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Maritime Alps Satyrs and the Ancient King A Greentours Tour Report 16th to 23rd July 2012 Led by Paul Cardy and Stefano Doglio Daily Accounts and Systematic Lists written by Paul Cardy The third of the Greentours summer Alpine trilogy, following on from The Dolomites and Slovenia, was an excellent week in the western Alps, on both the French and Italian sides of the glorious Maritime Alps. Even after more than a decade of leading tours here, and living just to the north in the Cottian Alps, the area still holds some surprises. It was a remarkably good season for butterflies, with the week’s total being 124 species, many of them in large numbers. Tree Grayling was a great addition to the list this year, and Striped Grayling was seen for the second year running. An excellent year for satyrids generally, also of special note were Black Satyr, False Mnestra Ringlet, and Marbled Ringlet. We were very pleased to locate a new site for Lesser Purple Emperor, and among twenty species of fritillary were the stunning Cynthia’s; Grisons; and all three local species of Boloria. The first five nights were spent at a small pleasant family run hotel in the Valdeblore hamlet of La Bolline, a fine location, well situated for all excursions, and with a small grocery and a bakery just along the street where I could do the daily picnic shopping whilst the group enjoyed breakfast. For the last two nights of the tour we moved to the other side of Mercantour National Park, and the hamlet of Casterino, which allowed easy access into the Italian Alpi Maritime, a superbly productive area. Arriving in Turin from Slovenia the day before the tour, on the Monday I picked up Stefano in Cavour, and we drove south, through the Tende tunnel, and via Saorge to Nice. At the airport the various arriving flights were on time, we were soon all assembled, and we set off for the short drive north to Valdeblore. Our journey soon left the conurbation of Nice behind, and took us through the impressive scenery of the Tinee Valley. During our stay in Valdeblore dinner was enjoyed in two pleasant restaurants, and on two evenings Stefano ferried us to a good little pizzeria/restaurant in nearby Rimplas. During the week our daily excursions visited a mixture of lower Mediterranean influenced sites, through mid altitude meadows and subalpine forests, to alpine pastures above the tree line, producing a wealth of flora and fauna in these different habitats. Greentours Natural History Holidays www.greentours.co.uk 1 The first full day was spent visiting a selection of sites all close to the hotel. Our first stop was in the impressively situated village of Rimplas which affords fine views in all directions. There we walked slowly up a paved road to a Maginot Line fort, where Great Sooty Satyrs were much in evidence, and there were several Great Banded Graylings. Scarce Swallowtails were rather common, and there were a number of Swallowtails, both species nectaring on the abundant Red Valerian. Black-veined Whites, Berger’s Clouded Yellows, Brimstones, and many Cleopatras represented the pierids. Sloe, Ilex, and Blue-spot Hairstreaks were all here, and among the blues were Turquoise, Baton and Chalk-hill. Spotted Fritillary was common, and other fritillaries included High Brown and a lone Weaver’s. Marbled Whites were numerous, there were a few Dusky Heaths, Mallow Skipper frequented its foodplant, and Lulworth Skippers were rather common. Southern Comma was a good find today, and particularly pleasing was a male Black Satyr among all the Great Sooty Satyrs. The hillside scrub had both Prickly and Phoenician Juniper, and other shrubs included St.Lucie’s Cherry and Bladder Senna. Lizard Orchids were perhaps the highlight, in good flower this year. The tall white- flowered Cephalaria leucantha was here, and Asperula purpurea with small purple flowers was very attractive. Among the many other species were Yellow Chamomile, Large Yellow Restharrow, Spiny Spurge, Shrubby Plantain, Calamintha nepeta and both Artemisia alba and Artemisia chamaemelifolia. The endemic Teucrium lucidum was a feature. Also here was Teucrium montanum and the beautiful grass Achnatherum calamagrostis, and an interesting composite was Catananche caerulea. This was a productive site for umbellifers. The stately Molopospermum peloponnesiacum had been in flower in May, but was yellowing and in fruit now. Tordylium maximum was common around the fort and lower down was the attractive Orlaya grandiflora. Other umbels included Bupleurum praealtum, and Laserpitium gallicum. Lunch was set out at a riverside site which provided an ideal location for a post-prandial stroll along a woodland track. Among the blues were Long-tailed, Damon, Amanda’s and Chalk-hill; there were striking Scarce and Purple-shot Coppers; Marbled Fritillary nectared on the brambles; Wood Whites flew daintily past, with Eastern Wood White was here