Comma No94 Spring 2016

Balkan Copper
(Peter Bygate)
Peperutka in Macedonia July 2015
Peter Bygate describes some of the highlights
of a fund-raising trip to Macedonia.
This was another trip organised by Mike Williams,
partly to raise funds for Safi Szabolcs conservation
project in the Orseg in Hungary, and also to further protection
for the endangered Danube Clouded Yellow
(Colias myrmidone) in Romania. A group of 18, including
Safi and our two lepidopterally-inclined and excellent
minibus drivers, both named Martin, assembled at
Skopje airport around midnight on 11th July with chilled
beers at the ready. Mike's itinerary would include
several outstanding locations offering the chance to see
a number of rare butterflies, or peperutka as they're
known locally. In fact, by the end of 6 full days in the
field a grand total of 133 species had been identified
with the 100th occurring at noon on the third day, not
to mention many moths, birds, and other wildlife – lists
are available should any reader wish to request them.
Starting at Skopje in the north, our journey would
take us in a broad clockwise sweep of the country,
taking in or passing the towns of Veles, Prilep, Bitola
and Ohrid in the south-west before the final day's transit
back north. Rather than produce a travelogue, this
report traces our sightings of a few selected species.
So, in no particular order, let's start with:
Eastern Greenish Black-tip (Euchloe penia)
Seen on our first full day in the field around 20km
south-west of Skopje, this lovely little butterfly was
being wind-assisted up largely west-facing precipitous
limestone cliffs at c1,300m, overlooking the dramatic
landscape towards Kozjak Lake way down in the
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the Comma