying in great numbers, and I was completely overwhelmed to be in amongst hundreds of these stunningly beautiful insects in a relatively small area of habitat. Both the males and females have amazingly coloured uppersides when they catch the light. In fine weather they are highly active. I had the pleasure of spending hours and hours with them, finding mating pairs, observing egg-laying, and on days when the weather in this part of France was poor, I managed to locate several new colonies by searching for eggs on the underside of Bistort leaves in promising looking habitat. A must-see species for the European butterfly enthusiast, and a defining moment in my travels; definitely a top five life experience!
4th June 2017. Doubs. France.
The Violet Copper was top of my "most wanted" list of European butterflies for decades. I finally caught up with it in the bogs of eastern France, late spring 2017, in a damp meadow full of Bistort. It was flying in great numbers, and I was completely overwhelmed to be in amongst hundreds of these stunningly beautiful insects in a relatively small area of habitat. Both the males and females have amazingly coloured uppersides when they catch the light. In fine weather they are highly active. I had the pleasure of spending hours and hours with them, finding mating pairs, observing egg-laying, and on days when the weather in this part of France was poor, I managed to locate several new colonies by searching for eggs on the underside of Bistort leaves in promising looking habitat. A must-see species for the European butterfly enthusiast, and a defining moment in my travels; definitely a top five life experience!
Violet Copper
Lycaena helle
2nd June 2017. Doubs. France.
The gorgeous female of the species. This butterfly is confined to bogs and damp meadows where Bistort grows in abundance, usually in amongst scrub or in woodland clearings. It has a wide distrubution across central and northern Europe, but colonies are very rare and widely scattered. It is classified as endangered and is one of the rarest species on my life-list. Nevertheless, in good colonies such as the one where this female was photographed, it can occur in large numbers.
2nd June 2017. Doubs. France.
The gorgeous female of the species. This butterfly is confined to bogs and damp meadows where Bistort grows in abundance, usually in amongst scrub or in woodland clearings. It has a wide distrubution across central and northern Europe, but colonies are very rare and widely scattered. It is classified as endangered and is one of the rarest species on my life-list. Nevertheless, in good colonies such as the one where this female was photographed, it can occur in large numbers.
Striped Grayling
Hipparchia fidia
25th July 2014. Bonson. France.
This was my first sighting of the Striped Grayling, and was due to a much appreciated tip-off from a bunch of butterfly enthusiasts with whom I had met up at a small hotel in the Maritime Alps. John Chapple and company had seen this butterfly on a roadside at a small village north of Nice, and kindly shared the site information with me. I visited the next day and was thrilled to capture this mint-fresh individual feasting on a pile of fox-scat. With its stunning underside pattern, this is one of my favourite grayling species. I have since seen it in better numbers in Spain. The photograph here was selected for inclusion in the 2015 European Butterfly Group calendar, a proud moment, seeing another one of my images make it into print!
25th July 2014. Bonson. France.
This was my first sighting of the Striped Grayling, and was due to a much appreciated tip-off from a bunch of butterfly enthusiasts with whom I had met up at a small hotel in the Maritime Alps. John Chapple and company had seen this butterfly on a roadside at a small village north of Nice, and kindly shared the site information with me. I visited the next day and was thrilled to capture this mint-fresh individual feasting on a pile of fox-scat. With its stunning underside pattern, this is one of my favourite grayling species. I have since seen it in better numbers in Spain. The photograph here was selected for inclusion in the 2015 European Butterfly Group calendar, a proud moment, seeing another one of my images make it into print!
Damon Blues
Polyommatus damon
13th July 2012. Queyras. France.
This mating pair was photographed in a flowery meadow not far from Chateau Queyras, in the Queyras Regional Natural Park, one of my favourite places in France. The meadow was alive with a huge range of blues, fritillaries, skippers and coppers. These two were posed nicely for the camera, showing off their distinctively white-striped undersides.
13th July 2012. Queyras. France.
This mating pair was photographed in a flowery meadow not far from Chateau Queyras, in the Queyras Regional Natural Park, one of my favourite places in France. The meadow was alive with a huge range of blues, fritillaries, skippers and coppers. These two were posed nicely for the camera, showing off their distinctively white-striped undersides.
Yellow-banded Skipper
Pyrgus sidae
1st June 2019. Sainte-Baume. France.
