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Thanks for the information about the Bronze, Les. I saw these little blues on Geraniums, Hydrangas as well as on other plants up in the hills. They were quite common.
Thanks also for the corrections to the identifications. My source for the names is the following website: http://www.leps.it/
Lang's Short-tailed Blue (Leptotes pirithus)
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3.../Romeblue1.jpg
Small White (Pieris rapae)
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...bageWhite1.jpg
The most common butterfly in the hills was the following. Speckled Woods (Pararge aegeria)
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...eckledWood.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...tyrinae2_2.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...tyrinae1_4.jpg
Wall Brown (Lasiommata megera). I saw this species on two occasions.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...tyrinae1_1.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...tyrinae1_2.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...tyrinae1_3.jpg
Fritillaries were common in the hills but I rarely saw them land. Silver-washed Fritillaries (Argynnis paphia)
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...Fritillary.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...itillary3a.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...itillary1a.jpg
Skippers were surprisingly scarce. I only saw two species and only one of each.
Mallow Skipper (Carcharodus alceae)
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...7skipper1a.jpg
Damselfly
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...adamselfly.jpg
Strange flightless cricket that lived in the pine-oak belt:
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...liacricket.jpg
Wall lizards were numerous. There are several similar species that live here and I have not yet identified these with certainty.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...eenLizard1.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...eenLizard3.jpg
David, you can get rid of any doubts, all correct!
The LeptotEs (note spelling) species is not rare, but I never came across it during my many visits to the Med, shame.
It is interesting to see the southern subspecies of Pararge aegeria, P. a. aegeria. In the UK we had the northern one, P. a. tircis, where the orange markings are replaced by pale cream in colour.
David: Here are a couple of shots i took in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia a few years back. Hope that helps a bit. Looks like you had a great time. You do manage to get some nice shots on your vacations! William
Thanks for all your help, Les. I only saw a couple Leptotes in the pine-oak habitat above Corniglia. They were more common, however, in the park that is located near the Vatican. I spent a few hours there while my wife wandered around the old buildings. The best areas in the park were those that had a few weeds.
Thanks for posting the shots of the Copper, William. Looks quite similar to the one that I photographed. We are down at Amalfi now and enjoying the walks. So far, I've seen a few butterflies but have not found an accessible area for photos.
Beautiful place and photos :cheers:
Thanks, Loke.
Here is a list of birds that I observed at Cinque Terre. Birding was not easy and it seemed that everything was shy.
- Common Buzzard: pair
- Peregrine Falcon: one on coast
- Yellow-legged Gull
- Rock Dove
- Collared Dove
- House Martin
- Barn Swallow
- Wren (Rome)
- Robin
- Blue Rock Thrush: cliffs along ocean. In towns.
- Blackbird
- Reed Warbler: several in dense thickets above Corniglia
- Firecrest: a few in pine-oak woodland
- Great Tit: a few in olive groves
- Blue Tit: a few in olive groves
- Magpie: in transit
- Jay: along walk to Vernazza
- Jackdaw
- Hooded Crow
- Raven
- Starling
- House Sparrow
David ,
Thank you for sharing these wonderful shots with us!!
:cheers: