Fit for an emperor

Last week, I returned to the Viroin valley, the best place I know for emperor butterflies.  Unlike last year's visit, I couldn't find any Purple Emperors but there were plenty of Lesser Purple Emperors around, one of which even landed on my forehead and fed on my sweat for several minutes.  The majority, though, were of the distinctive, orange-brown clytie form.

There were also lots of Marbled Fritillaries, with this pair doing their best to ensure the species' rapid colonisation of the Benelux continues.

I returned to Mariembourg via Dourbes nature reserve, where I added a few Weaver's Fritillaries to the day's butterfly list.

Whilst waiting for my train home, a Serin started singing out of sight but by far the biggest surprise of the day was lying on the road just before I reached the station.  It seemed very flat and wasn't moving at all so I presumed it was roadkill until I was almost touching it and noticed its tongue was out!  I only managed to get the one photo before it decided I was too close and rapidly slithered off into the grass, but that was enough to be able to identify my first-ever Barred Grass Snake (Natrix helvetica).

BE #208 (Serin)

BRU #110