False Apollo is one of Europe’s rarest butterflies, occurring very locally just in the far north-east of Greece, some Aegean islands and possibly parts of southern Bulgaria. They are single brooded and on the wing only in March and April, very early in the season so this rather special item is unlikely to be observed without particular intent. Hence I joined a 12-strong group tour run by Greenwings, that operator’s first of the 2019 season.

This expedition was led by former Butterfly Conservation CEO Dr Martin Warren, with local guiding by the eminent Alexandroupolis-based conservationist Dr Michael de Courcy Williams. But no matter how excellent such direction might be butterflies will still only come out when the sun shines, and therein lies the story of this post.

Male False Apollo

False Apollo’s stronghold in the region we visited lies in the Evros Hills near the border with Turkey and to the north of Alexandroupolis. Here many upland streams occur, along which biologically important but little studied Oak and Oriental Plane woodland has developed that supports a diverse flora and fauna. On our first visit on 10th conditions remained steadfastly overcast and no Apollos were found. But we did locate a number of roosting Southern Festoon, another regional speciality that was a very welcome and attractive lifer for me. With this trip’s sightings I have now observed three European members of that colourful genus, the others being Eastern and Spanish Festoons.

Southern Festoon occurs widely but locally across south-eastern Europe, as well as throughout Italy and in some Alpine regions, flying from late March to July. The cold and damp conditions of this tour meant the beautiful and boldly patterned butterflies were quite easy to capture pictorially, especially since my colleagues were adept at “wrangling” the near torpid specimens into photogenic positions then “gardening” around them to remove unwanted clutter.

Southern Festoon

Southern Festoon

Besides a few roosting Coppers not much else was seen on day one, other than at a lower location where the sun came out briefly. In the evening our leaders thanked the group for our forbearance and good humour, and everyone was prepared to accept one largely written off day to begin with. The various weather apps in our possession all predicted better things to come in the days ahead. But despite a brighter start on 11th at our coastal base conditions were unchanged when we arrived back on site.

On our leaving the tour minibuses this time two of the Festoons were on exactly the same perches where we had left them the previous day, indicating there could have been no sunny intervals during our absence. If anything it was now even colder here and walking around it was plain we would draw blank with the Apollos again.

Before leaving I took an opportunity to do some close up macro work with one of the Festoons (below, left), and was at once joined by more group members. Having done justice to the under-wings I next learned another field technique of warming up torpid butterflies by cupping them in the hands then breathing on them. Thus treated the Festoon obliged by opening its wings flat and another sequence of up close images was gained (below, right).

Southern Festoon

Southern Festoon

If any reader disapproves of all this I can only say it appears to be common practice amongst such highly knowledgeable company as I was in, much like netting and jarring on previous wildlife tours I had joined. Everywhere else we went on day two cloud and rain set in as soon as we reached any hitherto sunny looking spot, and by evening the group was understandably feeling a little more glum.

When day three (12th) dawned in just the same dull and drizzly way chins were mostly resting on the breakfast table. But an ex-naval man amongst us pointed out a weather front coming in off the sea with whiter cloud behind it, saying that was a good sign. Indeed it was and fairer weather followed us up into the hills. Good numbers of various butterflies were then on the wing and by mid-morning False Apollo were being located. At this time of day they are likely to be basking in any sunshine by settling on dirt, low plants or occasionally rocks.

False Apollo (male)

False Apollo (male)

The record shot (above, left) was my first view of a translucent fore-winged male, that was then coaxed into a more open position (above, right) before flying off. Next a much darker-toned female was located also down in the grass, before being encouraged to mount a stone where she finished warming up with the day. After the group had all taken their pictures I again went in point blank with my macro, gaining some acceptable images and a lot more burred ones as is usual (for me) with such a lens.

False Apollo (female)

False Apollo (female)

False Apollo (female)

False Apollo (female)

Mission having been accomplished the group then began to split up and go their various ways. I too wandered off alone and soon came across another male False Apollo that this time I had to myself for a while. The images below came from this third encounter, complete with those amazing see-through wings. This quality increases with age as butterflies lose wing scaling, more so in males than females, and in older specimens the fore-wings can be near completely transparent.

False Apollo (male)

False Apollo (male)

False Apollo (male)

The situation, it’s scenery and butterfly life were all a transformation upon the previous two days. This is what I pay the money to do: wander around remote locations that nobody except wildlife enthusiasts go to; enjoying and taking pictures of the infinitely intricate, inspiring and captivating treasure trove that butterflies are (when the sun shines). The mood of the group was of course similarly uplifted and we remained on site until late in the afternoon.

The unfettered Southern Festoon were now flying freely and striking up more conventional and natural, if somewhat grassy poses (pictured below). To me this species appeared smaller than the other two European Festoons, and there was some agreement within the group over this. A few participants also found one or two of the larger, paler Eastern Festoon which I have seen once before but need better pictures of; but that will still have to wait.

Southern Festoon (above and below)

Southern Festoon

Southern Festoon

Eastern Festoon © and courtesy of Nick Ballard

Good numbers of Sooty and Grecian Copper were also on the wing here and I was able to boost my picture collection with better top-side studies of male Sooty and some under-wing treatments of both genders. I had previously observed male Sooty in the Cévennes, France (May 2016) and females in southern Greece (July 2018) where I also recorded Grecian for the first time. The very widespread Sooty is multi-brooded from April to October across much of Europe except for the Iberian peninsula and fenno-Scandia. The vivid orange Grecian is limited to the country of it’s name and the southern Balkans, with two broods flying in April and May, then July and August.

Sooty Copper (male)

Sooty Copper (male)

Sooty Copper (male)

Sooty Copper (female)

Sooty Copper (male)

Sooty Copper (female)

Grecian Copper (all pictures)

Another frequent flyer in sunlight was Eastern Dappled White, a common species of south-eastern Europe and Italy, and the third trip lifer. Had I searched carefully enough here or possessed a net and jar these locations might also have yielded the similar Eastern and Small Bath White. I previously recorded the first of those in southern Greece last summer, while the latter was on my trip wish list here; but nobody seemed very interested in this genus and so it was possibly rather overlooked.

Eastern Dappled White (all pictures)

Lastly the default butterfly for this trip was Painted Lady. 2019 is tipped as an irruption year similar to the mass migration of this species a decade ago. In Fuerteventura in January (see here) I was struck by the huge numbers that in places appeared to make the ground shimmer, as was a colleague from my southern Greece tour who was on Gran Canaria at the same time. On the day of our arrival in Alexandroupolis, despite at times torrential rain many hundreds of these very hardy butterflies were coming in off the sea and roosting on the structure of our hotel. Wherever we went in the next three days there was a constant procession of powerfully flying Painted Lady all moving relentlessly northward. The evidence seems to be that another great migration is in progress so look out in Blighty this summer, here they come.

Migrating Painted Lady

Returning to the little known though greatly prized False Apollo, these are seriously beautiful insects indeed, quite unlike any other European butterfly I have experienced. Their rarity was perhaps put into context for me by one of the most experienced tour participants, who had recorded all but six of the known European species prior to this trip. So that is now five, what an achievement! Further populations occur to the east in Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Israel and Lebanon; and there are a number of sub-species across that range. To protect the fragile Greek population from the attentions of collectors I have not disclosed any location detail herein, by agreement with the tour operator.