Tour update 🚨 The early bird gets the worm! Our Early Bird deal* on 2027 tours is proving popular - next year's tours are filling fast: A Spring in Provence is now fully booked. Spaces remain on other tours: www.mariposanature.com/calendar *£150 off if booked before 1 Dec 2026.

An outstanding trip and another “must do” destination for all you out there. Thank you Team Mariposa for all the hard recce work which enabled us to find some proper rarities and more besides. 💜🤩👻 #frenchalpineflora #alpineorchids

Postcard from the field, from tour co-leader @dunnjons.bsky.social in France: That's a wrap on this year's Summer Orchids of the French Alps tour. We've seen some fabulous orchids, including the mythical Ghost Orchid, and many beautiful alpine wildflowers besides. We'll be back next year!

Today was Blue Monday, in the very best of ways, with seven species of gentian seen in flower here in the French Alps with the @mariposanature.bsky.social tour I'm co-leading with @thenewgalaxy.bsky.social.

3/8/26 #France - Live from the field at nearly 3000m we find one of the most special #alpine wildflowers - Black Genepi (Artemisia genepi). Used as a flavouring, especially in spirits and ice creams it is a sought-after herb. Seen leading for @mariposanature.bsky.social

Well, here I am with @mariposanature.bsky.social Summer Orchids of the French Alps, and what do I see? 🎶🐸🐸🎶 Bom… Bom Bom. A Frog Chorus all standing together (Dachtylorhiza Viridis) #orchidparadise #alpineflora

Good morning and welcome to a new week! Our featured tour this week is Orchids of Sicily. Led by Sicilian native and naturalist legend Andrea Corso, guests will be in for a feast of outstanding orchids, great food, and local culture. www.mariposanature.com/tours/botani...

Thank you all for sharing your lovely photos, it’s wonderful to see your #wildflowerhour finds despite the prolonged drought! Will they still be in flower next week? Let’s meet again next Sunday to find out and let’s hope it rains soon!!!!

Stevie P@stevieparsons.bsky.social · 3d ago

Still quite a lot in flower #ByTheSea this week on Chesil Beach in Dorset. See ALT text. #WildflowerHour @wildflowerhour.bsky.social

If there's more fun to be had than wandering around a mountaintop with friends looking for alpine wildflowers, I'd very much like to know about it. Today was another enjoyable day with the @mariposanature.bsky.social group I'm co-leading with my good pal @thenewgalaxy.bsky.social.

2/8/26 #France - Halfway through our Summer #Orchids of the #Alps tour and it has been a fine day botanising at altitude; many fine finds including Dactylorhiza viridis, Gentiana verna, Saxifraga oppositifolia and Soldanella alpina. Leading with @dunnjons.bsky.social

Sometimes the butterfly gods smile down on you... A bilateral gynandromorph Common Blue at Grafton Wood, Worcs 1/8/26. @westmbms-99.bsky.social @worcswt.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social @ukbutterflies.bsky.social

Butterfly bonus today in the French Alps at 2,700masl - some fine, fresh Silky Ringlet.

Postcard from the field from our Summer Orchids of the French Alps tour today: We spent much of the day at over 2,600masl, with some lovely, characteristic orchids of that elevation to enjoy. Frog Orchid were commonplace, while Alpine Marsh Orchid were scarcer, but also much enjoyed.

It's only taken 35 years of visiting the French Alps and Pyrenees to finally get settled views of a Peak White. A late highlight yesterday afternoon here in the Alps, all my previous sightings of this (in)famously mobile species have been butterflies zipping past at great speed.

Postcard from the field, from tour co-leader @dunnjons.bsky.social: Our Summer Orchids of the French Alps tour is finding the alpine specialities - tiny and subtle Chamorchis alpina, and some more vibrant surprises too, like this hybrid Gymnadenia corneliana x G. rhellicani.

Another day, another Ghost Orchid…

Whose Friday could do with a cheerful start? A small selection of the jewels of the Gargano Peninsula, the Ophrys bee orchids, we've encountered in the past couple of years on our Orchids of the Gargano Peninsula tour. #bloomscrolling #orchids www.mariposanature.com/tours/botani...

Unlike some companies who are apparently happy to 'wing it', entrusting their guests to third party leaders they've never met in person for tours they've never personally led or sense-checked, we only use leaders we know we can trust, who do their groundwork. And it shows. #FYB

Dr Richard Bate@thenewgalaxy.bsky.social · last wk.

