During these warm summer weeks, butterflies have become our main focus. Despite the fact we were quite busy with other work recently, we still managed to visit a few nearby places and see several interesting species. The best find of all was a Poplar Admiral Limenitis populi we had the chance to admire up close in the forests of the Snežnik plateau. This is a rare species in Slovenia, living in mountain forests where aspen Populus tremula, its larval foodplant, is present.
Our garden in the Karst is also hosting a good number of butterflies as they come to feed on our lavenders on a daily basis. We've also began to see the first Stag Beetles Lucanus cervus flying around the garden at dusk. Last week we also enjoyed the company of some Swiss friends to whom we showed a fabolous pair of Ural Owls Strix uralensis as well as several other birds around lake Cerknica.
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| Poplar Admiral Limenitis populi, Snežnik plateau. |
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Aspen Populus tremula, Snežnik plateau. The Admiral's larval foodplant.
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| Hunting butterflies, Snežnik plateau. |
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| Chestnut Heath Coenonympha glycerion, Snežnik plateau. |
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Woodland Brown Lopinga achine, Snežnik plateau.
A very common species in the Dinaric forests. |
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| Heath Fritillary Melitaea athalia, Snežnik plateau. |
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Justin's Bellflower Campanula justiniana, Planina.
An endemic species of the Dinaric mountains, from central Slovenia to NW Croatia. |
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| Orange Lily Lilium bulbiferum, Snežnik plateau. |
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| Ural Owl Strix uralensis, Snežnik plateau (phone-scoped). |
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Silver-washed Fritillary Argynnis paphia, Karst.
Very common butterfly at the moment. |
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| Large Chequered Skipper Heteropterus morpheus, Karst. |
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| Large Skipper Ochlodes venatus (sylvanus), Karst. |
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| Scarce Swallowtail Iphiclides podalirius, Karst. |
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| Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina, Karst. |
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Great Banded Grayling Brintesia circe, Karst.
One of the commonest butterflies in the Karst at the moment. |
