This morning in the Parc de la Brague I saw my first Green Hairstreaks (#6) of the year. There were 3 or 4 of them, and this one was quite happy to let me approach it :) . IMG_1075.JPG IMG_1082.JPG I also saw many Brimstones and Cleopatras, one Wall Brown and a few unidentified Blues, but no decent ...

This morning in the Parc de la Brague there were several Cleopatras (#4) and more than several Brimstones (#5). I only managed to take photos of one of them, which I think is a female Brimstone, trying to hide behind a leaf. IMG_1037.JPG I also saw what were probably a Red Admiral and a Painted Lady...

Hello Chris, I think your crocus is Crocus versicolor . There are a lot of them in my area at present, as well as Barlia robertiana , Hepatica nobilis , Anemone hortensis and Globularia alypum . You are seeing many more species of butterflies than I am. My count as of today is 3 :( :mrgreen: . -- Ch...

Is this 'slow progress' normal for your part of the world, Colin? David, I think that it's more or less normal based on the last four or five years. And yes, we have had a particularly mild winter so far. This morning I saw two Wall Browns at the same place as yesterday. I had expected to see other...

Things are progressing very slowly in my area. In the last few days I saw a few Painted Ladies, mostly in fast flight, and that's all. Today I saw my first Wall Brown (#3) of the year, but no other butterflies .
But there are lots of Anemone hortensis .
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Colin

After rain all day yesterday (and quite a lot of snow in the mountains) it was sunny :) with a few clouds this morning. Along the Piste de Darbousson I encountered my second butterfly of the year, a solitary Painted Lady. I was a bit surprised, as in previous years I've had to wait until the end of ...

This morning I saw and photographed my first butterfly of the year, a slightly damaged solitary Red Admiral. Last year I had to wait until the beginning of March before my first sighting, a Cleopatra. But the year before that I saw a Lang's Short-tailed Blue on the first day of the year. It was cold...

Hello John,

I enjoyed the (virtual) ride up to the Col de la Bonette. It brought back many memories.

You do seem to drive quickly among all the motorbikes, though .
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Colin

Hello Tony,

I would say definitely desfontainii. It is just like the photo in Lafranchis "Papillons de France", the row of black marks being very different to aurina.

Cheers,
Colin

Well spotted David.
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Colin

Essex Bertie,
I looked this one up as well. But as my photo was of the underside (I think ), it's difficult (for me) to differentiate between the two.

Chris,
I don't think there is any doubt about yours being Araneus diadematus due to the cross on its back. I love your third photo.
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Colin

Thanks bugboy. I'll look at some photos of Araneus diadematus on the Internet to try to confirm your ID.
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Cheers,
Colin

I saw this spider this morning having problems with its web. This was in the Alpes-Maritimes at around 200 metres altitude. Can anyone identify it for me. Thanks in advance.
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Colin

I don't know where they all were, but the only butterfly I saw today was this delightful Small Copper.
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Colin

This morning around breakfast time it was raining quite heavily and I resigned myself to not going out :( . But a bit later on, miracolo! , there was a blue sky and sunshine :) , so I went for my walk towards Roche d'Ardy . There was one Small Copper in the company of some sort of fly, IMG_6461.JPG ...

David, Where we are there was very heavy rain for a relatively short time but there were no problems chez nous . But down-stream towards Biot and towards the coast there was exceptionally heavy rain for a longer time. At Biot two or three people were drowned, and some shops and camping sites had a m...

This morning I was delighted and somewhat surprised to see three or four Painted Ladies all together in the Parc de la Brague. Here are two of them, the first being in excellent condition, the second being a bit faded and missing part of one wing. IMG_6424.JPG IMG_6429.JPG At the same place there we...

Thank you very much Paul and Phil, that was very helpful.
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Colin

All photos were taken in the Alpes-Maritimes at an altitude of about 200 meters. The first was taken three weeks ago in the garden: IMG_6094.JPG This one was this afternoon in the garden. It had a nearly vertical tail, and had eaten great quantities of Pelargonium leaves: IMG_6330.JPG And this one w...

Thanks a lot Guy, that's great. There's a photo in Tristan Lafranchis's book "Papillons de France" but I didn't recognize it, as mine was much paler (a female?)
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Colin