Summer blues

As this is my first European summer in three years, I'd more or less forgotten just how quiet things get at this time of year.  Once the temperature climbs above the mid-20's, seeing even the common species becomes an effort, let alone discovering any rarities.  Still, I had a blue afternoon at a nature reserve south of Leuven earlier this week, starting with this female Holly Blue.  This is another butterfly which is difficult to photograph as it spends much of its time up in trees and was the first one I'd seen well enough to identify since last year.  The 'green team' tried their best to equalise the score by fielding two very close Green Sandpipers plus a Greenshank, with at least four Common Sandpipers and a juvenile Little Ringed Plover completing the wader contingent.  The blues had one last ace up their sleeve, however, as I entered the final hide to find this splendid, male Kingfisher sitting in full view just outside.  Oh, and the flower that was attracting all the butterflies in my last post turned out to be wild marjoram, also known as oregano.  Many thanks to Gilbert for the identification.

Finding my marbles

I headed 100km due south of Brussels today for a walk in the countryside around Couvin, close to the French border.  At one point, I heard a strange, chattering call, a bit like that of a sparrow, but it was actually being made by a Melodious Warbler.  Nothing was singing, however, and the warbler, some Hawfinch, a few Yellowhammers, and a Red-backed Shrike were the only noteworthy species I saw.  As usual at this quiet time of year (at least as far as birds are concerned), my attention thus turned to the butterflies and I was very pleased to get this photo of a White Admiral as they normally stay high up in the trees.  The best was yet to come, though, as I came across a clearing which was buzzing with at least ten different species of butterfly plus a rare Pygmy Moth, all feeding on a fragrant pink flower I haven't yet identified.  One of the first butterflies I noticed was a fritillary and this one, as opposed to those I saw in Belgian Luxembourg, was playing by the rules and sitting nicely on the flowers for me to take pictures.  It held its wings constantly flat, however, so it took me a while to get a decent shot of the underside pattern, which is crucial for identifying many members of this family.  I knew it was a new species for me whatever it was but, once I got home, I was perplexed as the pictures seemed to match up with Marbled Fritillary, which doesn't occur in Belgium according to both of my fieldguides.  It should have been Lesser Marbled Fritillary instead according to the range maps but it just didn't 'feel' right for that species.  I then went online and discovered that Marbled Fritillary, a south-European species, is rapidly spreading northwards, having first colonised Belgium in 2006 and since then spreading to 40 different localities, with a strong concentration in the area around Couvin.  So, I found a species I didn't even know occurred in Belgium, and another beauty at that!

Shrinking emperors

I made another visit to one of my favourite places, yesterday; Belgium's oldest nature reserve adjoining the village of Torgny at the southernmost point of Belgium.  This really feels like a completely different place to anywhere else I know within Belgium as Marbled White (above), a species I have never seen elsewhere, was again the commonest butterfly present.  The birds, too, were significantly different to what I am used to, with Yellowhammers and Golden Orioles singing all around, a Black Kite circling in the distance, and several Red-backed Shrikes, including one or two recently-fledged juveniles.

 
When I first visited this area three years ago, my sightings within the reserve itself were overshadowed by the discovery of my first, long-awaited Purple Emperor in the forest just to the east.  I did the same walk through the forest this time around so, naturally, my thoughts turned to that emperor sighting when I reached the spot, which I easily recognised.  Almost immediately, I noticed another unsual butterfly and suspected it might be another emperor, except this one had an obvious orange colour even in flight.  It took what seemed like an eternity for it to settle and, when it did, it refused to open its wings for the longest time but my patience eventually paid off.

   
So, three years and four days after seeing my one and only Purple Emperor, I found the even rarer Lesser Purple Emperor in exactly the same place.  I really should visit this spot more often!