Happy New Year to everyone! 🥂🎉 📸 Dalmatian Pelicans in winter, on Lake Kerkini in Greece 🇬🇷

One of the many orchids to enjoy on our tour in spring... greenwings.co/our-holidays... #RhodesOrchidOdyssey

Roll on spring and our next #RhodesOrchidOdyssey tour!

📢 NEW #orchid discovered on our 2025 #RhodesOrchidOdyssey tour! 🌟Ophrys chiosica was found by us this April. A species that was previously thought to be endemic to Chios Island. 🌟It’s the 2nd orchid we’ve added to the island list from our tours, Ophrys samia being the other one.

Christmas is all bright colours & bling & we can find ourselves drawn to the colourful in the butterfly world too. But lets not forget the subtle beauty of the less coloured species! Here is Russian Heath in Greece by Yealand K & White-bordered Grayling in Türkiye by Markus D. #AdventCalendar

Colossus Orchid (Ophrys colossaea). A more apt #orchid for my Rhodes #AdventCalendar would be hard to find! Join me on my Greek island home in April for orchids & a whole lot more! More info & booking on the @greenwingstours.bsky.social site: greenwings.co/our-holidays... #RhodesOrchidOdyssey

Pyramidal Orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis) for day 19 of my #orchid #AdventCalendar Always nice to get some bonus beasties with the botany! Crab Spider (Thomisus onustus) and Green Hairstreak (Callophrys rubi). #RhodesOrchidOdyssey

'A Fantastic Four for Friday' Common Glider (Neptis sappho) in Romania by Adrian Hoskins Striped Hawk-moth (Hyles livornica) in Bulgaria by Neil M Little Tiger Blues (Tarucus balkanicus) in Turkey by Ben G Blues puddling in Turkey by Ingo D Days 15 - 20 of our #adventcalendar

Cristina is our wonderful co-ordinator of the European Butterfly Monitoring Scheme. Under her guidance the scheme is expanding rapidly and more and more people are getting involved. Do join in and help us monitor butterflies

Good morning from Greece. Ophrys rhodia for day 15 of my #orchid #AdventCalendar #RhodesOrchidOdyssey

Good morning from Greece. Ophrys umbilicata as a belated offering for day 14 of my #orchid #AdventCalendar #RhodesOrchidOdyssey

For day 14 of our butterfly #AdventCalendar a Grecian Copper (Lycaena ottomana) by Anthony J, a guest on one of butterfly tours in Greece.

Day 13 of our #AdventCalendar A female Southern Swallowtail (Papilio alexanor) egg-laying. Taken on our very popular Italian Alps tour by guest Michael C this year. Every butterfly tour we run = a donation to support the valuable work of @europebutterfly.bsky.social @ukbutterflies.bsky.social

Milky Orchid (Neotinea lactea) is my #orchid for day 13 Already in bloom in some parts of the mainland. And other species are out in Crete too. The season has started. #AdventCalendar

For day 12 of my #orchid #AdventCalendar I'm going with this nice red-flowered variety of Violet Limodore or Violet Bird's-nest Orchid (Limodorum abortivum var. rubrum). #RhodesOrchidOdyssey

For today (& yesterday that we missed) here's some mud-puddling Black-veined Whites on our Croatia tour by Mike L & a Cardinal Fritillary flight sequence in Serbia by Gillian E. 2 more 2025 tours which generated funds for us to donate to @europebutterfly.bsky.social #AdventCalendar

Day 10 of my #orchid #AdventCalendar Anacamptis collina, the Fan-lipped Orchid. Last shot features a hunting Heldreich's Dwarf Mantis (Ameles heldreichi). #RhodesOrchidOdyssey

For day 10 of our #AdventCalendar we're in the beautiful Norfolk Broads, UK, with the endemic race of Swallowtail (Papilio machaon ssp. britannicus). Photo by Anna G, a guest on our tour with @patrickbarkham.bsky.social All our butterfly tours include a donation to @europebutterfly.bsky.social

Cheers! from Corfu 🍷 Day 9 #AdventCalendar Two-tailed Pasha (Charaxes jasius) by guest Allan F on our joint @butterflycorfu.bsky.social tour. They are partial to a drop of wine, fermenting fruit too. As well as glasses, another tour that also raised funds for @europebutterfly.bsky.social

A memorable moment from our longest running orchid tour. Standby for more #orchid news coming soon...

How about this to brighten up your Monday? A 'flock' of Rajah Brookes' Birdwings (Trogonoptera brookiana). They were photographed on our Malay Peninsula tour this year by leader Adrian Hoskins. This tour also helped us raise funds to donate to @europebutterfly.bsky.social #AdventCalendar

This is another fun element of our orchid tour; we always find various hybrids and new discoveries are sometimes made too, which also adds a scientific value to what we and our guests are doing.

Always popular on our #orchid tour and even though we've been showing it to people for over 10 years now we experience the same excitement for this & all the other plants we see 🪻😊

A female False Apollo (Archon apollinus) for our #AdventCalendar post today. Taken by guest Sheila A.W on our unique spring tour in northern Greece. Another from the 20+ tours from which a donation was made to @europebutterfly.bsky.social @ukbutterflies.bsky.social @sbbtrust.bsky.social

"Wowsers!" is what I imagine Graham Goodfellow said when he found this beauty in West Sutherland this summer! This is the hybrid between Frog Orchid and Heath-spotted Orchid, Dactylorhiza x conigera - just the 6th record for B&I and a worthy Day 7 for my botanical #adventcalendar #wildflowerhour

We finished our very successful partner meeting with a celebration of Butterfly Conservation Europe’s 21st Birthday. @martinswarren.bsky.social gave a great review of the many achievements over the years and we made a toast. All the presentations are on our website www.bc-europe.eu/webpage.php?...

