Padfield

[Padfield]

I feel I know that spot myself, Guy, having seen it in your diary so many times!

Well, if you ever find yourself in Switzerland at one or the other end of the season, David, I could take you there and you could see it for yourself.

Guy

[Pete Eeles]

I was going to work all day today but it was so sunny I felt it would be irresponsible

I feel like that most days

Cheers,

- Pete

[Cotswold Cockney]

I was going to work all day today but it was so sunny I felt it would be irresponsible

I feel like that most days

Cheers,

- Pete

I've felt like that for most of my life! ... The call of the wild places is always there.

[David M]

I feel I know that spot myself, Guy, having seen it in your diary so many times!

Well, if you ever find yourself in Switzerland at one or the other end of the season, David, I could take you there and you could see it for yourself.

Guy

I'd like to believe that will happen one day, Guy. Few things would give me greater pleasure.

[Padfield]

I suspected I wasn't the only one who can't resist the call of the wild when stuck inside on a lovely day.

I look forward to seeing you down (or up) here in the not-too-distant future, David!

It hasn't really been mild here in the last week, but it has been sunny. A cold, clear night last nigt gave way to a very cold, clear morning, boding well for the chances of some more December butterflies. I don't dare cycle down the hill any more, for fear of hitting black ice, so Minnie and I caught the bus at about 10h00 and made our leisurely way to the Rhône Valley hotspots, arriving at the first at about midday. It seemed improbable there would be any butterflies, despite the sun, because it was just so cold - just 2 degrees at 13h00. I never took my jacket off and my fingers never really warmed up. Despite this, we spotted a clouded yellow soon after arriving and saw about half a dozen in total during the walk.



That didn't surprise me too much, as there were plenty of fresh clouded yellows around last week and this species does not hibernate as an adult. It did surprise me to find a fresh Queen of Spain though, as these did not put in an appearance last week and I thought they must be over. Here it is:



A beautiful and quite obliging specimen. I couldn't get any real 'Padfield' context shots, but this picture gives an idea of the scene:


(the butterfly is at the bottom left of this picture)

Here's a lizard that found Minnie's carry-bag a useful spot to sunbathe:



It's amazing how many creatures can survive in very low temperatures if there's enough radiant heat.

I left at about 1.00pm, to try another spot a little further along the valley. I reached the new site shortly after 2.00pm (half an hour running to the train, then half an hour's journey), only to find it already in the shade of the mountains. This shot is about 100m after the beginning of our walk, where the last sun gave way to shadow:



This shot, at the same altitude as the Queen of Spain picture, shows how cold the air is here - the spray from the waterfall is still frozen on the wire at half-past two in the afternoon:



And here's a picture of a particularly phallic outcrop, with the sun setting behind cresting trees:



SO, 12th December. Queen of Spain and clouded yellow still on the wing. Everything else, including the red admirals, seems to have gone to bed.

Guy

[bugboy]

Impressive to see so much butterfly activity in those temperatures! My last sighting was a Clouded yellow but that was way back on the 28th October now. I love the scenary shots as well, looks like a gorgeous part of the world you inhabit.

[David M]

Jeez, that radiant heat must be something to allow butterflies to remain active in air temperatures of 2c.

Over in these parts, it's 13c, but nothing will fly in the accompanying cloud and wind.

[Cotswold Cockney]

That what appears to be a south facing bank will have it's own favourable micro-climate.

When breeding a partial third brood of Apatura metis substituta back around 1980, I needed to find edible foodplant ( Salix ) for a few small larvae still feeding up into January. No chance surely. My potted foodplants had long since lost their leaves. I was wrong. Up on the nearby Painswick Beacon area three miles from where I live, and the wooded slopes below the Beacon, I was able to secure still fresh looking Salix caprea leaves in sheltered "hot spots" in favourable parts of the woods in January. Some of the large Salix there still had all their leaves in good condition. Those enabled me to get the larvae fed to sufficient size to enter hibernation when placing them on their leaves fixed to the otherwise bare potted plants.

On slightly higher nearby hills, there was a light snow covering clearly defined along their tops.

[trevor]

Truly amazing, it is after all December. That Queen of Spain looks very fresh, beautiful !.
As for the Clouded Yellow, I photographed two here in Sussex on Nov. 2nd, only yards from
the sea !.
I also enjoy your scenic images, spectacular !.

[Padfield]

Thank you for your comments, Buggy, David, CC and Trevor. Yes - the South-facing vineyards of the Rhône Valley do have their own, special microclimate - which is why they grow vines there, of course. It is also why the Romans settled Martigny, though at some stage the frost got up their togas and they left.

Today was a very busy end-of-term day and I certainly didn't expect to see any butterflies. Nevertheless, when I went home at lunchtime I spotted a Berger's clouded yellow about 100m from my house. I dashed in, got Minnie and the camera, and took a distant picture of it:



It hung around for a long time, but to get any closer I would have had to trample through a neighbour's flower bed. I think this is my first ever December Berger's and definitely my first at 1000m (for December)! Tomorrow is expected to be warmer. I will take a trip to the valley and see what the sun brings out.

