Postcard from the field from tour leaders @dunnjons.bsky.social & Miki Viganò leading our Spring Butterflies of Abruzzo tour: We've had a brilliant day today, with countless fresh Italian Marbled White, and Italian Festoon the undoubted highlights. But many further highly satisfying butterflies!

Simply outrageous butterflying today in Abruzzo with my @mariposanature.bsky.social group, co-leading with the fabulous Michele Viganò. Glorious views of, among others, Italian Marbled White and the local provincialis form of Marsh Fritillary. Heaven. @europebutterfly.bsky.social

@mariposanature.bsky.social holidays aren't just about butterflies and orchids! Here in Romania today, we enjoyed spectacular views of seven Carpathian Brown Bears. Experience of a lifetime for everyone. 🐻🧸

Despite mixed weather, Day 5 of the @mariposanature.bsky.social holiday to Romania still keeps on providing fab species. Freshly emerged Common Glider, Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary, Large Copper & Marsh Fritillary. Not to mention Wallcreeper!

Well done on seeing this incredibly rare butterfly

Postcard from the field from tour leader @selbypaul.bsky.social on our Romania in Spring butterfly tour: Today we've seen more Spinose Skipper (in our hotel car park!) and, best of all, good numbers of endangered Danube Clouded Yellow. @europebutterfly.bsky.social

Danube Clouded Yellow, one of Europe's most threatened butterfly species. A privilege to see on the @mariposanature.bsky.social holiday to Romania.

Absolute red letter day on Day 3 of the @mariposanature.bsky.social Romania holiday. Scarce Fritillary, Fenton's Wood White, Spinose Skipper and Eastern Short Tailed Blue. All guests absolutely delighted! 🦋

Cool and grey conditions meant few butterflies on Day 2 of the @mariposanature.bsky.social holiday to Romania. However this torpid Slow Worm was some good compensation!

Day 1 of the @mariposanature.bsky.social holiday to Romania. Despite forecast rain we had warm sunshine and were treated to thousands of Silver Studded Blues like this one. Plus a Zephyr Blue & a friendly European Green Lizard. All in the most wonderful biodiverse landscape.

First Painted lady in our east Kent garden this year. #butterfly

Postcard from the field from tour leader David Moore on our Butterflies of Marvellous Morocco tour: Quite simply one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in my life - Allard's Silver-line. We were all, guides and guests alike, absolutely awestruck. #butterflies

Some very sad news from Spain, a likely victim of global warming

Postcard from the field from tour leader Michele Viganò, co-leading our Spring Butterflies of Marvellous Morocco tour: In the past couple of days we've enjoyed wonderful views of Fatma's Bavius Blue, believed locally extirpated until we re-found it in Morocco last year.

We've just finished our spring orchid tours and we've made our donation today to support the brilliant conservation work of @bsbibotany.bsky.social. All of our orchid tours generate these donations, have done since day one of Mariposa, and will continue to do so. #bsbicorporatesupporter

Tour update 🚨 Things move pretty fast around here. Our flagship Orchids of Rhodes tour (2028 edition) now has just four places available on it, another having been taken y'day. It's extremely popular, and for several very good reasons... www.mariposanature.com/tours/botani...

Postcard from the field from orchid tour leader @dunnjons.bsky.social leading our Late Spring Orchids of Sicily tour this week: With new species coming thick and fast today, we're sailing into the 40s for the week with two full days left to us here. There's nobody better at finding the rarities!

Good morning, and welcome to a new week. Our featured tour this week is Pallas's Fritillary & Late Summer Butterfies of Hungary, a guaranteed departure this coming July. Also guaranteed is a donation to support the work of Butterfly Conservation Europe. (1/2) www.mariposanature.com/tours/butter...

Lovely orchid hybrids found yesterday west of Etna here in Sicily - Ophrys bertolonii x Ophrys passionis. I love orchid-hunting in this beautiful region of Italy. Always a surprise possible around every corner. #orchids @mariposanature.bsky.social

Postcard from the field from tour leader David Moore in Andalusia this week: Our Butterflies of Andalusia tour is under way, with exceptionally confiding Green-striped White an early feature of the week. More great butterflies to follow...

Two fine Sicilian endemic #orchids of the highest calibre yesterday here on the Late Spring Orchids of Sicily tour I'm co-leading with Andrea Corso for @mariposanature.bsky.social - Ophrys pallida & Ophrys mirabilis.

Just seen two Painted Lady butterflies in Sheffield, UK. Reports of them in "plague" numbers on the @mariposanature.bsky.social holiday in Andalucia currently. 2026 is shaping up to be on a par with the 2009 Painted Lady invasion! 🦋🦋🦋

A fresh Speckled Wood from my Sheffield garden, earlier this week. 🦋

We don't leave things to the last minute, so here's a one month warning that there are still a few places available to join Jon Dunn & Richard Bate for a fun day out in Kent on Sunday 31 May, full of orchids, colourful tales, and a delicious pub lunch! www.mariposanature.com/tours/botani...

