Day 5 comprised two walks in the Sella Pass, the second of which finished on the scree at our highest elevation of around 2,300 metres. Day 6 comprised two main stops at Predazzo and the Park Natural Paneveggio, which also ended up on scree.
The photos are in no particular order and reflect a little my guilt at having largely failed to do much justice to the many flowers.
After an early success with a mountain fritillary at Sella Pass, most butterflies were on the wing apart from alpine heath, which was definitely the most seen butterfly throughout the six days. However the compensation was a rarity later on in the morning - Warren's grizzled skipper, which was found ovipositing on its main food plant.
Ring ouzels and nutcrackers were spotted on the way up to the scree and I saw the "mysterious" fly. It had a clear red band on its waist the likes of which I've never seen before but I couldn't find any shots of similar flies on the internet.
The scree itself was a disappointment as the sun disappeared soon after we arrived and only one butterfly was sighted in passing. However a few from the group did manage a close encounter with a marmot.
Day 6 was notable for the repeated appearance of a couple of apollo butterflies at a layby en route. Perhaps even more striking for me was the fleeting sighting of a purple emperor at the same location and the carnelian burnet was arguably the star rarity.
Large ringlet was seen a lot at Predazzo with some other wetland species and large grizzled skipper (in numbers) was a first sighting as we moved uphill. I again found some bug interest in the form of the rose chafer.
There was a lone sighting of a pearly heath (last photo) showing its similarity to the alpine version.
Once more today, the scree was not yielding any major sightings but we probably saw most of the target sightings elsewhere on the trip except for dewy ringlet. And the marmot was far more obliging this time, turning up near the refugio during our last refreshment stop.
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