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It’s been so hot this week that I’ve been keeping in the shade. I’ve had good company though, lots of gorgeous Broad-leaved Helleborines!!! Thankfully they haven’t chomped by deer this year! #WildflowerHour

The scenery is breathtaking, and the butterflies are special too, with a number of highly localised montane specialists, and a wide range of more general southern European species besides. We expect over 100 species to be seen during the course of this enjoyable week. (2/3)

BC Europe Your hosts for Butterflies of the Hautes Pyrenees will be Kate and Mariposa founders David Moore & Jon Dunn. It's a guaranteed departure on 9-16 July 2026 - just 5 spaces remain available now to join us! Crucially, the tour generates a donation to support BC Europe. (3/3)

Last recorded >150 years ago in 1874, I was absolutely shocked to find oblong-leaved sundew (Drosera intermedia) at Abbots Moss in Cheshire!! Not only is this beastie both rare and red-listed, this will soon probably be the last population in the entire county! 😱🌱❤️

After 3 weeks out of the last 4 guiding Mariposa Nature Tours holidays, time for my own holiday. In the Sierra Nevada in Spain. Three endemics (Spanish Brassy Ringlet, Nevada Blue & Spanish Red Underwing Skipper) plus the endemic subspecies of Apollo. A great day!

Update - our featured tour this week, Butterflies of the Hautes Pyrenees with Kate Humble, now has just one place left available to book upon it. Running next year, 9-16 July, full details here: mariposanature.com/tours/butterfl…

It's #FrohawkFriday, the day we celebrate the butterfly studies & artwork of FW Frohawk. Purple Emperor, and their admirers, know a thing or two about virtue-signalling - males are famously territorial & defensive. They also have lamentable taste, fond of dead animals & faeces.

Postcard from the field courtesy of some of our guests this week in Hungary: We enjoyed excellent views today of the big butterfly target of the week, Pallas's Fritillary, a very range-restricted species in eastern Europe. With bonus Scarce Large Blue present in the same area!

Good morning and welcome to a new week! Our featured tour this week is Pallas's Fritillary & Summer Butterflies of Hungary. This tour was oversubscribed in 2025, and no wonder - it's been superb so far, with some fabulous #butterflies enjoyed. (1/2) mariposanature.com/tours/butterfl…

The range of species possible is extensive. Pallas's Fritillary, potentially FOUR species of Phengaris large blue, and other eastern specialities like Assman's Fritillary & Lesser Clouded Yellow. Like ALL our butterfly tours, this generates a donation to BC Europe. (2/2)

Shore birds, are the obvious focus for any hope of finding a good bird in the isles in July- that or Two-barred Crossbill! This adult summer plumage BAIRDS SANDPIPER the Houb, Baltasound was a most welcome representative from across the Atlantic today! #bairdssandpiper #shetland

Postcard from the field from our ongoing Pallas's Fritillary & Late Summer Butterflies of Hungary tour: Another sun-kissed day made for superb butterfly watching conditions. Almost 60 species logged, 14 of them blues, including 2 more of the Phengaris large blues, Alcon & Large.

We're absolutely delighted to announce that Frank Sengpiel 👨🏼‍🔬🧠🌵🦋🦉🦊🌺 has joined Team Mariposa! Frank is a superb addition to our tour leading team, with a formal biology background, a lifelong love of natural history, and he's erudite & charming too. He say's he's the guy on the left! (1/2)

We know Frank will be popular with our guests, and he's going to be involved in a good many tours going forwards, starting with our popular Spring Butterflies in the French Pyrenees on 20-27 May 2026. Bookings are already being taken for that one! (2/2) mariposanature.com/tours/butterfl…

It's #FrohawkFriday, the day we celebrate the butterfly studies & artwork of FW Frohawk. This week features Monarch, known to Frohawk as Black-veined Brown. Originally an American species, occasional examples turn up in Britain, often coinciding with autumnal westerly storms.

The 2025 iteration of our featured tour of the week, Pallas's Fritillary & Late Summer Butterflies of Hungary, concluded a couple of days ago - and our first testimonial is already in! We love hearing that our guests have enjoyed their tours. 😃🦋 mariposanature.com/tours/butterfl…

27/7/25 Cumbria - Some years, #HuttonRoof treats us to a very interesting #orchid. It's clearly from the Epipactis phyllanthes group but quite unlike anything else I've seen in the UK. It most closely matches the description of a Scandinavian taxon, var. confusa #wildflowerhour

Like ALL of our butterfly holidays, this tour generates a donation to help the great work done by BC Europe. Led by the experienced (and French-fluent) butterfly guide David Moore, and biologist Frank Sengpiel, it's a tour not to be missed. (2/2)

Two new Colias for me this spring and summer - Lesser Clouded Yellow in Hungary last week, and Danube Clouded Yellow in Romania in May. Both seen on tours I was co-leading for Mariposa Nature Tours - Romania is full for 2026, but spaces remain for Hungary: mariposanature.com/tours/butterfl…