Sierra Nevada, Granada Province, Spain.

Going back up high to avoid the heat and get Paul some lifers.

Day One with Paul Selby.

 

I started the day by picking up Paul Selby from Granada Airport, I sat at the side of the motorway where I could view the Airport for a while as I was a tad early and saw Common Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus), Eurasian Collared Dove (Tórtola Turca / Streptopelia decaocto), Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor), Eurasian Magpie (Urraca Común / Pica pica), Western Jackdaw (Grajilla occidental / Corvus monedula), Barn (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica) and Red-rumped Swallow (Golondrina Dáurica / Cecropis daurica), Western House Martin (Avión Común Occidental / Delichon urbicum), Crested Lark (Cogujada Común / Galerida cristata), European Serin (Serin Verdecillo / Serinus serinus), European Goldfinch (Jilguero Europeo / Carduelis carduelis) and House Sparrow (Gorrión Común / Passer domesticus).

The Habitat.

Once the plane was on the ground I drove around and met Paul and we headed straight up to the car park at Hoya de la Mora and then walked up hill, as we started off we saw Pallid Swift (Vencejo Pálido /Apus pallidus), Northern Wheatear (Collalba Gris / Oenanthe oenanthe), Black Redstart (Colirrojo Tizón / Phoenicurus ochruros), European Stonechat (Tarabilla Europea / Saxicola rubicola), Eurasian Skylark (Alondra Común / Alauda arvensis), Rock Sparrow (Gorrión Chillón / Petronia petronia), Common Linnet (Pardillo Común / Linaria cannabina) and as we got closer to the height we wanted to be at we added Northern Raven (Cuervo grande / Corvus corax), Red-billed Chough (Chova Piquirroja / Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) and Griffon Vulture (Bultre Leonado / Gyps fulvus).

Northern Wheatear (Collalba Gris / Oenanthe oenanthe).

Common Kidney-Vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria).

Our main reason for coming here was to try and find the uncommon and vulnerable Zullich's Blue (Agriades zullichi) but unfortunately we were a tad late and we only managed to find good numbers of the uncommon Spanish Argus (Aricia morronensis) as well as Spanish Brassy Ringlet (Erebia hispania) x15+ and Nevada Blue (Polyommatus golgus) x30+, these last two were both new species for Paul.

Spanish Argus (Aricia morronensis).

Spanish Argus (Aricia morronensis).

Nevada Blue (Polyommatus golgus) and Spanish Argus (Aricia morronensis).

Purple-shot Copper (Lycaena alciphron).

Paul seeing his first Apollo (Parnassius apollo nevadensis) a new subspecies for him

As we searched we also saw Apollo (Parnassius apollo nevadensis) x2, Purple-shot Copper (Lycaena alciphron) x3, Bath White (Pontia daplidice) x6, Clouded Yellow (Colias croceus) x3, Long-tailed (Lampides boeticus) x3, Escher's (Polyommatus escheri) x4 and Idas Blue (Plebejus idas) x3, Southern Mountain Argus (Aricia montensis) x8+, Niobe Fritillary (Fabriciana niobe) x1, Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) x2, Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) x1 and Wall Brown (Lasiommata megera) x3.

Nevada Blue (Polyommatus golgus).

Spanish Brassy Ringlet (Erebia hispania).

Escher's Blue (Polyommatus escheri).

Other species included Large Psammodromus (Psammodromus algirus), Mountain Stone Grasshopper (Eumigus monticola), Hummingbird Hawkmoth (Macroglossum stellatarum), Carpentor Bee (Xylocopa violacea), Nevada House Leek (Sempervivum minutum), Eryngium glaciale, Silene boryi, Ptilotrichum spinosum, Sideritis glacialis, Digitalis purpurea,  Sideritis glacialis, Erodium cheilanthifolium, Erigeron frigidus, Euphrasia willommii, Plantago nivalis and Common Kidney-Vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria). 