Did u know? Often,b'fly & moth adults are generalised feeders,imbibing nectar from a wide range of flowers. It's their caterpillars who have a more specific diet. So,if you want to support the adults,find out what the teenagers eat & plant what they need.Brimstone larvae eat Alder Buckthorn. 🌿🌱🇬🇧🌱🌍🐛🦋

This female Brimstone was laying eggs on the Buckthorn hedge I planted in my Sheffield garden. Plant it and they will come! 🦋

My garden Apple tree has burst into flower yesterday. It's brief, but the pollinators absolutely go mad for it each year. 🐝

Postcard from the field from tour leader @dunnjons.bsky.social in Gargano this week with our #OrchidsOfTheGargano tour: Nearly 30 taxa of orchid recorded today, and we're knocking on the door of 40 already. Of course, it's not all about numbers... 😉

24/4/26 #OrchidsOfCrete - A fantastic day was had today and we sailed past 55 #orchid species with a particularly rare one, the endemic Orchis prisca; a member of the Orchis spitzelii group. Look at the short spurs, a giveaway feature for identification @mariposanature.bsky.social

Postcard from the field from @thenewgalaxy.bsky.social, leading our #OrchidsOfCrete tour: We say it's not about numbers, but they *do* give our guests a good indication that our orchid tours are incomparable for finding and sharing the very best orchids each destination has to offer...

From a day of dizzying hybrid Ophrys bee #orchid combinations with my @mariposanature.bsky.social guests here in the Gargano, some light relief in the form of a couple of mild variations - a flavescent form of Ophrys apulica, and a peloric Ophrys bertolonii.

Postcard from the field, where Team Mariposa are firing on all cylinders on our #OrchidsOfCrete tour led by @thenewgalaxy.bsky.social: 40 taxa in one day is a stunning achievement, testament to Richard's deep knowledge of the island's orchids, and our group's sharp eyes and teamwork.

23/4/26 #OrchidsOfCrete - Live from the field! Today’s 6am club has proven particularly rewarding, as we have tracked down a Bee #Orchid (Ophrys apifera; great find by Acid John and both variants of Ophrys candica. Bee #Orchids can be quite elusive in the mediterranean @mariposanature.bsky.social

Tour update 🚨 Today saw one of our two Kent orchid days this coming May now fully booked. Places remain available to join @dunnjons.bsky.social & @thenewgalaxy.bsky.social for a day of colourful orchids, orchid lore, and a fine pub lunch on 31 May: www.mariposanature.com/tours/botani...

Postcard from the field from our superb orchid-hunter tour leader @thenewgalaxy.bsky.social: Yesterday saw the start of our #OrchidsOfCrete tour, and we're off to a flying start with some delicious Ophrys to savour from the very start. Watch this space - the coming days will be fabulous.

Garlic Mustard (Jack by the Hedge) in my Sheffield garden. Larval host plant of the Orange Tip butterfly. The patch is the lushest and most extensive it has ever been. Hopefully feeding a large crop of caterpillars! 🦋

A glorious morning on the streets of Nether Edge, Sheffield

I can't wait to co-lead this wonderful tour this summer with my dear friend Kate joining us - she's fabulous company, and will make a brilliant week of butterflies in some of Europe's most outstanding landscapes all the more enjoyable.

On the subject of tours I cannot wait to co-lead, I'm already looking forward immensely to Orchids of Sardinia next year... mariposanature.com/tours/botani... #orchids

Postcard from the field, from tour leaders Dave Fairhurst & Brian Small in southern France: Our A Spring in Provence tour is under way, and we've spent a wonderful day in the wetlands of the Camargue, with masses of birds on show. More birds, butterflies, wildflowers to follow in the coming days...

At this time of year, the Welsh Poppy's in my Sheffield based garden begin to flower. On cloudy days especially, the yellow glow feels almost luminous.

My steeply sloping and shaded front garden. Bluebell heaven during late April and early May each year. Around two weeks early this year!

Our orchid tours are friendly and collaborative events, with guides and guests alike finding amazing plants for the benefit and enjoyment of all. Today was certainly no exception, with some outrageous finds to our collective credit.

Our partners at ZERYNTHIA are calling on the Canary Island government to protect the endemic Pieris cheiranthi which is in the brink of extinction. They have our full support

It's peak Cowslip season in my Sheffield garden meadow at the moment. Around 400 flower spikes in just 10x10 metres of meadow. The bees love them! 🐝

That glorious green glow of Horse Chestnut trees in early April each year. This one is just round the corner from me.

First Small White butterfly of the year in my Sheffield garden. What a beautiful Bank Holiday Monday it was. ☀️

We're excited to announce Orchids of the Western Cape, a brand new tour in collaboration with our good friends at Birding Africa. Their orchid and butterfly specialists will be designing further new tours to operate with us in future - watch this space! mariposanature.com/tours/botani...

One of my favourite flowers of Spring. This Snake's Head Fritillary in the wettest part of my Sheffield garden meadow.

A tale of two Anacamptis. While the green-wings have been feeble, the butterflies have been soaring on Rhodes this past fortnight. Green-winged Orchid are frankly a bit underwhelming this year, but Pink Butterfly Orchid and its variations have been spectacular. #OrchidsOfRhodes