Gozo (and Malta)

Back in June, we headed off to Gozo for my brother's wedding and decided to make a bit of a holiday of it and go looking for some reptiles and butterflies. On landing in Malta we jumped straight in the car and headed for the ferry and Gozo then off to find our wonderful B&B for the first couple of nights. We stayed with a lovely couple at Charming B&B “Dar ta’ Zeppi" and I would definitely recommend it to anyone visiting Gozo, Tanja and Vince were incredibly welcoming and friendly and the place is just beautiful and located in a quiet part of the island. After we checked in we headed off to find dinner and ate at a small little restaurant just 10 minutes walk away enjoying fresh fish caught that day and delicious local wine.

The next day we headed off in search of some butterflies, reptiles and the beech! As Chris was sorting some stuff out I had a wonder round the garden at the B&B and came across this Geranium Bronze (Cacyreus marshalli) feeding on a white flower that acted as a perfect reflector producing a wonderful light underneath the butterfly. 

Time to head off and explore the botanical gardens just up the road, I was hoping for chameleons, lizards and snakes as well as bugs, unfortunately the lizards were too quick and the only snake and chameleon I found were dead ones but we did find a long-tailed blue butterfly (Lampides boeticus).  

After much searching we decided to head to the beech for some relaxation and a swim in the rather chilly sea then back to the B&B and off for dinner. The next day we headed back to the same spot briefly to have another search, this time coming across a rather obliging dragonfly.

Still no reptiles so time to head to Ramla Bay and a walk on the beech, just as we were leaving to go explore some more I found a Maltese Wall Lizard (Podarcis filfolensis) in the tree by the information centre and that was me for about 20 minutes. 

After a day of exploring and a good meal we headed to bed ready to move to Xlendi the next day to meet up with the rest of the family and do some more exploring over the next couple of days and to celebrate the wedding. Most of the exploring took place on the cliffs just up from Xlendi Bay, and I could have honestly spent days there and still not been bored so here are some photos from the cliff explorations. I've decided that as I spent so much time photographing the wall lizards they have their own dedicated post you can check out here:  Maltese Wall Lizards

We did make a trip out to the Azure Window (Games of Thrones fans should recognise it) and enjoyed a wonder round and then a swim in the inland see to cool off.

Salt crystals forming in one of the small pools

The wedding was absolutely beautiful and we had so much fun celebrating, eating drinking and dancing on the roof of the St. Patricks Hotel in Xlendi Bay, and here we are with the bay in the background.

The time had come to say good bye to everyone and head back to Malta for a day before catching the flight home. On recommendation we visited the medieval walled city of Mdina and later on in the afternoon met up with Rich and Susie for tea and cake. Rather unlike me I took some photos of the buildings as we wondered round. 

We had a wonderful time and will definitely be visiting again, there is so much more I would like to explore and photograph at different times of the year as well. Just have to find the time and start planning! Until next time, stay safe, Victoria xx

Green Hairstreaks

Until this year I have only seen photos of green hairstreak butterflies (Callophrys rubi) I'd never actually seen one in real life and was determined to do something about that this spring! Over winter I did my research as to where they were seen last year and also time of day and behaviour and picked two locations, one just down the road and the other about 30 minutes away and kept an eye out for the first sightings whilst going over some ideas for composition and potential lighting.

My first trip out was April 26th, it was a little windy but an otherwise perfect day, knowing that in this area they are most likely to be found in and around gorse that's where I headed (with a little help from some fellow photographer friends). These are my first ever photos of a green hairstreak, this one is a male and they can be very territorial chasing and fighting other males that enter their patch. One thing that you don't often see with them is the dusky pink colouration on the fore-wing, the first few photos I took I just couldn't get this to show so I have developed a few little techniques to help bring this out, I'm not letting on what they are just yet as I'm still perfecting them but will be writing an article about them at the end of the summer.

I am also working on being more artistic and creative rather than taking standard ID shots of the butterflies and you will certainly see this as we journey through this post, starting with this image using the gorse flowers in the foreground as a soft blur drawing the eye to the butterfly sitting in amongst the flowers.

Well, this was it, I was in love with these surprisingly small but stunning butterflies and dedicated much of the ext month or so to photographing them, most of the time on the gorse! Spending so much time with them really enabled me to get into their little lives, notice tiny things and come up with different ways of capturing them and showing them in their little world. 

When you spend time with them you start to notice not just how beautiful they can be surprisingly friendly and curious as well, over the weeks I have spent with them I've been able to get an insight into their world and see how much they depend on the gorse.  

Over time I started to notice how different colours compliment each other with the green in the background matching the green of the butterfly in this photo. 

But, there's always a but. For the majority of the time I could only find males on the gorse and as striking the contrast is between the yellow of the flowers and green of the butterfly, I wanted to see if I could find some females that spend their time closer to the ground, perseverance definitely paid off. I found them between the wild thyme and the buttercups. The first image is in amongst the wild thyme, both her and me.  

The next few images are of a female (not the same one) feeding on buttercups and daises, it really gives you an idea of just how small they really are. 

