Martin's Bird Blog & Nature Photos

Tag: Butterflies

  • 9th February 2025 – Ria Formosa, Portugal

    9th February 2025 – Ria Formosa, Portugal

    We made the most of the sunny and calm conditions to take a three hour trip around the Ria Formosa lagoon, located in the Algarve, in southern Portugal.

    In 2010, the lagoon was recognised as one of the country’s seven natural wonders and the series of barrier islands connects to the sea through six inlets, one of which is artificial to allow easier access to the port of Faro.

    We spent half an hour on the tiny island of Armona, just enough time to visit the village with its charming minute houses which are mainly used as holiday homes and to savour the tropical feel of the island.

    The approach to the public toilets

    Large white butterfly

    A typical holiday home

    Clear water and sandy beaches of Armona

    Ruddy turnstone

    We then moved on to the larger island of Culatra which has a permanent population of about 1,000 people who are mainly involved in the fishing trade.

    The island has an extensive sandy beach on its ocean side to which we made our way across the protected sand dunes on a raised wooden walkway. It was warm enough to sit on the beach next to a bar and enjoy a beer.

    The walkway to Praia da Culatra

    The best of the bird life on the island – a crested lark

    Yellow-legged gull

    As the tide was high most of the sandbanks were submerged and so, apart from gulls and cormorants, we saw very little bird life, except on the return journey we saw a small colony of spoonbills.

    Eurasian spoonbills

    The covered markets of Olhão seen from the lagoon.

    In the evening we had another walk around the Salinas de Olhão, next to our hotel.

    Black-winged stilt in the evening sunshine

    Little egret

    Chiffchaff

    Chiffcaff

    Chiffchaff catching its last meal of the day

  • 22nd December 2024 – Akrotiri Peninsula, Cyprus

    22nd December 2024 – Akrotiri Peninsula, Cyprus

    Our second day proper of the natural history trip was a very good one with lots of interesting birds and plants to see in a variety of venues on the Akrotiri Peninsula, about an hour’s drive to the east of Paphos.

    We had mixed weather but managed to stay dry all day. However the light was not good and not very conducive for good photos or, indeed, any photos at all.

    We started at the Zakaki bird hide which, although it had fabulous large posters of the birds to be seen, was poorly managed and we couldn’t see much through the giant reeds.

    Not a lot to be seen from this hide

    Locally we did have lots of sightings of marsh harriers and a kestrel and some of the group saw a male hen harrier. Despite my attempt to take plenty of photos, I achieved very little. When will I ever learn that tiny specks in my view finder will never produce decent photos?

    We walked further along the road to a pool next to the sea where there were greater flamingos and lots of gulls (mainly black-headed but some slender-billed and one larger one which caused lots of discussion without a definitive id.).

    Greater flamingos

    Greater flamingos
    Lots of discussion about this gull – Michael Sammut from Malta tells me it’s a sub-adult yellow-legged gull

    We drove west along some mud flats (Lady’s Mile) but saw very little.

    We crossed the estuary on the low tide in the coach and eventually arrived at a monastery (no one around – they must have all been in chapel) where we parked and walked to Bishop’s Pool. The walk here was very interesting with people spotting lots of butterflies, a hummingbird moth, carpenter bees and many interesting plants.

    At the pool there were lots of ducks including shovelers, little grebes and, the best of the pick, a ferruginous duck.

    Ferruginous duck

    After lunch we moved on to a wetlands where there was plenty to see but impossible to photograph as it was into the poor light. The highlight here were spur winged plovers.

    Spur-winged plover

    Our last visit was to the Kensington Cliffs where we were treated to views of a long legged buzzard and a peregrine. We also looked more closely at a variety of the vegetation on the cliff tops.

    Close up of a kestrel which spoiled my view of the ferruginous duck

    Long-legged buzzard

    Peregrine falcon

    Favourite plant of the day – Friar’s cowl

    A romantic moment for a couple on the edge of the cliffs – a first sighting for me of such a cultural event.

  • 20th December 2024 – Paphos, Cyprus

    20th December 2024 – Paphos, Cyprus

    Yesterday we explored the headland near to the Archeological site at Paphos and today we more or less covered the same region; but this time inside the confines of the site. It was a wonderful visit and I shall include a few photos of the site and, in particular, the mosaics but there were lots of opportunities to see birds and some interesting plants.

    The first sighting was of a laughing dove (another first for me, except I now realise that I saw one yesterday) and then a Sardinian warbler.

    Laughing dove

    Normally I wouldn’t publish such a poor photo but I was very pleased to see this bird- a male Sardinian warbler

    There were lots of of these Anemone coronarias – some were a much darker purple

    Anemone coronaria

    The other interesting plant which was prevalent was a Leontodon tuberosus.

