Moscardón area and near Albarracín, Teruel Province, Spain.

A trip out to the North West looking for Butterflies.

 

Looking up along the road at the Moscardón Site.

After getting packed yesterday a friend from Loja and I were all set to head off towards Moscardón in Teruel Province where we were going to spend a few days looking for Butterflies, however after she got a last minute call from her work to say that a college had gone sick and they needed her back there I headed off on my own early.

The water troughs on the same site.

I drove up to the first spot of the day near the town of Moscardón and after parking up I walked the site for the next few hours, it was still cool and so I started by sitting down on a wooden bench near the water troughs and watched what came in, flew over and called from the woodlands.

Coal Tit  (Carbonero Garrapinos / Periparus ater).

Coal Tit  (Carbonero Garrapinos / Periparus ater).

Species included European Bee-eater (Abejaruco Europeo / Merops apiaster), Common Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus), Great (Carbonera Común / Parus major), Eurasian Blue (Herrerillo Común / Cyanistes caeruleus), Coal (Carbonero Garrapinos / Periparus ater) and European Crested Tit (Herrerillo Capuchino / Lophophanes cristatus), Common Chaffinch (Pinzón Vulgar / Fringilla coelebs), Great Spotted (Pico Picapinos / Dendrocopos major) and Iberian Green Woodpecker (Pito ibérico / Picus sharpei) and Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo).

Azure Chalkhill Blue (Lysandra caelestissima).

Azure Chalkhill Blue (Lysandra caelestissima).

Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus).

Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus).

Grayling (Hipparchia semele).

Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus).

Iberian Marbled White (Melanargia lachesis).

Iberian Marbled White (Melanargia lachesis).

As things warmed up butterflies started to fly and I soon found the first of lots of Azure Chalkhill (Lysandra caelestissima), Oberthur's Anomalous (Polyommatus fabressei), Holly (Celastrina argiolus) and Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus), Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus), Grayling (Hipparchia semele), Rock (Hipparchia alcyone), Great Banded (Brintesia circe) and Tree Grayling (Hipparchia statilinus), Iberian Marbled White (Melanargia lachesis), Iberian Sooty Copper (Lycaena bleusei) and Cardinal Fritillary (Argynnis pandora).

High Brown Fritillary (Fabriciana adippe).

High Brown Fritillary (Fabriciana adippe).

Lesser Marbled Fritillary (Brenthis ino).

High Brown Fritillary (Fabriciana adippe).

Cardinal Fritillary (Argynnis pandora) Male.

Oberthur's Anomalous Blue (Polyommatus fabressei).

Oberthur's Anomalous Blue (Polyommatus fabressei).

False Grayling (Arethusana arethusa).

Spanish Heath (Coenonympha iphioides).

As things warmed up more and more butterfly species came out onto the meadows including Silver-Washed Fritillary (Argynnis paphia), Queen of Spain (Issoria lathonia), Berger's (Colias alfacariensis) and Clouded Yellow (Colias croceus), False Grayling (Arethusana arethusa), Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni), Oberthur's Anomalous Blue (Polyommatus fabressei) and Lang's Short-tailed Blue (Leptotes pirithous), Comma (Polygonia c-album), Spanish Heath (Coenonympha iphioides) and Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina).

Silver-spotted Skipper (Hesperia comma).

Silver-spotted Skipper (Hesperia comma).

Silver-spotted Skipper (Hesperia comma).

Cinquefoil Skipper (Pyrgus cirsii).

Iberian Sooty Copper (Lycaena bleusei).

Iberian Sooty Copper (Lycaena bleusei).

Other species included Euplagia quadripunctaria, Field Eryngo (Eryngium campestris), Common Golden Thistle (Scolymus hispanicus),  Sweet Scabious (Sixalix atropurpurea), 

Nettle-tree Butterfly (Libythea celtis).

Nettle-tree Butterfly (Libythea celtis).

Lang's Short-tailed Blue (Leptotes pirithous).

Euplagia quadripunctaria.

As I walked back along the Woodland edges I added Swallowtail (Papilio machaon), Lesser Marbled Fritillary (Brenthis ino), Southern White Admiral (Limenitis reducta) and a very well behaved Nettle-tree Butterfly (Libythea celtis). 

Azure Chalkhill Blue (Lysandra caelestissima).

Azure Chalkhill Blue (Lysandra caelestissima).

Azure Chalkhill Blue (Lysandra caelestissima).

After I reached the car I went just up the road to a puddling spot near to Moscardón where I walked to  a spot along the stream where 2 years ago I saw masses of blues and skippers coming down to the margins, the area was a bit different after it had been cleaned or cleared by a storm.

Cinquefoil Skipper (Pyrgus cirsii).

Cinquefoil Skipper (Pyrgus cirsii).

Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris).

I again searched the muddy edges seeing masses of butterflies the two commonest species were Azure Chalkhill Blue and Cinquefoil Skipper (Pyrgus cirsii) and there were smaller numbers of Common, Lang's Short-tailed and Long-tailed Blue (Lampides boeticus), Iberian Scarce (Iphiclides feisthameli) and Swallowtail, Mallow (Carcharodus alceae) and Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris), Lang's Short-tailed and Long-tailed Blue (Lampides boeticus).

Mallow Skipper (Carcharodus alceae).

Mallow Skipper (Carcharodus alceae).

Long-tailed Blue (Lampides boeticus).

Chapman's Blue (Polyommatus Thersites).

Chapman's Blue (Polyommatus Thersites).

In the same area I also saw Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathinerum), Keeled Skimmer (Orthetrum coerulescens), Common Golden Ringed (Cordulegaster boltonii), Perez's Frog (Rana Común / Pelophylax perezi) and Horse Mint (Mentha longifolia). 

Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathinerum).

In the late afternoon I popped down to Albarracín and then out to a nearby barranco where I checked the area near the road looking for the incredibly rare Southern Hermit (Chazara prieuri) but I was not lucky today, however I did find Striped (Graphosoma italicum) and Grayling, Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria), Lang's Short-tailed and Clouded Yellow, Mediterranean Shieldbug (Carpocoris mediterraneus), Blue-winged Grasshopper (Oedipoda caerulescens), Spike Lavender (Lavandula latifolia), Southern Globe Thistle (Echinops ritro), a couple of Rabbits (Conejo / Oryctolagus cuniculus).

Striped Grayling (Hipparchia fidia).

Lang's Short-tailed Blue (Leptotes pirithous).

I then returned to Moscardón and checked into the accommodation but I was not happy as I expecting an apartment but it was only a hotel room with no facilities at all.