We don't do obscure rarities here at @mariposanature.bsky.social - but we do do brilliant rarities. This Southern Hermit was one of at least eight we saw at a new site on the last day of the Montes Universales holiday. Maybe there is hope for this extremely threatened butterfly.

There's nothing false about the @mariposanature.bsky.social Montes Universales holiday. Just fantastic expert guides who created the itinerary 8 years ago, allowing us to see wonderful butterfly species such as this False Grayling.

We were treated to large numbers of Zapater's Ringlet today, Day 6 of the @mariposanature.bsky.social Montes Universales holiday. Including some unusally fantastic photo opportunities.

The total solar eclipse. Seen yesterday evening on the @mariposanature.bsky.social holiday to the Spanish Montes Universales. A truly special experience.

Striped Grayling on Day 5 of the @mariposanature.bsky.social holiday in the Montes Universales. A highlight before the main highlight of the total solar eclipse later....

Always lovely to find Spanish Chalkhill Blue. Especially individuals as fresh as this one. Just one of the many highlights on Day 4 of the @mariposanature.bsky.social Monte Universales holiday.

Zapater's Ringlet - the main target species on the @mariposanature.bsky.social holiday to the Montes Universales in Spain. Fantastic views today, amongst many other species.

This female Common Blue was back laying eggs in my Sheffield garden meadow again today. Surely, surely, there may be progeny next year.....

Found this female Common Blue butterfly laying eggs in my Sheffield garden meadow today. The first female I've seen here in the 16 years since the meadow was created. It'll be interesting to see if it finally starts a colony!

Yesterday we completed the @mariposanature.bsky.social Butterflies of the French Alps trip, adding Silky Ringlet, extending the record species count to 151. I'm leading the trip in 2027 & there's just 8 spaces left. If you're interested you can book here www.mariposanature.com/tours/butter...

Dusky Grizzled Skipper! Species 150 on Day 7 of the @mariposanature.bsky.social French Alps holiday. With one day left, that's 13 more species than any 8 day trip, anywhere in Europe, ever, by any wildlife holiday company. Proud to be part of the amazing Mariposa team! 🦋

Esper's Marbled White. Species 142 in just 6 days on the @mariposanature.bsky.social French Alps holiday. It smashes the RECORD for any European butterfly holiday ANYWHERE EVER. Big thanks to our 10 current guests for their curious eyes. Also for the location info from a kind supporter

We saw a huge number of butterfly species on Day 4 of the @mariposanature.bsky.social French Alps holiday. We're now up to an incredible 125 species. But sometimes the relatively common species stand out. Such as this male Purple Edged Copper

Everyone loves an Apollo! 😍 They're having an incredible year in the Alps in 2026. Huge numbers everywhere. Just one of the utterly stonking 93 butterfly species seen today on Day 3 of the @mariposanature.bsky.social French Alps holiday. We're now up to 117 species in total.

Delighted to find good numbers of Balkan Fritillary today, on Day 2 of the @mariposanature.bsky.social French Alps holiday. This species can only be found in a few places in the Alps and is very scarce. We're now up to 79 species seen!

Day 1 of the @mariposanature.bsky.social French Alps holiday got off to a cracking start. 44 species in just 2 hours on a 200 metre track, quite astonishing. This localised and hard to find Foulquier's Grizzled Skipper being the unanimous highlight.

Here's a nice video of it too

Still looking back on the highlights of two days ago on the @mariposanature.bsky.social Butterflies of the European Arctic holiday. This Northern Clouded Yellow suddenly turned very compliant after a long chase! The green underside in stark contrast to the bright yellow upperside in flight

Another star of yesterday's @mariposanature.bsky.social Butterflies of the European Arctic holiday was this appropriately named Arctic Fritillary. An incredible find!

Day 6 of the @mariposanature.bsky.social Butterflies of the European Arctic holiday brought many many delights. This Lapland Fritillary being one of the highlights I'll share in the coming hours.

Day 5 of the @mariposanature.bsky.social Butterflies of the European Arctic holiday was the best so far. Arctic Grayling and Arctic Ringlet being real hard to find specialists. Freija's Fritillary, Frigga's Fritillary and Northern Clouded Yellow also seen.

Unusually cool and frustratingly grey. These Moorland Clouded Yellow and Cranberry Blue did their best to cheer us on Day 3 of the @mariposanature.bsky.social Butterflies of the European Arctic holiday. The scenery remains epic!

Day 2 of the @mariposanature.bsky.social Butterflies of the European Arctic holiday involved some stunning views. Just look at those cloudscapes. 😍

Despite some flight disruption, Day 1 of the @mariposanature.bsky.social Butterflies of the European Arctic trip was still enjoyable. Our visit to the world famous Tromso Botanical Gardens was almost otherworldly in terms of the botanical delights we saw!

My Sheffield garden meadow today. Why would anyone choose a lawn (green desert) instead?

Day 7 of the @mariposanature.bsky.social holiday to the Italian & French Alps had to contend with our first grey skies. Despite this, we were delighted to see this Large Tortoiseshell, Alcon Blue & Purple Shot Copper. It took us to a record 118 species for the week, with a day to go

Day 6 of the @mariposanature.bsky.social holiday to the Italian Alps saw us cross over the Col de la Lombarde into France. Perfect weather conditions saw us increase the butterfly species count to 111, including Safflower Skipper and Oberthurs Grizzled Skipper.

Day 5 of the @mariposanature.bsky.social holiday to the Italian Alps brought many new butterfly species, taking us to 108 so far, and counting. The highlights included these Camberwell Beauty, Purple Shot Copper and Titania's Fritillary

It's not just about species numbers on @mariposanature.bsky.social butterfly holidays. An occasional early morning walk from our Italian Alps hotel can bring the wonderful delights of torpid roosting butterflies. Which allows excellent photo opportunities.

Day 4 of the @mariposanature.bsky.social holiday to the Italian Alps was spent mostly at higher altitude. The views and alpine botany stole the show, albeit Mountain Green Veined White was a nice addition the butterfly species list, which has now topped 100 species after just 4 days.