    Leontodon tuberosus
    The only butterfly photo of the day – a large white

    Red-throated pipit close up

    Not so close up – a common chiffchaff

    Stonechats everywhere

    Crested lark on the ruins

    Just a few of the ruins and mosaics for a flavour of what we saw (I will come back to this when I have more time and band width).

    And a few more birds to conclude:

    Laughing dove
    Linnet

    The locals certainly have stamina here (or perhaps it was a Russian gymnast).

    Whilst I was admiring his skills I missed a flock of golden plovers nearby.
  • 19th December 2024 – Paphos, Cyprus

    19th December 2024 – Paphos, Cyprus

    We have arrived in Paphos in Cyprus where we are spending a couple of days before joining a two-centre natural history tour over Christmas based firstly here in Paphos and then on the Akomas Peninsula.

    Today we have had a recce around the Paphos headland and acclimatised ourselves to the local climate on a sunny day with a gentle breeze and temperatures in the high teens – rather different to the rain and storms back home.

    There have been opportunities of a few bird photos and even a painted lady butterfly but we’ve focussed more on settling ourselves in and enjoying the local cafés and restaurants.

    Stonechat

    Red-throated pipit was a first for me (if that is what this is)
    Hooded crow

    Laughing dove

    Goldfinch
    Kestrel

    Stonechat

    Painted lady butterfly

    Crested lark

    The Paphos headland

    Paphos Castle

    The little fisherman

    Just to remind ourselves that it really is Christmas time here.
  • 8th October 2024 – Ria Formosa Nature Park, The Algarve, Portugal

    8th October 2024 – Ria Formosa Nature Park, The Algarve, Portugal

    We are enjoying a short stay based in Faro on the Algarve in Portugal.

    It’s not really a ‘birding’ holiday but we have come equipped with walking boots, binoculars and, in my case, a bridge camera. 

    Our first ‘birding’ opportunity was in the Ria Formosa Nature Park to the west of Faro, along the São Lourenço trail which winds its way between the Ria Formosa and the Sāo Lourenço golf course. There were a few bird hides along the way but we didn’t spend any time in them as we were able to enjoy the bird life as we walked the trail and benefited fully from the pleasant weather.

    Along the estuary there were lots of waders, spoonbills, little egrets and storks. On the edges of the golf course we saw hoopoe, Iberian magpies, glossy ibis and lots of waterfowl on the golf course lakes.

    My first photo of the day was a speckled wood butterfly

    Glossy ibis and yellow-bellied terrapin

    Iberian magpie

    Gadwall

    A flyover hoopoe

    Whimbrel devouring crab

    Spoonbill

    Greenshank

    Common stork

    Greater flamingo

    Shoveler

    Purple swamphen

    The lake on the Sāo Laurenço golf course

    A wooden bridge crosses the Ria Formosa to the beach and Gigí’s restaurant

    It was warm enough to be on the beach but everyone was walking, running, cycling and birdwatching

    We had a fantastic seafood lunch in Gigi’s beach restaurant at Quinta do Lago, which our taxi driver told us sometimes has a 6 month waiting list.  The restaurant was quite rustic but the same could not be said of the clientele – that is until we arrived.

  • 4th October 2024 – WWT Slimbridge, Gloucestershire

    4th October 2024 – WWT Slimbridge, Gloucestershire

    A beautiful start to the day encouraged us to venture north from Bristol to spend a while at the World Wetlands Trust reserve at Slimbridge. We were well rewarded with close ups of black-tailed godwits, common greenshank, common redshank, northern lapwings, a little egret, Canada and Greylag geese and a green sandpiper.

    Unfortunately, the beautiful light didn’t last long and nor did we.

    Black-tailed godwit

    Black-tailed godwit

    Common greenshank

    Common greenshank

    Common greenshank

    Common greenshank and little egret

    Northern lapwing and little egret

    Common redshank in flight

    Common redshank with their feet firmly on the ground

    Canada geese

    Eurasian teal

    Greylag geese

    Close up of a northern lapwing showing its beautiful iridescent plumage to best effect

    Ruff

    Ruff

    Green sandpiper

    Green sandpiper

    Ruff

    Comma butterfly

  • 12th September 2024 – Tyntesfield (NT), Wraxall, Bristol

    Bliss. The schoolchildren are finally back to school and we now have all these wonderful outdoors spaces to ourselves. When we started our visit in the morning sunshine it was even too early for pre-school age children. Perhaps their parents/grandparents/childminders were too exhausted after looking after their older siblings for a few weeks? Spare a thought for teachers who have them in their care for much longer periods.

