Doings in the Pyrenees: Day 2

The Woolly Thistle Show continues, with Emperors, Red Admirals, White Admirals, Commas, Camberwell Beauty, Large Tortoiseshell and Pearly Heath all feeding merrily on damaged parts of Woolly Thistle heads (there are no Speckled Woods here, or they would be at it too, I'm sure).  One four occasions now I have found male and female iris feeding together -

Older adults are not doing it - old males are batting around old buildings. Here's a fresh male, it could be on dog pooh -

And here's the weevil which is doing most of the damage -

I think it's called Larinus turbinatus, a thistle feeder.

And here's the riverine woodland habitat -

I saw some sallow searching going on this morning but couldn't find any territories. I think they're going seriously far up slope, but they seem very sedate - decidedly dopey. Tomorrow I am venturing Up Top.

Also today, I had my most disgusting experience with iris (at least since 1982 when we found two feeding on a dead deer in a slurry pit). This is on a dead cow - the smell wasn't too awful but the flies were. I'll spare you the worst photos -