Padfield

[Padfield]

Thanks Wurzel. The big snow hasn't happened yet. In fact, it's been gloriously sunny recently, though I haven't been able to get out and enjoy it, what with exams, reports &c.

It's incredible how they can remain in suspended animation for such a long spell.

It is amazing indeed. Typically, purple emperors remain like this from early November to mid-April, though they may move nearer to an appropriate bud some time in March. Adult butterflies often spend even longer in hibernation, from July or August until the end of March.

Thanks Goldie. I spend a lot of time looking at dead leaves! Good eyes help, but patience is what you chiefly need in the caterpillar business ...

This morning was my first day off for ages. Up in the mountains it was brilliantly sunny but locally the valley was shrouded in freezing mist. I could see extensive frost too in many places but nevertheless cycled down to try my luck further up the valley. This was the view at Aigle station as I waited for the 10h21:



As the train approached Martigny, however, the mist cleared and I arrived to find my winter butterfly slopes basking in sunshine. It was still cold though - about -1°C at midday - and the Queens refused to come out and play. In fact, the only butterflies I saw were red admirals:



I checked out the clump of nettles where the female red admiral had been laying so obsessively two weeks ago and found the leaves covered in eggs:



There are four in this picture:



Some of the leaves appeared to be frost-bitten:



If the eggs hatch the caterpillars should be able to move to fresher leaves.

A few eggs were empty - by hatching or otherwise:



I didn't see any caterpillars but there were apparent signs of eating on some leaves. The caterpillars would have been very small and I didn't search very hard, so as not to endanger any of the eggs. Probably, all are doomed anyway, but where there's life, there's hope ...

I was kindly given a very tasteful Advent calendar this year, in the form of a crate of beer with a craft ale beneath each 'window'. On 1st December the treat was Stone's IPA:



Today's treat was a Brewdog Santa Paws:



Whoever came up with this idea, it is genius. I think I'll buy myself several Advent calendars next Christmas.

Guy

[Wurzel]

That is certainly the best advent calendar I've seen! I hope you're through the drudge of marking and report writing.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Padfield]

That is certainly the best advent calendar I've seen! I hope you're through the drudge of marking and report writing.

Me too, Wurzel! And yes, school all over now.

The sun has shone continually (by day) for the last few weeks up here in the mountains, and in the valley too when the low haze, fog or cloud hasn't obscured it. But temperatures have been far too low for butterflies to fly. This morning it was too cold to cycle down the hill with Minnie - she would have been a frozen icedog before I reached the bottom - so I put the bike on the bus (which still hasn't exchanged the porte-vélos for a porte-skis, what with the lack of snow) and went down the comfy way. I reached the vineyards at about 11h30, at which time the temperature was still -6°C in the shade, so no real hope of any butterflies. It turned out I'd forgotten Minnie's water bowl, even though I had brought her water. I wasn't too worried, as I knew a good drinking spot - the place where, in May, I sit in the shade drinking beer and watching cardinals and Iolas blues while Minnie paddles. But there was no paddling - all was frozen solid!



Fortunately I found running water in the sun not far away:



I checked every sunny nettle patch we passed and found loads of red admiral eggs, usually clustered on the upper leaves. If you look carefully, there are quite a few in this picture, for example:



Some eggs appeared to have hatched, some were empty but unhatched, some seemed to contain dead caterpillars and a very few were ripe for hatching - but there were no caterpillars to be found:


(the left-hand one in the lower pair has hatched - the top is open)


(this one has not hatched but is empty)


(this looks unhealthily black inside)


(this seems to be a healthy, developed caterpillar)

I fear I have to use those fateful words, 'Oh no! They killed Kenny! The b******s!' His usual place was empty on 11th December and I haven't been able to relocate him. It's possible he's moved away on his own because of the unbroken sunny weather - they do sometimes move at this time of year - but it's no less likely the marauding flocks of tits have taken him. If he is still alive, lurking in some barky crack, I probably won't see him again until the spring. There's a lot of inaccessible bark on his tree.


(no signs of violence, but I fear the worst ...)

Guy

[Padfield]

It was sunny all day today but bitterly cold - reaching a maximum of –4°C in the valley - so there was no point in trying to find wild butterflies. Instead, Minnie and I set off for the Papiliorama to see some tropical species. When we got there we found the kennels were temporarily unavailable, being used to quarantine birds as a bird flu precaution, but the girls behind the desk very kindly took Minnie for me and kept her with them. I'm very lucky - everyone loves Minnie!!

