Butterflies of Karkna

 A Map butterfly

We are in Estonia, staying briefly in the delightful city of Tartu. We have done a lot of exploration of towns and cities on this wonderful holiday and today we are heading out into the country to hopefully see some butterflies. I have read that Karkna is a good area so that's where we are heading to.

We found a promising spot near to a ruined cloister with a meadow on one side and a grassy area and then woodland on the other.

Our first sighting was a Map butterfly (see above). Unusually, it has two forms, levana and prorsa that represent the spring and summer broods respectively. levana individuals are primarily orange in colour, giving them the appearance of a small fritillary, whereas prorsa individuals look more like a very small White Admiral. The name seems to have been suggested by the lines on the underwings.

There were also Short-tailed Blues (male and female), a first for me.

We explored the site of the former cloister but saw only Holly Blue, Brown Argus and Small White - just like home.

We did have a couple of more exciting sightings in the rough meadow beyond: first, a Lesser Marbled Fritillary (Brenthis ino) ...

 ... and then, largely hidden in the long grass, a Large Checkered Skipper (Heteropterus morpheus).

Conditions: warm and sunny.

Rating: four stars. Some great new sightings, but we probably have done more research to find a more reliable site or sites.