The butterflies in August are still present in good numbers in old pastures, woodland edges and especially along the railway line where access tracks are carefully maintained and the vegetation cleared annually.
The habitats on the sides of the railway line are full of flowers and butterflies
Violet fritillary
Provencal short-tailed blue
Spotted fritillary
Spotted fritillary
Brown argus on chicory
Brimstone on purple loosestrife
White admiral on adjacent oak
Dogwood berries
Large skipper on viper’s bugloss
Mating pair of Provencal short-tailed blue and an interloping male
Provencal short-tailed blue male
Small heath on wild carrot
Wood white
Mallow skipper on mallow
Berger’s clouded yellow
Heath fritillary prefers the knapweed
Lesser purple emperor patrols the path from the edge of the sweet corn
Near a fishing lake and nestling between a poplar plantation and lines of tall oak trees, a small field of plantains, docks, knapweed and common fleabane, is bisected by a wet ditch full of purple loosestrife, hemp agrimony, hairy willowherb and water mint. This colourful assemblage pulls in a wide range of butterflies to nectar and a few more than last August.
Knapweed fritillary
Knapweed fritillary
Adonis blue
Silver-washed fritillary
Unimproved damp grassland with wet ditch
The small and sooty coppers sit on the mint whereas the large coppers nectar solely on the fleabane. This last species, in French the le cuivré des marais or grand cuivré, is restricted to damp, unimproved grasslands most of which have been drained and tidied up, as a consequence it is a rare and notable species in France and an important record for la commune de Bellon.
Small copper
Small copper
Small copper
Sooty copper
Sooty copper
Sooty copper
Sooty copper
Large copper on common fleabane
Large copper
Large copper
Large copper – moves to rest on grass when the sun goes in
Mazarine blue on purple loosestrife 4
Mazarine blue
Mazarine blue
Mazarine blue
Mazarine blue
A sting in the tale: a hornet guarding its nest in a decaying tree
Excellent pics. very enjoyable blog, thankyou
Hi and thanks!