My decision to travel to Galicia was rather last minute as my mum was heading there to do the final 120km of the Camino de Santiago and I left it until 2 weeks before we were due to leave to tell her that I wished to join her. The Camino is essentially a Christian pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, where St James’ shrine is located and the route from the Pyrenees towards Santiagio winds through the Spanish countryside for several hundred kilometres. It is incredibly popular and attracts thousands of people annually. I thought it was a good opportunity to take my camera and see what I could find as June is  a very good time to see wildlife. Despite the number of visitors to the region, there was not a lot of information I could find regarding the plants and animals found there, so I decided just to wing it!

Initially when I arrived I was surprised by the landscape; not at all like that of southern Spain as it was surprisingly lush and reminded me of Ireland, except much warmer! Its close proximity to the Atlantic was largely the reason for this but thankfully it only rained on the final day and for the first four days it was sunny and warm; perfect for finding insects. On day 1 we walked through rolling hills and wooded lanes and I managed to find a few new species for me, including the Serin, Cirl Bunting and Iberian Marbled White. House Sparrows were seen in almost every stone building we walked by which was a lovely sight. Towards the end of the walk, after about 20km there was an area of flowery meadows which was alive with insects, with swarms of butterflies, bees, moths and flies all feeding avidly on the various wildflowers which were growing in profusion.

The site was great for butterflies in particular, with the Iberian Marbled White, Brown Argus, Clouded Yellow, Small White, Small Skipper and Dark Green Fritillary all in flight. In addition I saw a few new species, including the Mallow Skipper, Marsh Fritillary and Short-tailed Blue, which I saw egg-laying on Clover. Several nice day-flying moths were also around, along with some leaf beetles, although I’m not quite sure of the species! All in all it was a great way to start my trip.

The second part of the Camino led us up into the hills, where the landscape was reminiscent of parts of Donegal, which was rather odd to me. Once again the Iberian Marbled White was rather ubiquitous, along with Meadow Browns and the odd Small Heath. In addition there were several Marbled Fritillaries, which were great to see. These medium-sized butterflies are fast fliers and look rather like the familiar Dark Green Fritillary found at home. Their larvae feed on Bramble, which made sense as there was no shortage of it about! The path led us down from the hills and through some nice wooded margins, where I saw some White Admirals, gliding effortlessly. Other species seen that day included the Pearly Heath, Common Blue, Long-tailed Blue and Small Copper.

The route travelled on the remaining three days became increasingly less remote as we homed in on our destination, with busier roads and more buildings by the day. Still, every so often there would still be a patch of scrub or a flowery meadow which would be worth searching. I saw my first Wood White along this stretch, another species found in the UK and Ireland but prior to the trip had always managed to elude me! Long-tailed and Short-tailed Blues were seen in the scrubby areas, along with Large, Small and Essex Skippers, Pearly Heaths, Iberian Marbled Whites and Meadow Browns. I got some decent shots of the lovely Moss Carder Bee, which was seen shortly before I spotted the unusual Geranium Bronze butterfly, an invader from South Africa. Other species seen were the Brimstone, Clouded Yellow, Peacock, Beautiful Damoiselle, Silver-Washed Fritillary and Grayling.

As I approached the main cathedral in Santiago de Compostela I not only looked forward to finishing the arduous task that I had undertaken, but also reflected on what a good and rewarding trip it had been. Plenty of new species were seen and I hope this has shown that the wildlife in Galicia is just one of the many good things about doing the pilgrimage. Buen Camino!