wallpaper hd download: Niobe Fritillary

Day 4 - moving day, as we swapped Rimplas for Saint Martin d'Entraunes, of course butterflying on the way. First stop was the famous manure heap at Beuil.

Lots of skippers and blues but odd to see a pristine Swallowtail puddling in a pile of poo

Foulquier's Skipper??

Large Grizzled Skipper??

Safflower Skipper

A Cleopatra that, try as I might, I failed to capture with an open wing shot.

Damon Blues

On down the track were some decent thistles attracting a few Fritillaries.

Dark Green Fritillary

Marbled Fritillary

Rather close Silver-washed Fritillary

Silver-washed Fritillary

Then on to a roadside meadow for mud puddling blues and a plethora of fritillaries.

Apparently seven species

Easy - mostly Damon Blue

Another Chestnut Heath

Too close!

First Queen of Spain Fritillary

Next Niobe Fritillary

Finally we arrived at our new base and having checked in I dumped my bags, grabbed my camera and joined David to investigate a stand of thistles and umbellifers at the side of the hotel. We struck silver, first a Silver-spotted Skipper then I was delighted to be able to capture a fairly obliging Silver-washed Fritillary, forma valesina, a perfect end to another great butterflying day.

Day two and a change of venue - this time a journey up the Tinée Valley as far as the Col de la Lombarde or the Colle della Lombarda. This depends on where you are in the car park as the border runs straight through the middle. I noted that we parked in France but had our picnic lunch whilst sitting in Italy.

On the ascent we paused briefly to inspect a 100m stretch of roadside verge, it was absolutely alive with butterflies. So many that, for a brief time, I was overwhelmed with specimens to photograph and achieved nothing. Slowly I realised that you had to concentrate on a single subject and not get distracted, pretty hard as the temperature was on the up and the butterflies manic.