Beautiful Röhn

For years the Röhn region in central Germany was on my wishing list for butterflies;  normally I visit the Eifel at this time of the year. Last year the amount of butterflies was disappointing low in the Eifel that I booked a hotel in the Röhn area for one week in May/June this year....I wanted more butterflies!
The first morning we visited a nature reserve nearby but we couldn't find roosting butterflies, as it was the first day I had good hope that the situation would change. 

During the week we visited a lot of nature areas in every corner of the Röhn but no meadows with fluttering butterflies. Sometimes one or two butterflies were flying around and that's it. One day we came back from an area and next to a small road a lot of common sainfoin was growing/flowering and finally I saw a lot of fluttering butterflies. The next morning we visited this small area next to the road again and found the first roosting butterfly: a green-underside blue!

Green-underside Blue

Wood White

On a sunny hillside we discovered a small area with a lot of flowers including common sainfoin again and three mornings I tried there to catch some blue species with open wings which was not easy due to the heavy wind. On Saturday, the day of our departure, a Chapman's Blue was very cooperative and did not fly away immediately. Although we counted 33 butterfly species during our stay, I only found 7 species/12 butterflies roosting, the absence of butterflies is frightening!

Chapman's Blue