Silene boryi.

Purple-shot Copper (Lycaena alciphron).

Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni).

Knapweed Fritillary (Melitaea phoebe).

Once we decided to cut our loses and head lower we started to make our way back to the car and then dropped down to another spot not to much lower down at around 2225m where we did another walk, just next to the car we saw a Black Satyr (Satyrus actaea) x2, Wood (Leptidea sinapis) x1, Small (Pieris rapae) x10+ and Southern Small White (Pieris mannii) x1 which I missed,  Blue Spotted Hairstreak (Satyrium spini) x2, Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas) and  Purple-shot Copper x3, Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni) x2, Cardinal (Argynnis pandora) x1 and Dark-green Fritillary (Speyeria aglaja) x4, Clouded Yellow x8,  Bath White x11, a single Spanish Brassy Ringlet x1, Comma (Polygonia c-album) x1, Large (Ochlodes sylvanus), Silver-spotted (Hesperia comma), Safflower (Pyrgus carthami) and Spanish Red-underwing Skipper (Spialia rosae) x1 which I missed, a very smart and unexpected Hermit (Chazara briseis) x1, Southern (Polyommatus celina) x5, Mazarine (Cyaniris semiargus) x2 and Idas Blue x4, Knapweed Fritillary (Melitaea phoebe) x1, Niobe Fritillary x2, Queen of Spain (Issoria lathonia) x1, Oriental Meadow Brown (Hyponephele lupina) x15+, Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) x1, Rock (Hipparchia alcyone) x3 and Great Banded Grayling (Brintesia circe) x2.

Safflower Skipper (Pyrgus carthami).

Oriental Meadow Brown (Hyponephele lupina).

We also added Gentiana boryi, Blue-winged Grasshopper (Oedipoda caerulescens) and Saddleback Bush-cricket (Ephippiger ephippiger).

Mazarine Blue (Cyaniris semiargus).

Spanish Brassy Ringlet (Erebia hispania).

Hermit (Chazara briseis).

Hermit (Chazara briseis).

Hermit (Chazara briseis).

Our next stop was a bit lower down along the old road to Güéjar Sierra, we parked and searched the area of grass and herbs finding Barn Swallow (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica), Coal Tit  (Carbonero Garrapinos / Periparus ater), Eurasian Blackcap (Curruca Capirotada / Curruca capirotada), Great (Carbonera Común / Parus major), Eurasian Blue (Herrerillo Común / Cyanistes caeruleus) and European Crested Tit (Herrerillo Capuchino / Lophophanes cristatus), Common Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula), European Bee-eater (Abejaruco Europeo / Merops apiaster) and Common Chaffinch (Pinzón Vulgar / Fringilla coelebs).

Iberian Scarce Swallowtail (Iphiclides feisthameli).

Southern Blue (Polyommatus celina).

Southern Brown Argus (Aricia cramera).

Tree Grayling (Hipparchia statilinus).

Butterflies included Iberian Scarce Swallowtail (Iphiclides feisthameli), Purple Hairstreak (Favonius Quercus), Dusky Heath (Coenonympha dorus), Iberian Marbled White (Melanargia lachesis), Lang's Short-tailed (Leptotes pirithous) and Southern Blue, Southern Brown Argus (Aricia cramera), Tree Grayling (Hipparchia statilinus) and Cardinal Fritillary.

Dark-green Fritillary (Speyeria aglaja).

Spanish Chalk-hill Blue (Lysandra albicans).

Silver-spotted Skipper (Hesperia comma).

Our last stop on our way back to the house was up near the visitors center along side the main road back to Granada, here we found Spanish Chalk-hill Blue (Lysandra albicans), Dark-green Fritillary, Silver-spotted Skipper, Long-tailed, Lang's Short-tailed and Southern Blue, Southern Brown Argus and Small Copper. 

We got back to the house and had a couple of beers and some food before hitting the pit after a very good day.