Butterflies 1 - Dragonflies 1

I got a lifer butterfly and dragonfly yesterday during an attempt to find my first Poplar Admiral at their only location in Belgium, in the Viroin valley to the east of Couvin.  The Poplar Admiral didn't show but there were plenty of White Admirals (above) around and a ridiculous amount of fritillaries!  The walk from the nearest bus stop was supposed to take 45 minutes but it took me a lot longer since every other butterfly seemed to be a fritillary.  I eventually managed to identify Marbled, Lesser Marbled, Heath and Dark Green but I'm sure there were one or two more species which eluded me.  The dragonflies scored the first goal, however, when my first Golden-ringed Dragonfly landed nicely on a stick, albeit at some distance.

Until yesterday, I had only ever seen one Purple Emperor and two Lesser Purple Emperors, yet I saw at least two of the former and 3-5 of the latter at this amazing little reserve. 

Despite the masses of butterflies flying around the reserve, I didn't find any new ones until I was almost back at the bus stop, when I spotted my lifer Ilex Hairstreak in the bushes.

Since public transport in Wallonia is terrible, I had almost an hour to wait at Couvin station between the bus and train, so I climbed up a nearby hill I knew could be good for birds, and stumbled across my first Large Wall Bown in Belgium!

Whilst photographing this, a Serin started singing.  This was new for my year list but I was so busy with the butterfly, I didn't even look up, despite this being the only regular location I know for this species in Belgium.  I ended up with 21 butterfly species for the day, which might well be my highest-ever day count, plus at least a couple more species I couldn't identify as they wouldn't play ball.

Blyth's bust

I was supposed to be going Latvia earlier this month for Blyth's Reed Warbler and a few other species I've not yet seen.  Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic put paid to that but the warblers took pity and decided to stage an unprecented invasion into The Netherlands and the UK.  Strangely, only one was found in Belgium and that only stayed for a couple of hours, so I decided to give the one singing in a park in Amsterdam a try.  Despite four separate visits over the course of two days and a total of at least five hours waiting at the spot, all I got was a glimpse of a very grey-looking Acrocephalus, which I think was probably it, but without it singing and with lots of Marsh Warblers around, it wasn't enough to be sure.  Inevitably, after we'd given up and moved on elsewhere, the bird was seen singing, but I really enjoyed visiting the above location, known as De Putten bij Petten.  This area has recently been re-landscaped and the Sandwich Terns have very much found the new islands to their liking, as you can see from the big white blob in the centre.

With such a dense mass of birds, they were impossible to count but I estimated at least 2000 Sandwich Terns, with smaller numbers of Common Terns on the surrounding 'atoll'.  Such a concentration of terns is rare on the mainland and had attracted an adult Roseate Tern, probably the same one which had been on Texel and which we got to see well thanks to an eagle-eyed observer picking it out from the crowd.  There were also a few waders around, including both Ringed and Little Ringed Plovers, and some very young baby Avocets.

A nice surprise was finding a pair of Bluethroats which seemed to be breeding in the dunes, with the male perching on a fencepost and showing off its colours while my camera was still in my bag.  We then moved on to the dunes around Castricum, which is the Dutch stronghold of the endangered Niobe Fritillary, one of which we eventually got to see having spent ages chasing another fritillary which turned out to be a Queen of Spain.

Incidental birding

As you may have noticed from my recent posts, it's that time of the year when butterflying tends to take over from birding but travelling to far flung corners of Belgium does have some birding rewards even if I am looking more down than up.  On Friday, I visited the Fagne de Malchamps, south of Spa, spotting a Black Stork from the train on the way.  Once there, the biggest surprise by far was a heard-only Wryneck calling from a dense thicket, with more Red-backed Shrikes and a nice Woodlark.  It was, however, the butterflies I'd come for with Cranberry Fritillary being my main target.  I did see one fritillary flying low over the fen but, despite following it for over 100 metres, it showed no signs of stopping.  I thought that was probably the only species likely to be seen in that habitat, so was happy to count it as a 'probable' Cranberry, until I then found some Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries in some bushes nearby.

