My parents left with the canicule. Extraordinary - they were here for ten days, exactly coinciding with the most intense heatwave in Switzerland since records began.
This morning I went to my cardinal site to see if they had returned (the cardinals, not my parents). They hadn't, but the trip was far from a waste of time. White admirals were gliding up and down the road and in a nearby quarry purple emperors were taking minerals from the lime. The first I found was a bit tatty and was scuttling around restlessly:
The next was in fine condition, and much more amenable too:
We enjoyed each other's company:
I passed a couple of hours in that region, finding no cardinals at all, and so decided to head east along the valley to play catch-up on all the things I've missed out on in the last couple of weeks. One of these was rock grayling and I spent a little time trying to get good photos of that:
This is not a brilliant picture but note the joyous wood white in the background:
In this shot it is the rock grayling that is jumping for joy:
These are the taxon Lafranchis calls
genava, which others subsume under the name
hermione.
Great sooty satyrs are now out ...
... as are the high summer blues, like these Escher's blue, Meleager's blue and Damon blue:
Apollos are single-brooded but fly from spring to autumn:
I was almost too late for the ilex hairstreaks, seeing just two of them, both in poor condition. This one was taking minerals:
They hadn't begun last time I visited this site, on 7th June. In contrast, the southern white admirals were there then and now:
This is the first shot of (eastern) Bath white I've managed to get all year:
This beautiful wood white had something wrong with it, I think, as it continually basked with its wings open. I fear it had been hit by a cyclist or car:
Altogether I saw over 50 species today, without any real effort. These were:
Scarce swallowtail, swallowtail, Apollo, Large white, small white, southern small white, green-veined white, eastern Bath white, wood white, black-veined white, clouded yellow, Berger's clouded yellow, brimstone, ilex hairstreak, northern brown argus, common blue, Eros blue, Provençal short-tailed blue, idas blue, holly blue, little blue, chalkhill blue, Escher's blue, Meleager's blue, Damon blue, chequered blue, silver-washed fritillary, Queen of Spain fritilary, heath fritillary, Provençal fritillary, knapweed fritillary, marbled fritillary, high brown fritillary, large tortoiseshell, small tortoiseshell, red admiral, painted lady, white admiral, southern white admiral, purple emperor, grayling, rock grayling, great sooty satyr, meadow brown, small heath, large skipper, small skipper, Essex skipper, grizzled skipper, large grizzled skipper, dingy skipper, marbled skipper, mallow skipper.
Summer is here!
Guy