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.
