Padfield

[Goldie M]

Your so lucky Guy to see all these species, you can keep the Snakes though I always love your shots of Minnie. Goldie

[Padfield]

Thanks, Goldie. Here's a shot of Minnie this morning:



Back to winter, it seems!

Guy

[Goldie M]

I thought it was cold here UGH! The weather doesn't seem to bother Minnie though Goldie

[Padfield]

That was yesterday - today was another day ...

Here are two pictures from our early morning walkies:





By the afternoon, this white admiral cat was up and about. I first saw him on still folded leaves but by the time I passed again he had retreated to a fork on the twig:





Gautama is still not properly among the leaves but I think he has been nibbling:



A few more photos from the afternoon:


(violet frit)


(female brimstone)


(holly blue)




(orange tip on a flowery bank in Huémoz, my village)

Guy

[David M]

If that second image is what you wake up to, Guy, then I am truly envious.

[Padfield]

Those are the Dents du Midi, David. They dominate the region, even though they are actually in a different canton (Valais), standing on the other side of the Rhône from where I live (Vaud). In a sense, the picture shows what I wake up to every morning, but like all landscapes it is different every day.

I have to say, I find my heart torn. Born and bred a coastal East Anglian, I love lingering sunsets, the scent of salt on the air and miles and miles of open shingle. But I'm Swiss now and have lived half my life in the Alps, my horizon framed by the Dents du Midi, Dents de Morcles, Dent Favre and the Grand Muvéran. When I'm here I miss the sea; when I'm there I miss the mountains ... But an orange tip is an orange tip, wherever you see it.

Guy

[Padfield]

I wasn't able to get to the woods until the evening today. When I did, I found Gautama's leaves were even more nibbled but there was no sign of the man himself:



Fortunately, it didn't take long to relocate him some 60cm away on a similar set of unfurling leaves:





SO - he's officially survived the winter. I first spotted him as a second instar caterpillar on 17th August last year. Since first instar typically lasts a couple of weeks, that puts his date of hatching to the first few days of August 2015 at the latest - meaning he is probably over 8½ months old. Unfortunately, the remaining two months of his caterpillar life are potentially the most dangerous, with all the summer migrant birds - most of which are insectivorous - now here and busily planning hungry families.

Elsewhere in the woods, the white admiral caterpillars were being generally less daring. So far, I have only seen one leave his winter sleeping bag. He has been nibbling on still furled leaves but hasn't really started feeding up. This is all the damage he's done so far:



And here he is, with my fingers in the picture to give an idea of the size - he's still an absolutely tiny creature:



Others were on leafier twigs but hadn't ventured out - there were no feeding signs at all. Here is one ...





... and here another:



It was too late for most butterflies. The only thing I saw flying was this violet fritillary, taking in the last of the sun:



Guy

[Goldie M]

Love the Orange Tip shots Guy, those mountain scenes remind me of the Rockies, I lived in Calgary for two years which i think I've mentioned, I missed the seasons when I was there, it was too cold in winter, which seemed to last forever, and the Summers were too hot, we'd to move to the basement to keep cool. Goldie

[Padfield]

Yes, I remember you used to live in Calgary, Goldie. I can't remember if you photographed any butterflies while you were there ...

I had a little free time this afternoon so dropped down to a lower, but still local, site, where I hoped to see short-tailed blues. In particular, I wanted to look at the orange lunules, after Chris's pictures showing such reduced orange in the spring brood. I have had my eyes open up here in the mountains over the last few days but none have flown.

It is still early, but a single male short-tailed blue was working its way round and round the meadow, sometimes stopping long enough for shots:



He is very fresh - perhaps the first on the wing. The dent in the trailing edge of the forewing made it easy to confirm that every one I saw was the same individual, going round and round.



Undersides were harder to get because he was low in vegetation and mostly unwilling to close his wings. But I got one or two opportunities at least to record the extent of orange:





Here is a closer detail from that first shot:



Just like Chris's butterflies - hardly any orange.

So it seems there is a very big difference between the broods.

This is a summer brood male from the same site:



Guy

[Chris Jackson]

Nice clear shots of the Short-tailed Blue, Guy.
Indeed, the extent of the orange on the hind wing of your Spring brood male is the same as on the male individuals I saw in the Drôme départment in France just last week.
Cheers, Chris

[Padfield]

Yes - and it was specifically to compare the spring brood here with yours, Chris, that I went down.

Just the usual woodland walk today. Gautama's new leaves are unfurling:



The featureless background is not deliberate - I just couldn't get close enough, given his new position, to get any background detail in.

Guy

[Wurzel]

Beautiful shots of the STB Guy I noticed that the spring one also has much less well marked spotting - is that just normal variation or a seasonal difference?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Padfield]

Beautiful shots of the STB Guy I noticed that the spring one also has much less well marked spotting - is that just normal variation or a seasonal difference?

Thanks Wurzel. I don't know the answer to your question. I got my first short-tailed blue since childhood in 2008, when they seemed to expand their range in Switzerland. Since then I've seen predominantly summer brood individuals, with a just a few spring brooders thrown in. If, as I hope, they are now resident on my local patch I might be able to make more consistent observations. You're right - this individual is extremely weakly marked altogether.

Guy

[Padfield]

I don't know what the butterflies must be thinking now - still less the birds:




(that's the view of les Dents du Midi, that David M liked so much ...)

The snow began yesterday morning. A driver kindly stopped me this morning to show me a couple of photos he had taken yesterday of me setting off from the village with Minnie in the backpack:



I'm often aware of drivers slowing down and taking pictures behind me. It's nice to see the shots for once!

Guy

[Goldie M]

Your weather is worse than our's at present Guy, although there is some Snow on the Moor's, lovely shots though especially of Minnie
I never saw a Butterfly in Canada Guy, I tried my best to make a small garden but the neighbours thought I was mad In their gardens small bushy ever greens was the only thing they grew. I soon learned my lesson, too hot in the Summer, no spring with Daffodils, by the time the Winter left us it was May nearly, but for every now and again when the Chinook wind arrived it stayed well below freezing all the time. much like where you are at present Goldie

[David M]

Incredible!

Incidentally, Guy (and I may have asked you this before so apologies if I have), what is the latest date you've had lying snow at your altitude?

[Padfield]

The latest heavy, settling snow I remember was 31st May to 1st June 2006, David. I've probably posted these pictures before, as you have probably asked the question before, but who cares? They are from 31st May - and the dog is Minnie's predecessor - and my Avatar - Asha.





By the morning of 2nd June it was already clearing ...



... and by the afternoon the geranium arguses (Aricia eumedon) were flying in the same garden:



Guy

[David M]

Happy memories!

And if I remember correctly, 2006 turned into a glorious summer (at least here in the UK).

I'd be happy to trade such unseasonal conditions were they to guarantee better things ahead, but of course, right now that's something we can't predict.

All I know is that persistent 9c temperatures and cloudy, windy skies are preventing spring butterflies from breeding, and that will have repercussions later on!

Here's hoping that both your and our skies will soon clear and that May will be kind to us all.

[essexbuzzard]

I'm willing to bet Guy's skies clear before ours,David! In CH, they seem to get something we used to hear about called sunshine between the rain and snow! Certainly I would swap places with Guy right now!

[Pauline]

Your snow scenes are beautiful Guy (especially when they include Minnie ) but it must be hard for the birds and other wildlife.