28/7/26 #France - Ghost #Orchid (Epipogium aphyllum) and a trio of Vanilla #Orchids (Gymnadenia austriaca syn. Nigritella austriaca) resplendent in the French Alps. One of the most important pre-tour recces I have ever carried out, due to the heatwaves throughout the year @mariposanature.bsky.social

Postcard from the field from the French Alps: The weather here in France may be warm, but the orchids are red-hot - we've seen our first Ghost Orchid of the week today, a mythical species for so many of us. Big smiles, handshakes, hugs... an outpouring of relief and happiness.

Jon Dunn@dunnjons.bsky.social · 6d ago

Well, hello you. First full day of the @mariposanature.bsky.social Summer Orchids of the French Alps tour, and we saw our first three Ghost Orchid, including this rather fine example. Massive credit to my co-leader, @thenewgalaxy.bsky.social for all his hard pre-tour work in the field.

We do like to be beside the seaside. Sure, the plants are fabulous, but ice-cream... that always has our vote. Looking forward to seeing your #ByTheSea finds for this week's @wildflowerhour.bsky.social.

wildflowerhour@wildflowerhour.bsky.social · last wk.

What can you find blooming along the coast? That’s the challenge this week for #WildflowerHour! Share your pics this Sunday 8-9pm using the hashtag #ByTheSea! Happy flower hunting! 🌿🌸🌊

29/7/26 #France - Our First Summer #Orchids of the French Alps tour has kicked off and we have already bagged our first rarity, this fantastic #helleborine Epipactis albensis (syn. Epipactis fibri) near the banks of the Rhône @mariposanature.bsky.social

Our portfolio of butterfly tours continues to expand, all of them generating donations to support the vital, science-led work of @europebutterfly.bsky.social. Watch this space for imminent announcements of new tours to see some of Europe's rarest butterflies. www.mariposanature.com/about/news/o...

Of course we're going to tell you that our featured Tour of the Week, Orchids of the Gargano Peninsula, is a special one. It really is. But you needn't take our word for it. You can read guest testimonials for the tour on our website, and trip reports too: www.mariposanature.com/tours/botani...

The mountains of the Hohe Tauern abounded with other wildlife besides butterflies - birds and, in particular, wildflowers were daily highlights for our @mariposanature.bsky.social guests throughout the past week.

If you like it you shoulda put a ringlet on it... We're home after our successful first Butterflies of the Hohe Tauern - Austria's Mountain Heartland tour. Over 90 species recorded, 15 of those being Erebia ringlets. The 2027 edition is long ago fully booked. 2028 dates to follow... #butterflies

Good morning and welcome to a new week! Our featured tour this week is Orchids of the Gargano Peninsula. Running next April, you can join Italian naturalist legend Andrea Corso for a week of the very best orchids Italy's natural rock garden has to offer: www.mariposanature.com/tours/botani...

Huge thanks to everyone that took part in #wildflowerhour tonight and helped us to celebrate our fabulous #WetlandPlants!

John Ashburner@johnashburner.bsky.social · last wk.

Slightly late, but here are some #WetlandPlants from he wetter parts of Eyecott Hill, which is run by @cumbriawildlife.bsky.social #WildFlowerHour

Postcard from the field from tour leader @dunnjons.bsky.social, wrapping up the final day of our exclusive Austrian alpine butterfly tour: Today's been a wonderful finale to a resoundingly successful inaugural butterfly tour in this lovely country. We can't wait to return next year.

Jon Dunn@dunnjons.bsky.social · last wk.

Final full day of the Butterflies of the Hohe Tauern tour I'm co-leading for @mariposanature.bsky.social, and while I could post an 'obscure rarity', let's simply share this lovely pair of Dryad. Today was dripping with Dryad, bringing much joy to our group.

And sure enough, there were more Mountain Fritillary to be seen too up there in the heights yesterday. These ones making more Mountain Fritillary...

Jon Dunn@dunnjons.bsky.social · 2w ago

Another day, another mountain... Morning coffee being drunk now and looking out of the window, sizing up another day in the field with our @mariposanature.bsky.social group. There will be Mountain Fritillary, certainly. And more besides.

A fair personal shift put in today - 16 kilometres walked, almost 1,000 metres of cumulative elevation gain. And here are the two personal highlights - self-found Silky Ringlet and, most thrillingly, Swiss Brassy Ringlet. Delighted to share both with our @mariposanature.bsky.social guests.