After a couple of weeks I started to see less and less of these wonderful little butterflies in their normal location but did start to find them in other areas of the same sight including hawthorn bushes and these last few images are of them in amongst the green leaves. On the first two photos you can even see the green scales around the face.

This male wouldn't stay still for long as he would keep chasing anything that came near his patch, butterflies, bees it didn't matter, but when he did it's like everything came together and I was able to try some different compositions with the very last one being my favourite, a very unusual photo but eye catching and it reminds me a little of an ice cream cone.

Well, that's it for this post, I hope you've enjoyed my green hairstreak moment, I'm missing these little butterflies already and really looking forward to their return next year, but other species are emerging everyday now and the orchids are looking amazing so there is plenty to keep me busy.

My next post will be from a trip to Gozo and Malta before it's back to the butterflies, orchids and anything else that I have been working on. For now, look after yourselves and enjoy the great weather we're having here in the South West right now.

Bye for now.

Coming To The Aid Of Some Butterflies

It's not just birds and mammals that need our help when it comes to rescuing, from time to time something all together much smaller and different requires some help.

On Thursday I received a call from the lovely people at Secret World Wildlife Rescue about some hibernating butterflies in a building that needs to be plastered but the wonderful builder didn't want to disturb the butterflies so called Secret World, who then called me! After much research and discussions it was decided that someone would take the butterflies and put them in the loft of their house to join those already hibernating there. The tricky bit was to remove them from the building and transport them safely without them warming up and thinking it's spring.

So, this morning we went to the building armed with cardboard boxes, a torch and camera to collect the butterflies and moths as it would turn out to be. We went from room to room, taking some photos and carefully removing the butterflies and moths one by one and putting them into the boxes. Once they had all been collected we made a quick count of species and off they went to their new hibernating home.

Peacock butterflies on the wall

Small tortoiseshell butterflies on the ceiling

In total we rescued:

30 peacock butterflies (Aglais io)

21 Small tortoiseshell butterflies (Aglais urticae)

7 Herald moths (Scoliopteryx libatrix)

Herald moths in the box ready to go to their new hibernating site

One thing we observed when moving the butterflies was the rasping noise that the peacock butterflies produced. this rasping sound is produced when the forewings are rubbed together as they open and close, flashing the bright patterns and eyespots. Outside, flashing the eye spots and patterns of the wings acts as a very good deterrent to predators but in the dark the eye spots would not be seen so they produce the rasping noise as well and this has been seen to be an effective deterrent against mice.

These butterflies and moths will be put in the loft and left to sleep out the cold months emerging again in Spring. This was an unusual rescue and a first I think for Secret World, but we cannot thank the kind builder enough for contacting the staff at Secret World and allowing us to go in and remove the insects. The majority of rescues involve birds and mammals but occasionally the smaller creatures need help to, so below is some advice on what to do if you find any hibernating butterflies or moths.

Advice on hibernating butterflies and moths

Here in the UK we have four species of butterflies that hibernate regularly as adults (Brimstone, Comma, Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock) and in recent years there have been reports of Red Admiral butterflies hibernating in the UK and this is probably due to warming temperatures. The two species you are most likely to come across in the house, garage or shed are the small tortoiseshell and peacock butterflies.

As it gets colder, butterflies look for a dark, dry and sheltered location to hibernate and there they will stay until spring. However, sometimes the places they choose can be our homes and this can cause a problem when we put the heating on and the house becomes warmer than it was when the butterfly started to hibernate. Unfortunately this can trick the butterfly into thinking that it is spring and time to go outside but this would be fatal for it as there would be no food and the cold temperatures would certainly kill it. If you find a butterfly in your home and it's not moving, please leave it where it is, however if the warmth of the house is causing it to become active you may need to relocate it to somewhere more suitable such as an unheated outbuilding, like a garage or shed or even a loft if you know you have butterflies hibernating there already (normally older houses with gaps where the butterflies can get in and out).

It is always good to check to see if you have any hibernating butterflies in the garage, shed or loft as if there are already some butterflies there they are able to find their own way in out and again come spring. Moving them should only be done as a last resort and if you do need to move them please be very very careful as they are very delicate and also the warmth from your hands can be enough to bring them out of hibernation if handled for too long.

Peacock and small tortoiseshell butterflies hibernating in a small group on the ceiling

As our butterflies needed to be moved between buildings, we placed them into cardboard boxes to transport them, these boxes will be placed into the loft and left open rather than handle them for a second time. If you have moved your butterflies into a garage or shed with windows then come springtime, those butterflies that have survived as they wake up they will probably head straight for the window and can get caught up in spiders webs so just check on them regularly to make sure they can get back outside safely. 

Herald moth and peacock butterflies hibernating together on the the ceiling

Our butterflies and moths are now safe and the builders can get on with the work. Please don't worry of your hibernating butterflies don't make it through the winter this is not uncommon and can happen for numerous reasons. 

A huge thank you goes out again to the builder for noticing them and allowing us to go and move them to a safer place and to the staff of Secret World for organising the rescue!