by Paul Wetton

Published by Wildlife-Films.com

Running time: 60 minutes (approx)

From the publisher: At the end of July 2019 Paul and Helen visited The Montes Universales in Eastern Spain with Greenwings Holidays in search of some Spanish Specialities and endemic butterfly species of the area. The 6 day trip took place in the last few days of July and into August to coincide with the emergence of Zapater's Ringlet, an endemic species of the area.

A Review by Peter Eeles, 10th November 2019

This DVD set is the latest offering from Paul Wetton, following on from his previous DVDs, namely Searching for Butterflies in Northern Spain, A Butterfly Year, Searching for Butterflies in South West Switzerland, Searching for Butterflies in Southern Bulgaria and Searching for Butterflies in Northern Spain. The DVD is of the usual high quality that we've come to expect from Paul, and a trailer can be found below.

This DVD contains footage from a trip, organised by Greenwings, to the Montes Universales - a mountain range in the east of Spain. As in previous DVDs, the footage is overlaid with interesting commentary, and there is a particular focus on identification - viewers will be fully armed if they are thinking of visiting the area. There is also mention of flight times, nectar sources, larval foodplants, habitat, distribution and behaviours, although these are sometimes easy to overlook since they so seamlessly interwoven with the footage.

Paul successfully filmed many of the local species, such as the Spanish Swallowtail, and hearing the words 'the High Brown Fritillary was, by far, the commonest species', at one of the sites mentioned, hammered home one of the joys of European trips, where rarities in Britain and Ireland (and even extinct species) are occasionally found in good numbers. The DVD is also interspersed with footage of sites visited, day-flying moths and other insect orders, including hoverflies, dragonflies, damselflies, wasps, grasshoppers and lizards.

All in all, this DVD oozes quality, providing excellent insights into the species found in the area, and is highly recommended.

How to Order

The DVD can be ordered direct from the author's website.