Guy

[Wurzel]

Crikey! I haven't seen a butterfly since October so any butterfly for me would get a but a Berger's? You lucky Berger

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Padfield]

It shouldn't be, Wurzel, it shouldn't be ... There's a season for Berger's and it's not mid-December!!

This morning, a sea of cloud filled what I could see of the valley from my house. Minnie and I caught the bus down into the gloom. This was Aigle station at about 10h30:



But we knew that before we reached Martigny we would be basking in glorious sun. In fact, St. Maurice was the cut-off point. There, the cloud simply ended and gave way to a gorgeous summer's day. This is the valley east of Martigny:



On our return, the cloud was still there - still terminating at St. Maurice. When I got home I took these photos looking down on the valley. No - it's not a lake - it's just winter cloud, that we mountain dwellers are happy to escape most of the time!





Unsurprisingly, there were butterflies in the sunny parts of the valley. More precisely, I saw half a dozen Queens of Spain and as many, or maybe more, clouded yellows.


(clouded yellow)





That last was one of three I saw at David M's most familiar site he's never visited - this sunny bank:



19th December is my latest date so far for Queens. This year, the winter solstice falls on 22nd, meaning they were flying just three days off the shortest day of the year. In fact, I got there a little late and they were already extremely mobile, making it difficult to get shots. I might pop down again tomorrow morning for a 20th December Queen ...

Guy

[Jack Harrison]

This year, the winter solstice falls on 22nd

At 0448 UTC (GMT) to be precise. I always say a metaphorical "whoopee" at the moment of the solstice (or in this case, when I wake up on Tuesday).

Jack

[Padfield]

Postscript to last post:

I have loads of astronomy software, but one in particular is very useful. It is called 'Sky Guide', and it is useful because it gives notifications of important celestial events. So, while I was in the bath tonight, I heard it call from the other room. Guessing it was alerting me to an ISS pass, I leapt out of the bath and picked up the phone. I was right. It said, 'ISS peak in 5 minutes'.

Water everywhere, attach camera to tripod, pull on some clothes, dash outside ... just in time to see a truly brilliant pass-by.

I didn't have time to set anything up, so this awful picture was taken on the same settings I used earlier for butterflies - just point and shoot. Nevertheless, you can see how much brighter the ISS is than anything else in the sky, and I think I can just make out Tim Peake waving out of the window at me:



The space station is slightly elongated because it is moving. I did attempt some close-ups before that shot, as it zoomed by, but all they show is a bright line, so I zoomed back out and took that last shot.

Guy

EDIT - yes, I'll be greeting the solstice retrospectively too, Jack!

[Jack Harrison]

I was disappointed a couple of nights back. I waved to "Major Tim" - quite low in our skies in these northern latitudes - but he seemed to find that an excuse not wave back

For those who don't know how to see the space station and other phenomena:

http://www.heavens-above.com/

Jack

[Cotswold Cockney]

Since a very small boy, I've found the night skies fascinating.

During the late 70s and early 80s, I used to go along some nights with the local Moth enthusiasts recorders with their Mercury Vapour Lights. Up on the higher ground such as Edge Common and Painswick Beacon. When the nights were cloudless and clear there was little Moth activity. Just a few brave moths about. So, we'd look up at the skies during those quiet periods. One of the "Mothers" who had a much better understanding of the night skies than I, would point out all the moving space stuff up there. I had no idea there was so much stuff orbiting back then. Using my trusty Zeiss 10 x 50s, laying on my back, I was able to see this moving stuff a bit more clearly.

I suspect in the ensuing three decades there's a lot more stuff up there now.

[David M]

Great images, Guy. I particularly like the cloud that accumulated in the base of the valley. To be honest, on first viewing, I thought it was a lake!! You sure get to see a range of meteorological events that are quite rare here in the UK.

[Padfield]

I, too, have watched the sky since a small child, CC. In fact, I probably began butterflies and stargazing at the same time, when I was about 7, aided in both cases by the respective Ladybird Books.

I agree David - living in the mountains allows me to witness some wonderful meteorological phenomena.

Tomorrow I leave for the UK, so today was my last chance of 2015 for some Swiss butterflies. I left early and spent just the morning in the Valley, where, despite a chilly breeze, I soon spotted this Queen:





More followed, in the usual places:





Given the forecast, I am sure these will be flying over Christmas.

In a valley village, this optimistic snowman cut a sad figure:



Guy

[trevor]

We're having almost summer temperatures here, but you have Butterflies as well !.
If this keeps up your 2015 season is going to merge with 2016.
Can Queen of Spain Fritillaries be seen throughout the year in your part of the world ?,
assuming favourable weather.
Your lovely images are shortening my winter .

Trevor.

[Padfield]

Can Queen of Spain Fritillaries be seen throughout the year in your part of the world ?,
assuming favourable weather.

Yes - uniquely, so far as I know, in Europe. Chris or Roger might correct me, but I don't think they fly in winter even in the South of France. At this one spot in Helvetia, even on the shortest days of the year, they're up and about. The availibility of the foodplant in the vineyards might have something to do with it, as well as the aspect and local topography.

Thank you for your kind comment.

Guy