A local species of southern Europe, I have only ever seen two of this species. The first was some years ago during a holiday in Provence with my great friend and fellow enthusiast Bob Lambert. He found one in an overgrown vineyard. It was another eleven years before I saw another, this example here, photographed in dry grassland habitat near the Massif de Sainte-Baume in southern France. It is a large skipper, noticeably so in flight, and it was the size that caught my eye when this one flew up in front of me. This is the only European "grizzled skipper" with yellow markings on the underwing.
1st June 2019. Sainte-Baume. France.
A local species of southern Europe, I have only ever seen two of this species. The first was some years ago during a holiday in Provence with my great friend and fellow enthusiast Bob Lambert. He found one in an overgrown vineyard. It was another eleven years before I saw another, this example here, photographed in dry grassland habitat near the Massif de Sainte-Baume in southern France. It is a large skipper, noticeably so in flight, and it was the size that caught my eye when this one flew up in front of me. This is the only European "grizzled skipper" with yellow markings on the underwing.
Twin-spot Fritillary
Brenthis hecate
1st June 2019. Sainte-Baume. France.
A butterfly with a southern European distribution, quite localised in dry grassland habitats, usually in amongst light scrub or woodland, it took me quite a while to catch up with this species, thanks to a tip-off from a fellow butterfly enthusiast based in Marseilles (thanks Chris). A delightful beast, very orange in flight, I was most fortunate to spend time with a few dozen of these right at the beginning of their flight period, when they were lovely and fresh.
1st June 2019. Sainte-Baume. France.
A butterfly with a southern European distribution, quite localised in dry grassland habitats, usually in amongst light scrub or woodland, it took me quite a while to catch up with this species, thanks to a tip-off from a fellow butterfly enthusiast based in Marseilles (thanks Chris). A delightful beast, very orange in flight, I was most fortunate to spend time with a few dozen of these right at the beginning of their flight period, when they were lovely and fresh.
Reverdin's Blue
Plebejus argyrognomon
5th June 2018. Cote-d'Or. France.
This is closely related to the Idas and the Silver-studded Blue, and is very similar in appearance, but more localised and with a mainly central-European distribution. I have only seen it in France. I found a small colony in a meadow in the north of the Dordogne back in 2002. This colony still survived until 2009 at least, but I didn't find it during a repeat visit in 2018. The female depicted here was photographed in the Cote-d'Or further east in France, in a region where it appears to be particularly plentiful. Indeed in this area I found that it far outnumbered Idas and Silver-studded Blues. The females have a strong tendency to produce beautiful blue forms, such as this one.
5th June 2018. Cote-d'Or. France.
This is closely related to the Idas and the Silver-studded Blue, and is very similar in appearance, but more localised and with a mainly central-European distribution. I have only seen it in France. I found a small colony in a meadow in the north of the Dordogne back in 2002. This colony still survived until 2009 at least, but I didn't find it during a repeat visit in 2018. The female depicted here was photographed in the Cote-d'Or further east in France, in a region where it appears to be particularly plentiful. Indeed in this area I found that it far outnumbered Idas and Silver-studded Blues. The females have a strong tendency to produce beautiful blue forms, such as this one.
Reverdin's Blue
Plebejus argyrognomon
5th June 2018. Cote d'Or. France.
The underside of this butterfly is quite beautiful in my opinion, and distinctive enough to help distinguish it from its close relatives. This is one of my favourite photo's from my trip to the Cote d'Or in France. A very fresh individual, showing the typical clean silvery-grey ground colour, with the orange sub-marginal markings extending all the way from the bottom of the hindwing to the top of the forewing. Sublime!
5th June 2018. Cote d'Or. France.
The underside of this butterfly is quite beautiful in my opinion, and distinctive enough to help distinguish it from its close relatives. This is one of my favourite photo's from my trip to the Cote d'Or in France. A very fresh individual, showing the typical clean silvery-grey ground colour, with the orange sub-marginal markings extending all the way from the bottom of the hindwing to the top of the forewing. Sublime!
Warren's Skipper
Pyrgus warrenensis
12th July 2017. Queyras. France.
This is a very rare butterfly, found only at high altitude in a very restricted area of the alps, from eastern France, across Italy to Austria. Hard to find, this individual was one of several highlights during an arduous eight hour hike up into the mountains close to the French-Italian border. A very small "grizzled skipper" with highly subtle markings. Another unforgettable moment!
12th July 2017. Queyras. France.