too; and we saw both Southern White and White Admirals. The site produced many new plants, with campanulas a feature, among them Campanula rapunculoides, Campanula trachelium, and Campanula scheuchzeri. There was much Aquilegia vulgaris in fine bloom whilst the purple bracted Melampyrum velebiticum was very attractive. Also here were a good number of Broad- leaved and Dark Red Helleborines, Fragrant Orchids, and Common Twayblade. At the Col St.Martin were a few Red Helleborines in fine flower, and Saxifraga callosa was still in bloom this year. Veronica fruticulosa and Antirrhinum latifolium flowered on the rocks and Lactuca perennis was rather common. The Gentiana ligustica had finished flowering, but Hypericum coris was in fine flower. Red-underwing Skipper was here, and Crested Tits were seen well in the conifers. Higher up we visited a site where I’d found a flowering Lilium pomponium on a previous visit. The plant was still there but more or less gone over this year. Also seen today were the lovely buprestid beetle Acmaeoderella flavofasciata, and the longhorn Agapanthia violacea. Greentours Natural History Holidays www.greentours.co.uk 2 Our first full day in the alpine zone saw us driving along the Tinee Valley to Isola, up to Isola 2000 and above to the Col de la Lombardie (or Lombarde), and into Italy. Once above Isola the roadsides became ever more floriferous. The milk-vetch Astragalus hypoglottis was very attractive, there were several Apollos flying, and some saw a Clouded Apollo. The Italian side of the Col de la Lombarde, at about 2,300m, boasted fine views of the surrounding peaks as a backdrop and Marmots whisling their alarm calls. Here we explored the alpine flora around a small lake, which was full of Floating Bur-reed. One of the first plants that caught our attention was Adenostyles leucophylla with its distinctive white woolly leaves, and there were some fine patches of Parsley Fern growing among the rocky outcrops. Here was a little Alpenrose in bloom, and before long we were finding Small White Orchids dotted around in the turf, there were many this year, and Frog Orchids too. The silver leaved Senecio incanus was very attractive, and Alpine Fleabane was in bloom. Splashes of yellow were provided by Potentilla grandiflora. The wetter flushes nearer the lake held an interesting selection of rushes and sedges. There were a few False Helleborines in flower whilst Dianthus pavonius was numerous up here and provided a fine show, and Trifolium alpinum was common. This was an excellent site for butterflies this year. The endemic False Mnestra Ringlet was rather common, there were a good number of Western Brassy Ringlets, and Mountain Clouded Yellows regularly flew across the slopes. Grisons Fritillaries were much in evidence, and Alpine Heath was here. Both Mountain and Shepherd’s Fritillaries were seen today, and the highlight up here was the stunning Cynthia’s Fritillary, with several flying on one slope. A slope a little further on had many of the endemic vanilla orchid Nigritella corneliana, sadly all over this year, whilst Pedicularis rostratospicata was common. Gentiana rostanii was in bloom in a wet flush, where also were Dactylorhiza majalis and Epilobium alsinifolium. Water Pipit, Black Redstart, and Northern Wheatear were the birds typical of this habitat. A drive further into Italy along the Santa Anna valley took us to a fine lunch site, superbly productive for butterflies. Shortly into Italy, perhaps the bird highlight of the trip was a female Black Grouse on the road, moving into the forest edge allowing good views. Some of us didn’t get around to eating any lunch today as there were so many butterflies at the picnic site. Fritillaries were many and varied including Silver-washed, Dark Green, High Brown, Niobe, Marbled, Balkan, Glanville, Heath, and Provençal. Ringlets were represented by Large Ringlet, Lesser Mountain, Almond-eyed, and Piedmont, and a Marbled Ringlet here was a trip highlight. Silvery Argus, Large Blue, Silver-studded Blue, Idas Blue, and Damon Blue were all here; Blue-spot Hairstreak was seen; and four species of Copper were recorded, only Small Copper being absent. Large Grizzled Skipper, Carline Skipper, and Marbled Skipper were also here. Another day featured a walk towards Trecolpas Lake, from the hamlet of Le Boreon, in the Mercantour. The walk took us initially through coniferous forest, opening out regularly with vistas of scree slopes rising above, on which we often see chamois, although this year we didn’t see any until the lake itself. We walked slowly, stopping regularly to look at many plants and butterflies along the way. At a certain Greentours Natural History Holidays www.greentours.co.uk 3 point we split into two groups, some staying with Stefano to further explore the lower meadows, and the rest coming with me on the last rather steep climb to the lake.

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