.... Hope you can still get out clandestinely down there. I believe there are fines for those that don't have a "valid" reason to be outside .... Well they finally locked up my local park, David, which is in fact a "Parc National", but I've been able to continue studying life cy...

.... Hope you can still get out clandestinely down there. I believe there are fines for those that don't have a "valid" reason to be outside .... Well they finally locked up my local park, David, which is in fact a "Parc National", but I've been able to continue studying life cy...

Wurzel wrote: ↑Tue Mar 17, 2020 8:25 pm .... things a bit better by August Chris ... Wurzel

Now with a little hindsight, Wurzel, August is not all that conservative ?
Chris

Hi there,
The relative position of the two under hind-wing spots circled on this photo are indicative of Brown Argus. Chris

Hi Folks, Just before France went into lock-down at lunch time, I made a trip to my local Parc des Bruyères. This species is a lot easier to photograph when it is otherwise preoccupied as here: Female on the right : P1780782.JPG Female on the left : celtis32 mating pair Parc Bruyères 17Mars20 (11).J...

Hi Wurzel, My PH sighting is worrying early - global warming ? Let's hope this virus is cleared up before August, for your hols. I would have thought so. Hi Essex, Get out now butterflying while you can in the UK - unfortunately soon you'll be following Italy, Spain and now France. Hi David, I'm gla...

Today (11th of March) in the south of France, I had my first sighting of a Provence Hairstreak this year. At the best I would expect a first sighting at the very earliest on the 19th of March, so today's sighting really came as a surprise. Provence Hairstreak - at least 1 week early : ballus33 Col d...

.... Wow! 23 degrees! That must be unusual even at your latitude for February ? .............. Do I recognise that tree? Isn't that the one which your early Large Tortoiseshells seem to covet every year? Hi David, After a couple of days at 23°C the temperature dropped backed down to the norm (lo's ...

.... Must be great to see the Large Torts 8) :mrgreen: .... Wurzel Hi Wurzel, Now, mid March, Large Torts are commonplace and I must admit I am stopping taking photos of them this year because things are speeding up with spring around the corner. In the south of France the season is dynamic and you...

For the record, today in Marseilles (Friday 6th March) I saw my first male Orange Tip of the year. This is quite early. My sightings are usually from mid March at the very earliest. Two weeks ago temperatures rapidly shot up to 23°C but since have dropped back to the norm (lo of 6°C and high of 13 o...

My photo is an early one from March 17th in the south of France. Chris

Hi Wurzel, I'm no expert regarding Les Grands Causses. Keep your eyes open though, you're bound to see something out of the ordinary. An unexpected Cupido, Araschnia, Lycaena, ... Today in the south of France temperatures have reached around 23°C. It is very easy to see Large White, Large Tortoisesh...

Hi Wurzel and David, I was unsure of whether my first sighting of a Green Hairstreak two weeks back was announcing the start of its flight period down here. I think that today I can confirm that the GH flight period is well underway as I saw conservatively approximately 7 individuals flying / battli...

I've got a copy David, and the distribution maps seem pretty reliable. I think there has been some good filtering work done behind the data received. Its good to have pin-point sightings rather than a global red splodge on a minuscule map.
Chris

The latest from the south of France. This mild winter seems to have brought things forwards. Today's sighting of a Green Hairstreak on my local patch would seem to indicate that the season is running 2 weeks ahead compared with an "average" year. Here, perched on Mediterranean buckthorn : ...

glad your Mallows are popular with the local butterflies .... will you be able to bring them indoors if it gets wintry ? Hi Charles, here we are in mid February and in the south of France on the coast it has not really dropped below 6°C at night at all this winter so far. A cold spell must not be r...

Here (again) is a Papilio machaon gorganus caterpillar with its osmeterium exposed. Chris

Just to boost your moral up there in the UK with the bad weather you're having today, here are some February sightings from the south of France this afternoon. The 9th of February is a week or so early for this hibernator to put in an appearance, but there was no wind, it was sunny and the temperatu...

Back home in Leicester last June I found my first ever Small Tortoiseshell cats in a field of nettles. Cat 32 mm long: urticae17 caterpillar 32 mm long Piggy's Hollow Leicester 01Jun19 (1).JPG Larval shelter : urticae17 larval shelter caterpillar Piggy's Hollow Leicester 01Jun19 (1).JPG Context (Pig...

Nice shots above. Particularly from Wolfson, highly artistic - well done that man!!
I only have a token shot from last year, from 11th of August: Chris