This is a very rare butterfly, found only at high altitude in a very restricted area of the alps, from eastern France, across Italy to Austria. Hard to find, this individual was one of several highlights during an arduous eight hour hike up into the mountains close to the French-Italian border. A very small "grizzled skipper" with highly subtle markings. Another unforgettable moment!
Woodland Brown
Lopinga achine
4th June 2018. Cote d'Or. France.
This species has what is surely one of the most dramatic underside patterns amongst the European "browns". I first found it back in 2002. A couple of individuals were flying along a shady woodland ride up in the mountains of the French Alps, not far from Annecy, in late July. At the time I hadn't yet converted to digital media, and I struggled to get anywhere near the butterflies with my old SLR camera. It was to be a long time until I would see it again, but fast forward to early June 2018 and I encountered it by the dozens in the Cote d'Or. It was common in many woodland settings, along rides and wood edges, but still proved to be quite hard to photograph, tending to land mainly out of reach up in the trees. But it does appear to be attracted to cars. Several individuals appeared whenever I parked up my hire car close to a woodland edge and appeared fascinated by the car tyres and bodywork! I also saw several down on fox scat, another apparent attractant. The species is sadly declining across much of its range in central Europe.
4th June 2018. Cote d'Or. France.
This species has what is surely one of the most dramatic underside patterns amongst the European "browns". I first found it back in 2002. A couple of individuals were flying along a shady woodland ride up in the mountains of the French Alps, not far from Annecy, in late July. At the time I hadn't yet converted to digital media, and I struggled to get anywhere near the butterflies with my old SLR camera. It was to be a long time until I would see it again, but fast forward to early June 2018 and I encountered it by the dozens in the Cote d'Or. It was common in many woodland settings, along rides and wood edges, but still proved to be quite hard to photograph, tending to land mainly out of reach up in the trees. But it does appear to be attracted to cars. Several individuals appeared whenever I parked up my hire car close to a woodland edge and appeared fascinated by the car tyres and bodywork! I also saw several down on fox scat, another apparent attractant. The species is sadly declining across much of its range in central Europe.
Tufted Marbled Skipper
Carcharodus flocciferus
14th July 2004. Col de Puymorens. France.
This is an old photograph from back in 2004, taken with my first digital camera, a Nikon Coolpix 4500. It is of the first Tufted Marbled Skipper that I ever saw, quite high up in the French Pyrenees. It is said to be very local, but since my first sighting I have seen it since during many of my trips to the alps of south-east France. Although the text books have it as flying at a wide range of altitudes, most common below 400m, my experience is that it is much more likely to be found higher up in the mountains, particularly above 1500m. It is quite a chunky skipper, especially the female (pictured here).
14th July 2004. Col de Puymorens. France.
This is an old photograph from back in 2004, taken with my first digital camera, a Nikon Coolpix 4500. It is of the first Tufted Marbled Skipper that I ever saw, quite high up in the French Pyrenees. It is said to be very local, but since my first sighting I have seen it since during many of my trips to the alps of south-east France. Although the text books have it as flying at a wide range of altitudes, most common below 400m, my experience is that it is much more likely to be found higher up in the mountains, particularly above 1500m. It is quite a chunky skipper, especially the female (pictured here).
Sooty Copper
Lycaena tityrus
24th July 2016. Maritime Alps. France.
A common and widespread butterfly across much of central and southern Europe, I find it pretty much everywhere that I go in France, although for some reason it seems to be very sparse in the far south of Var and the Bouches-du-Rhone. One of the aims of my attempts at butterfly photography is to capture images of individuals that are as fresh and undamaged as possible, and they don't come much fresher than this! I was very happy when this image was selected for inclusion in the 2017 European Butterfly Group calendar. Some photographers would consider this photo to be much too heavily cropped, but I like to get up close and personal with my subjects, especially when they are looking as good as this.
24th July 2016. Maritime Alps. France.
A common and widespread butterfly across much of central and southern Europe, I find it pretty much everywhere that I go in France, although for some reason it seems to be very sparse in the far south of Var and the Bouches-du-Rhone. One of the aims of my attempts at butterfly photography is to capture images of individuals that are as fresh and undamaged as possible, and they don't come much fresher than this! I was very happy when this image was selected for inclusion in the 2017 European Butterfly Group calendar. Some photographers would consider this photo to be much too heavily cropped, but I like to get up close and personal with my subjects, especially when they are looking as good as this.
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