For day 6 of our #AdventCalendar we're sharing this Orange-banded Pine Moth (Milionia basalis). It was taken on one of our tours in India by Greenwings guest Allan. Another tour that helped us raise funds for our friends at @europebutterfly.bsky.social #MothsMatter #TeamMoth

One which we always see & share with our guests on our 'Orchid Odyssey' tour...

Day 5 of our #AdventCalendar Christmas is coming so here is something festive for Friday - a glittering & frankly gorgeous Imperial Haistreak (Arcas imperialis) by guest Jim A in Peru. One of 600 species seen by our group there. And another tour which raised money for @europebutterfly.bsky.social

Day 5 of my #orchid #AdventCalendar Here is a couple of pics of Giant Orchid (Himantoglossum robertianum). #OrchidsOfRhodes

Today we offer a Tamil Lacewing (Cethosia mahratta) from Goa, India. It was photographed by Greenwings guest John C, during our unique butterfly tour there. Another tour that has enabled us to donate funds to support the work of @europebutterfly.bsky.social #AdventCalendar

Good morning from Greece! For day 4 of my #orchid #AdventCalendar we have: Ophrys iricolor / Ophrys fusca subsp. iricolor Fairly easily recognised by the iridescent colouring of the speculum, but the most definitive ID feature is the red found under the lip. #OrchidsOfRhodes

For our #AdventCalendar today we're back in Ghana, but this time with a moth & a spectacular one at that! The Cats-eye Emperor Moth (Aurivillius fuscus), photographed by tour leader Adrian Hoskins. Every butterfly (and moth) tour we run generates a donation to @europebutterfly.bsky.social

One of the many highlights of our perennially popular orchid tour on the island...

Our ninth partner meeting starts today in the German town of Laufen. We will be discussing how to use butterflies as indicators of environmental change and help improve EU policies to reverse the decline of pollinators. We aim to provide the science to inform the best possible policies

For today's #AdventCalendar to celebrate the 20+ tours that have helped us generate funds for our friends at @europebutterfly.bsky.social here is a Western Red Charaxes (Charaxes cynthia) on one of our Ghana butterfly tours.

Good evening, good week, & good month! I think I'll do an advent calendar, featuring local orchids. I'll start with this Ophrys tenthredinifera, taken during the @greenwingstours.bsky.social orchid tour. #OrchidsOfRhodes #RhodesOrchidOdyssey

Thanks so much for your support. We are very grateful to all your guests. Butterflies and moths of Europe will get some much needed help

Following on from our last post about donating to @europebutterfly.bsky.social we're going to share some images from the tours where those funds have been generated from. Beginning with this, a gorgeous Bhutan Glory (Bhutanitis lidderdali) in Bhutan, by guest Allan F. #AdventCalendar

Thanks so much for your support. We are very grateful to all your guests. Butterflies and moths of Europe will get some much needed help.

📢 We’re delighted to be making our annual donation to @europebutterfly.bsky.social this month, raised from the proceeds of over 20 worldwide tours that we've operated since last August. When you travel with us, you are making a positive contribution towards the conservation of butterflies & moths.

More #orchids from our ongoing tour in South Africa. A delicious Disa racemosa & a dashing Disa multifida! #OrchidsOfSouthAfrica #OrchidTour #BotanicalTour #Greenwings

Orchis anatolica sharing space with Muscaris & Ornithogalums. Taken during one of the @Greenwings #orchid tours. #RhodesOrchidOdyssey #OrchidsOfRhodes #BotanicalTour

Some sublime spider orchids seen yesterday on our tour in South Africa! Holothrix burmanniana & Holothrix etheliae. #OrchidTour #OrchidsOfSouthAfrica #BotanyTour

The EU has published rules for the Pollinator Monitoring Scheme. Butterflies, moths, bees and hoverflies will all be monitored by every Member State. Target to reverse decline in Pollinators by 2030 and increase pops. A big step in conserving biodiversity environment.ec.europa.eu/news/better-...

'Bird vs Birdwing' White-bellied Sea Eagle & Southern Birdwing. A pair of super sightings sent back to us from our group in Goa, India.

Good morning from South Africa! A couple of pics just sent back from our group on their #orchid tour at the moment. Disa purpurascens and a lovely Puff Adder (Bitis arietans), which made an appearance on one of the orchid finding walks. #OrchidTour #OrchidsOfSouthAfrica

📢Good morning & good week! We have a new tour to tell you about! 🇬🇷Come to Crete with us next autumn, for a botanical blast of bulbs! Crocuses, Colchicums, Sternbergias, Biarum, Narcissi, and many more! 🦋There will be some great birds, butterflies & other wildlife to see too!

They are such drama queens! This year, I've enjoyed taking pictures of #moths playing dead. They differ from the more traditional depictions of moths. I was most surprised by the Poplar Hawk-moth because I didn't think he had a flair for the dramatic. #teammoth #dramaqueenmoth #macromonday

Meanwhile, in South Africa... Our guide just sent back this orchid pic (Disa cornuta) from one of his pre-tour site checks. Our #orchid tour there starts tomorrow so watch this space for more orchid news! #OrchidsOfSouthAfrica #OrchidTours