Wednesday 27 December 2023

Highlights of 2023.

Two highlights stand out during the 2023 season. One of them is the return of the Long-tailed Blue to my garden.I have had several visits of this species in the past attracted by the Everlasting Pea plants that grow in the borders.These visits have been during the latter part of August,but this year a female turned up on the 27th June.She stayed for a while and egg laided on various  flower buds.Although I was not fortunate enough to witness the any offspring ,I am confident that homegrown Long-tailed Blues ensued.


















The other is a holiday in the Greek Islands,the first visit I have made since the pandemic.We spent a very pleasant fortnight on the island of Rhodes,close to the coast at Kiotari. A few weeks later this area was ravaged by wildfires and the brown and greens of the countryside were turned black.The result of the fires at the spot of our accomodation can be seen in the photo below taken from drone footage.I am glad to say that the villa where we stayed looks as though it survived the fires.

Among the butterflies encountered around the village of Kiotari were The Aegean Meadow Brown,the Pygmy Skipper,together with the Small and Lulworth Skipper. A great delight was the visit a Two-tailed Pasha on several occasions to nectar from a can of Mythos lager.