    And how we enjoyed Tyntesfield, an ornate Victorian Gothic Revival house with extensive garden and parkland, just a stone’s throw from Bristol.

    We didn’t actually see many birds, and I certainly didn’t photograph any, but there were a few butterflies and the flowers in the walled garden and around the orangerie were well worth photographing and recording in a blog.

    A small copper butterfly which has been very rare in these parts this summer

    The only downside seemed to be a strange smell in the air which, we presumed, must have been some sort of spreading of fertiliser. How appropriate was that as the house was paid for by the vast fortune made by William Gibbs, the owner of the monopoly on exporting valuable bird droppings from Peru. 

    As the ditty of the time had it:

    William Gibbs made his dibs

    From the turds of foreign birds

  • 16th August 2024 – Cley next the Sea

    16th August 2024 – Cley next the Sea

    A glorious day to end our stay in Norfolk: we started the day with a hobby at Cley Marshes and ended with three swallows (that is the Three Swallows pub along the border of Cley next the Sea and Newgate village).

    Eurasian hobby

    Although we haven’t seen many marsh harriers until yesterday, we made up for it today.

    Marsh harrier
    Marsh harrier

    As we made our way out to the Avocet hide we met a volunteer who warned us that, despite the glorious sunshine , the light was not good in the hides in that area. He was right. We weren’t very good at taking his advice as he told us the scones back at the visitors’ centre were very good, but when we got there, a little later, the smell of the bacon was irresistible. All very good though.

    Not terribly good light in the hide either

    I’m not sure what this was just in front the hide. Linnet?

    When the birds faced the light, as this black-tailed godwit did, we were ok.

    Distant cattle egrets

    Ringed plovers

    Another marsh harrier bringing the breakfast back

    … and another settling into the reeds.

    Red admiral amongst the nettles

    Dunlin from the Bishops’ hide. (Not an ecclesiastical reference; the hide seemed to be named after Mr. and Mrs. Bishop)

    Little grebe

    Spoonbill amongst the geese

    Spoonbill preening

    And another spoonbill further back on the sea pool

    Norfolk hawker? Well we were in Norfolk!

    Sandwich tern from the beach

    Redshank on its own in a small pool

    Red kite caused mayhem on the ground

    After the pub we visited the church at Cley which is certainly not next the sea, but so magnificent that it will probably warrant another blog.

    St Margaret, Cley-next-the-Sea

    Small white in the church yard enjoying the lavender (I hope as much as we enjoyed the beer and indeed the whole week)

  • 15th August 2024 – Blakeney, Norfolk

    15th August 2024 – Blakeney, Norfolk

    Almost a non-birding day; except that on our walk this morning to Wiveton Hall we did see our first marsh harrier of the week across the marshes.

    A few years ago, on our first visit to Wiveton Hall, we had met the eccentric owner, Desmond, whose popular BBC programme “Normal for Norfolk” documented his adventures and the daily delights of life around the Hall, on the farm and in the café.  No such luck today. However, the coffee was very good and was worth the walk.

    From here we carried on to visit St Nicholas Church, Blakeney. I hope you agree that the inclusion of the visit is warranted here in that there was a wildlife aspect to our visit.

    St Nicholas , Blakeney famous for its two towers: one at the west and a curious, spindly beacon rising to the south-east of the chancel whose purpose is not really known.

    It seems that the church’s policy is having a good effect.

    Simon Jenkins in his book of England’s 1000 Best Churches says “the earliest and most interesting part of the interior is the chancel , dating from a Carmelite friary founded here in 1296”.

    “The rare stepped seven-lancet east window is unusual for this late date. The only other medieval seven-lighter extant is at Ockham in Surrey”

    The nave is Perpendicular
    The significance of Blakeney’s coastal position is well recorded here

    Most of the church is flint coated …

    … except the chancel is mainly covered in concrete.

    In the afternoon we visited NATURAL SURROUNDINGS, Norfolk’s Wildlife-Gardening & Wildflower Centre next to Bayfield Hall, just a stone’s throw from Blakeney.

    Small red-eyed damselfly

    House fly

    Definitely the stars of the show

    Red Admiral

    A very informative and enjoyable visit. Did I forget to mention that there’s a very good café with much too generous portions of cakes?

  • 12th August 2024 – Kelling Quag, Norfolk

    12th August 2024 – Kelling Quag, Norfolk

    A hot weather plume was forecast for today and so we planned only to do a short walk in the morning.

    We drove along the coast to Kelling, a small village just east of Cley Next The Sea.

    We stopped first for a coffee at The Old Reading Room Gallery and Tea Room in Kelling. This excellent café and quant second hand bookshop and antiques shop is run by very friendly staff. They not only kindly allowed us to park in their car park whilst we did our walk but also showed us where it would be best to park for the shade.

