More Modane

Having first discovered it in 2021, Modane is now my favourite destination for some mountain scenery and butterflying.  Since I was outside of Europe for most of June and July, I decided to have a couple of days there earlier this month, hiking back up to the scenic Lac de la Partie at 2500m on my first day.    

Swiss Brassy and Marbled (above) Ringlets were fairly common while the commonest skipper, contrary to all of my previous visits, seemed to be Carline, here giving a nice comparison with an Olive Skipper (on the left).

I had hoped the latest of my five visits to the area might provide some different species and I managed to add a few common species, including Purple Emperor, to my Modane list, which now stands at over 105 species photographed.  By far the most pleasing result, though, was finally getting some pictures of a Southern White Admiral, which I'd only ever seen once in flight before and was desperate to see well and photograph.

Little things

I've been out of Belgium for a while but will write about that later.  Before I left, though, I did a short walk in the Sonian forest, finally locating the top-secret location of the only colony of Fire Salamanders in the Brussels Region!  It was very quiet birdwise, allowing me to notice some little things I would normally walk past, such as this tiny, metallic green weevil.  There was also a Wren which was really showing off, so I decided to take a few photos and was very pleased with the result.