My first of the year and a nice species I've only ever seen in one other location, but not what I'd come all this way to see.  There was a second potential new species for my Belgian list, though, and that one did play ball.  I first saw it buzzing around some buttercups and then noticed just two flowering spikes of its hostplant, Common Bistort, so sat down and waited.

I'd never really understood why it was called Purple-edged Copper, the purplish leading edge to the forewing not really showing well in the fieldguides, so I was very happy with the above photo of my first one in Belgium, having only seen it once before in the Alps.

The Queen of Spain

Two years on from my first Duke of Burgundy, I finally added Queen of Spain Fritillary to my Belgian list yesterday.  This is actually quite a widespread species and probably the commonest fritillary in Belgium yet it tends to be found in impoverished habitats where few other butterflies occur.  This, together with the fact that I'd already seen it in a couple of other countries, meant that I'd never really made the effort to see one in Belgium.  The reserve of La Rochette, east of Liège, holds the biggest population in Wallonia due to the abundance of its hostplant, Viola lutea.

The pansy fields held very little else but the adjoining grasslands were full of hundreds of Small Skippers, here just about showing the tell-tale ochre-tipped antennae which help distinguish it from the very similar Essex Skipper (which has black tips).

There were also a few Marbled Fritillaries, my first this year, singing Yellowhammer and Tree Pipit, and some cool beetles around.  I have tentatively identified this one as Cicindela campestris, or Green Tiger Beetle.

Cornucopia of buntings

Today, I visited some nondescript arable farmland in Flemish-Brabant which seems to be the chosen sojourn of a second-year, male Pallid Harrier.  I got to see it really well, albeit at a distance, and watch it hunting for around fifteen minutes.  This is only my second in Belgium, the first resulting from a similar twitch to some farmland in Wallonia some six years ago.  Being my first farmland birding of the year, I added a few other species to my year list, including Grey Partridge and heard-only Quail.  There was also a hunting Hobby, an immature Marsh Harrier, Yellowhammer, and lots of Blue-headed Wagtails.

Best of all, though, was the constant singing of both Skylarks and Corn Buntings.  I knew this area was the Belgian stronghold of the latter, but I was amazed by just how many there were, with a different bird singing every 50 metres or so. 

Marsh-ing on

It was great to see all of last week's butterflies in the province of Luxembourg yet I'd seen them all on previous visits to the reserve so there were no real surprises, other than the lifer dragonfly of course.  This got me wondering whether or not it would be possible to plug some of the gaps in my Belgian butterfly list since I've seen 70 of the hundred or so species which occur here regularly.  I thus enquired with a fellow birder as to the whereabouts of the top secret, one and only population of Marsh Fritillary in Flanders.  Since we've been birding together several times, he knew he could trust me and gave me directions although he did mention it was nearing the end of their flight period and I may have to wait until next year.  Not wasting any time, therefore, I gave it a try on Monday but there were very few butterflies around at first so I amused myself with the dragonflies and admired the many Spotted Orchids instead.

Small Red Damselfly

My friend had mentioned one particular field, however, so I gave that one last check before leaving and noticed a few more butterflies amongst the flowers.  After a few Meadow Browns, I soon realised there was also a Marsh Fritillary, albeit an extremely worn individual, and eventually managed to get some pictures as proof.  It was not particularly photogenic, being in such poor condition, but it sure beats having to wait another year for my first one and takes my lifer tally for this year to one each of birds, dragonflies and butterflies.

Terretelle part 2

Arriving early at the reserve, the only butterflies which seemed to be active were Black-veined Whites but that's nothing to complain about when they land on a clover right in front of you like this one did.  The heart of the reserve and most important section for butterflies seemed quiet at first until I almost stepped on this rather worn Duke of Burgundy.

 
This is one of the flagship species of the reserve and it's the only place I've seen it yet it has a rather short flight period and is by no means easy to find so I was quite surprised to stumble across this one without even trying.  I then started noticing more and more Black Hairstreaks in the bushes and must have seen at least a dozen of them.

After the dragonfly distractions, I finally made it to the fritillary meadow where I first found Pearly Heath, before eventually spotting two species of fritillaries.  They were ever so flighty and only this False Heath Fritillary sat long enough for me to get pictures, but I'm fairly certain the other one was Small Pearl-bordered, another species for which this reserve is known.