    That was most valuable advice because it was very hot, even by lunch time, and our car was still relatively cool for the return journey (only after we had had some lunch there too!)

    Kelling Quag is a patch of water in an area also known as Kelling Water Meadows. It’s just a short walk north towards the sea along a lane from opposite the Old Reading Room.

    There were plenty of butterflies and dragonflies to keep me busy.

    Speckled Wood
    Small white
    Small skipper
    Wall butterfly

    It was difficult to see the Quag from the lane as the bushes are very high but through the first gap we had reasonable views of 2 great white egrets.

    Great white egret
    The great egrets were very busy fishing and seemed to be very successful

    We walked on a little and had better views round the corner and plenty of birds overhead too.

    Collared dove
    Linnet

    Swallow

    Starlings

    A (rather out of focus) migrant hawker

    From around the corner, as well as the great white egrets, we could make out little egrets, a grey heron, a greenshank and a green sandpiper (if my ID skills are up to it, but I could well be wrong). I also had difficulty in deciding if it was a curlew or a whimbrel which flew over, but so too did the Merlin app. I would go for a whimbrel as the bill seemed rather short for a curlew. Second thoughts – juvenile curlew.

    Whimbrel / curlew?

    Common darter

    This gatekeeper was looking as bedraggled as I felt in the heat

    There was another scrape of water beyond the Quag but it was, by now, too hot for us.

    In the afternoon temperatures were over 30 and so I was happy to sit and edit my photos.

  • 5th July 2024 – Gulf of Morbihan, Brittany, France

    5th July 2024 – Gulf of Morbihan, Brittany, France

    Today we returned to the southern part of the Gulf of Morbihan to visit another nature reserve: the Lasné marshes at St Armel.

    A departmental (county council) reserve since 1978, these ancient salt pans, dating from the Middle Ages, have since 2003 been restored and salt is once again produced here. There are now also two shellfish producers that use certain salt pans. The rest of the marsh is for the birds that occur year round on this very favourable site.

    Lasné marshes

    Avocet landing

    Avocet chick

    Black-winged stilt

    It was great to get a view of the avocet’s legs

    This kestrel was easily seen off by a black-winged stilt

    Avocet in flight

    Redshank

    I’m not surprised these cyclists were checking their maps

    After this visit we headed back to Séné (where we had visited earlier in the week). After lunch in a very friendly Breton Crêperie we returned to the nearby nature reserve. This time we didn’t go round the reserve but followed a few trails which have viewing platforms looking towards the reserve.

    Little egrets
    A solitary swift

    There were plenty of butterflies today and some interesting flora:

    Large skipper

    Marbled white

    Gatekeeper

    Speckled wood
    Deadly night shade

    Lychen

    Just as we were finishing our walk we heard a zitting cisticola. I had just one go at photographing it before it flew off and was quite pleased to get a reasonable shot.

    Zitting cisticola

  • 3rd July 2024 – Domaine de Suscinio, Brittany, France

    3rd July 2024 – Domaine de Suscinio, Brittany, France

    Yesterday was a “birding” day and we saw very few birds, today was a “non-birding” day and we saw loads.

    Our visit to the Château de Suscinio brought plenty of surprises: as well as the visit to the wonderfully restored 800 year old castle we had a lovely walk around the natural park which is separated from the gulf of Morbihan by sand dunes which, in themselves, are of great interest with their huge biodiversity.

    The château de Suscinio

    Silene

    Samphire

    Quite some biodiversity. I think I would have been happier with a swallow-tail butterfly which are seen here.

    We saw no bluethroats, which are reported here, but I was not too disappointed as the poor weather, with very poor light, meant that I would have had poor photos. I’m quite happy to wait for better weather to see these beautiful birds .

    The swifts screeching around the castle were a highlight – you’ll have to take my word for it as I didn’t manage one decent shot of a swift.

    I was, however, very happy to see a Kentish Plover, as these are often reported here. We only managed to see one though.

    Kentish plover
    At least linnets stand out in the gloom

    Stonechats don’t always pose at the top of a branch

    There were plenty of pied avocets, black-winged stilts and common terns which, although not too distant, were quite difficult to photograph in the poor light. I’m not really complaining as if we had wanted to be assured of better weather we wouldn’t have come to Brittany. At my time of life it’s better to be complaining about drizzle than extreme heat!

    Pied avocets

    A pied avocet chick

    Kentish plover

    The château de Suscinio across the water

    Wild teasel

    Common tern swooping to drink

    Black-winged stilt

    Little egret

    Cattle egrets across the castle’s lake – by now the rain had fully set in