Photos from a quick trip to Cinque Terre

My wife and I are back in Rome after spending several days in Cinque Terre National Park. Cinque Terre is situated in northwestern coastal Italy. It is made up of five small towns that are connected by trails and rail. This was a scenic location and I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. Butterflies were still numerous and I was able to take a few photos of these.

If you are like me, you probably don't know much about this part of the world. I have added a number of habitat shots as well as photos of the villages to give you a feel for the area. The coast seemed quite dry and remnant patches of vegetation looked a little like the chaparral in southern California. The region was hilly and upper slopes were covered with pine-oak forest. Vineyards and olive plantations were numerous everywhere from the coast to the hilltops.

Here is a map that shows the location of Cinque Terre.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...erre/Italy.jpg

We stayed in Corniglia, the smallest of the five towns of Cinque Terre. It was interesting with its old, cobblestone laneways, excellent food and coffee. I don't think anyone makes coffee like the Italians. Our day always began with several shots of espresso and various Italian pastries.

The buildings were all painted in pastel colours that looked particularly nice in the evening. Here are a few shots of Corniglia.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...orniglia1a.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...Corniglia2.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...orniglia2b.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...orniglia12.jpg


We usually walked for an hour or so each morning to Vernazza. The trail was good and steep in parts so it was great excercise.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...Corniglia9.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...orniglia10.jpg


Vernazza was a lovely sight in the morning.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...zahabitat1.jpg

More from Vernazza
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...bitat2_400.jpghttp://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...bitat3_400.jpg

Catch of the day:
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...rnazzafish.jpg


This is Montorosso, the northern-most of the Cinque Terre Villages.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...onterosso2.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...onterosso4.jpghttp://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...onterosso3.jpg


We also walked the trail between the southernmost villages of Manarola and Riomaggiore. This section was incredibly busy. September is the shoulder season for tourists so I would hate to see what it was like in the busy summer holidays.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...7Manarola6.jpg

Manarola
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...Manarola6a.jpg

My wife does not like walking when it was hot so I usually had a few hours in the afternoon to climb into the hills to search for birds, butterflies and reptiles. Here are a few shots of the areas that I worked the most. Blackberries were everywhere at lower elevations so it was impossible to move off the trail.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...iahabitat1.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ahabitat1a.jpg


Higher up, the habitat changed to pine-oak woodland. Some areas had terraced vineyards. This was a moister area with a few different butterflies to those that I observed closer to the village.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ahabitat1c.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ahabitat1b.jpg


Hummingbird Moths were common along the trail. I have not had much experience with this group before. They certaintly are well named and look so much like a small species of hummer. Their abdomen even has scales that look fanned like the open tail of a hummer when hovering at a flower.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...gbirdmoth1.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...gbirdmoth2.jpg


These blues were common. I think that they are Holly Blues (Celastrina argiolus).
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...rfly3blue2.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...erfly3blue.jpg

Wonderful Cinque Terre, wonderful my Italy.

Did you drink the unforgettable Sciacchetra' sweet wine?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Angiud

Wonderful Cinque Terre, wonderful my Italy.

Did you drink the unforgettable Sciacchetra' sweet wine?

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We tried different wines but I don't know that one. We are off to Amalfi tomorrow. I will see if I can find it. We are having a great time here, Antonio. The food, as you know, is wonderful.

Long-tailed Blue (Lampides boeticus) were fairly common near farms. I saw some with blue upper wings so I assume that butterfly below must be a female.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...rfly4blue2.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...erfly4blue.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...rfly4blue3.jpg


Geranium Bronze (Cacyreus marshalli): a tiny species that I saw at pot plants in the villages as well as in the hills.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...rfly6blue7.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...rfly6blue8.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...rfly6blue9.jpg

Some of the Lycaenids were tricky to identify since several share similar patterns.
Brown Argus (Aricia agestis) (thanks, Les)
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...fly6blue11.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...fly6blue12.jpg


The following males were a little larger than the butterfly above.
Common Blues (Polyommatus icarus) (thanks, Les)
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...fly6blue16.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...fly6blue15.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...fly6blue17.jpg


Females:
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...fly6blue14.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...fly6blue13.jpg

The following are photos of a Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeus) that I took in a park near the Vatican this morning. I saw this above Corniglia but was not able to take useable photos.

William, I read that this species is also found in the eastern US so you will know of it. Does the Italian race look different to those that you see?
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...allCopper3.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...allCopper2.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...allCopper1.jpg


Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui)
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...intedLady2.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...intedLady1.jpg


Over exposed Southern White Admiral (Limenitis reducta) (thanks, Les) that looks a little like a Commander. I only saw this species twice and had one brief opportunity for a photo.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...glianymph1.jpg


Clouded Yellow (Coleus crocea)
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ly8pierid2.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ly8pierid1.jpg


... more later

The Geranium Bronze fascinated me as it is not mentioned in my 'bible' of European butterflies, though it does date back to 1970.

This species is originally from South Africa and Mozambique. It was first found in Europe (Balearic Islands) in 1990, and only came to Italy (Sardinia) in 1996. It has since slowly moved northwards, coming to Tuscany in 2006. It has spread as it is a serious pest of the very popular cultivated geraniums, and has even been found in the UK (1997, and a few occasions since).

A couple of ID corrections required, sorry!

1)Your Common Blues (Polyommatus icarus) are actually the Brown Argus (Aricia agestis)
2) The Blue is the real Polyommatus icarus.
3) The White Admiral is the Southern White Admiral (Limenitis reducta). The hindwing basal white markings are a give-away, as is the forewing end-cell white spot and the underside hindwing single row of marginal spots.

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

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...eenLizard5.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...eenLizard4.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...allLizard1.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...allLizard4.jpg


That's all from Cinque Terre.

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: