Dolomites Days and 5 and 6

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.

It seemed like a fitting end to a great holiday.

Dolomites Days 1 and 2

Venues covered were Tamion where we were staying, the Costalunga Pass, San Pellegrino Pass and the Passa Valles.  My photographs throughout the trip concentrated mainly on butterflies:

Without cross-checking to previous sightings in Sri Lanka and Bulgaria, I reckoned that almond-eyed ringlet, alpine heath, geranium argus, large ringlet, olive skipper, silver-spotted skipper, sooty ringlet and tatania's fritillary were all first sightings for me.

One we didn't get a photograph of was a large blue that appeared towards the top of the San Pellegrino Pass.  Our group leader Luca commented that he'd never seen one there before.

Alpine Heath and Mazarine Blue were to prove the most common of the smaller butterflies throughout the trip, though even they were considerably outnumbered by the chimney sweeper moth.

The marsh fritillary was the glaciegenita variant found in the Alps and much smaller that the ones I saw in Bulgaria.

The olive skipper is the most common of the greyish skippers, which are often hard to distinguish. The number of spots on the lower hind wing can give a strong clue.

One butterfly we couldn't track down was the scarce copper in spite of the abundance of its food plant.

The bees were slightly differently coloured than expected.  The red-tailed bumblebee had faded to orange-tailed whereas the carder bee was as ginger as a tawny mining bee.

Incidentally, the nutcracker shot was the best I have so far managed.

Bulgaria Day 7

It was fortunate that yesterday ended early.  I had been struggling with hayfever for the last couple of days in the Rhodopes and by the end of yesterday, it had developed into a full blown cold and I found I didn't want to do any more wildlife hunts for a bit.

Thankfully I felt a fair bit better after 12 hours in bed as we set off into the mountains where it was distinctly cool and very misty.  I needed some exercise and decided to walk on ahead of the group in the murky weather.  It proved a good idea to follow my instincts and I really enjoyed the visual conditions, which more resembled the Highlands than the Balkans, albeit with different vegetation.

Mountain Scenery

I found the visual effects in the eerie light conditions interesting and started particularly to notice some of the trees and branches:

During this period, I didn't notice much wildlife at all but I did get one poorish photo of a nutcracker from below, which is however the best I have ever managed:

Nutcracker

The sombre conditions remained all day and it was amazing that we managed another walk in the afternoon without facing a major downpour.  This time it was in a woodland area that again put me in mind of the highlands.  We managed to see a few things, notably marsh tit, a hill cuckoo bumblebee (new one on me), and a sooty copper.  During the last 40 minutes it looked like it was going to brighten up and bring the butterflies out, but it never did.

On arriving at the hotel again I also got a distance shot of a hooded crow for the first time, although they were seen most days.

Hill Cuckoo Bumblebee

Hooded Crow

This day worked for me in a weird way.  Although it was a bit of a nonentity for spottings, the pace relaxed and I felt much better by the end of it. I did try a bit of a stroll in the evening but all I got was a couple of furtive goats:

Bulgaria Day 3

We walked along a path that traversed a mixed hillside, so that there were good views into the trees on one side and opportunities to forage for butterflies on the other. Initially the sun refused to show its presence and the early talk was about whether we would see any butterflies.

Eventually the sun did oblige and by the end of the morning, we had in fact seen quite a profusion of butterflies. I was greatly exercised by the difficulties of identifying the blues and fritillaries and can only hope that I have called them all correctly.

A couple of early sightings were of rock bunting (new to me) and a nutcracker, which was induced to take up position in a nearby treetop by reproducing its call on a mobile phone.

A relatively early appearance again was the alcon blue, which has an interesting modus operandi.  Its caterpillars issue a sweet liquid that induces a species of red ant to carry them into their nest, which the caterpillars duly parasitise much in the same fashion as the cuckoo. Who'd have thought it of such a pretty butterfly?

On the blues side I was very pleased to spot and identify a holly blue, as I have never tracked one down in the UK. After that a slight complication arose when we came into an area frequented by the nickerl's fritillary as it greatly ressembles the heath fritillary.  By my reckoning and from what more experienced people were saying, I did see and photograph it but looking back on the images I downloaded I wasn't convinced.*

Everyone was also impressed by the brightness of the owlflies that appeared from time to time.

In the afternoon the sights were enhanced by the addition of a slow worm and a small grass snake on an area of rough heathland.

Once again, I've pulled all the photos into a video because of the large number available.  The ones I haven't titled at the end are those I couldn't identify to my satisfaction, so perhaps you would like to have a try?

*Note  After reviewing the photos with a new guide book, I am now convinced that the shots were of Nickerl's  fritillary.  Here's an example that gives a good view of the markings:

Nickerl's Fritillary

Wednesday 20th June

Holiday in Mayrhofen, Austria

Arrived around lunchtime after overnight stay in Kufstein.  Decided to go for walk to Brandberg as weather good.  Not a lot seen apart from a black redstart, a butterfly like a grayling and a red deer.

21st June

Very long (too long!) walk on and down Penkenberg.  Saw an obscure warbler singing single note like tsit from pine trees.  Looked most like arctic warbler and not bonelli's - maybe greenish warbler? Did not behave or sing like willow warbler.

Almost immediately after got a clear sighting of two nutcrackers including characteristic tail feathers before they made off.  Have been hoping to see one in Germany since 2004, so well-pleased.  On getting up to restart walk at Penkenjoch a black bird landed directly infront of me on the grass. Although it had its back turned you could see the white band on its chest so clearly a ring ouzel.  Sat down to try to minimise disturbance but immediately it flew off leaving me feeling disappointed at such a fleeting encounter with one of my main targets and certainly the top-listed one for this holiday. Kept a careful eye open on the way down but all suspects proved to be blackbirds.

Also saw a profusion of flowers and butterflies, many of which are hard to identify as they are local species not known in the UK.  Those identifed were (or were similar to) small tortoiseshell, speckled wood, painted lady, small pearl bordered fritillary, brown argos, alpine blue, dingy skipper, plus some strong-flying yellows that never settled - suspect brimstone, clouded yellow plus one that had a slight swallow tail.