Here is a short video shot inside the Papiliorama. It was lovely to be in the warmth, watching so many butterflies flying freely (best to open the video in YouTube, to get full screen, and in HD):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2JDFr1nYyg[/video]

And a few pictures:


(something you could never see in the wild - a huge, South American Morpho peleides watched over by Kallima inachus from South Asia)


(Morpho peleides)


(the equally lovely, but white, Morpho polyphemus)


(two male and one female Papilio polytes)


(Parides iphidamas)


(Heliconius heurippa, a first for me)


(Heliconius hecale)


(X marks the spot - Heliconius melpomene)


(I think this is a form of Heliconius cydno)


(one of the forms of Heliconius sara)

Heliconius is very difficult because there is so much variation within species and so much similarity in certain forms between species - not to mention hybridisation. I believe this next is a form of H. melpomene but stand ready to be corrected:




(Papilio thoas)


(Kallima inachus)


(Archeoprepona demophoon - a rare shot of the upperside)


(a more usual shot of the underside of demophoon)


(Graphium agamemnon)


(Graphium agamemnon)

Back home to temperatures already below –8°C and sinking. It is too cold in my house for iPhones and iPads to charge, or even to work properly, as I have no central heating. But I have got a dog, who makes an excellent hot water bottle! Time for bed, I think - brrr...

Guy

[David M]

Back home to temperatures already below –8°C and sinking. It is too cold in my house for iPhones and iPads to charge, or even to work properly, as I have no central heating. But I have got a dog, who makes an excellent hot water bottle! Time for bed, I think - brrr...

If you made such a public admission in the UK, Guy, I'm sure Social Services would be round checking on you!

Prior to us getting central heating in 1977, all I had to keep me warm was a hot water bottle....and the heat from that only lasted a couple of hours.

Happy days!

[essexbuzzard]

As I said before, Guy is superhuman! No central heating? Not everyone's cup of tea, but I bet Guy never gets colds or flu. But it's were hard to keep away from artificial heat nowadays,which is a breeding ground for germs. I well remember the very severe winter of 1987 when I lived on the farm and we got snowed in. On I think it was the 12th January,the temperature failed to reach -6C, even in central London, and we had no central heating,either!

Guy,have you had the severe,snowy weather that they have been experiencing in eastern and Southern Europe? I'm guessing you missed the worst...

[Padfield]

Thanks David and Buzzard!

Human, all too human, I'm afraid, Buzzard! Minnie, however, is superhuman. She goes out stark naked in sub-zero temperatures and climbs mountains in the heat of the Italian summer in the same kit. And though I rarely get ill, she never gets ill. And no - we haven't had particularly severe weather. Until a few days ago it was very cold but snowless. The snow has now arrived, much to the relief of those who depend on the ski season for their livelihood.

The world was so bright and beautiful tonight, under an almost full moon, I took a couple of pictures on our evening walk at about 10 pm. The stars visible in the first picture are Lepus, the hare, with a single star of Canis Major, the great dog, visible at the far left.





Any amount of cold is worth it for evening walks like this.

Guy

[Wurzel]

Beautiful views Guy Mind you if we had that much snow here we'd be told to stay inside and not venture out for at least three weeks - there would be chaos on the roads and rails and the supermarkets would be sold out after mass panic buying!

Have a goodun

Wurezl

[Padfield]

Thanks Wurzel. Out here our economy depends on the snow and a lot of people are very, very thankful that the white gold has finally arrived.

Minnie, certainly, thinks it's just brilliant. These are from our morning walkies today:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO9cHT1bwqg[/video]

Guy

[Padfield]

The moon and Jupiter floating above the Dents du Midi. I took this picture with my iPhone on my early morning walk today.



Guy

[trevor]

Jupiter it was then !.

I saw an extremely bright star this evening, towards the west.
It was so bright it had it's own halo.

Al the best,
Trevor.

[Padfield]

Hi Trevor. In fact, your evening star was Venus, which currently sets considerably later than the sun and is very bright. If you see it again tonight, look out for Mars up and to the left of it - not quite so bright but plainly visible and reddish. Jupiter is a morning star at the moment. If you're up before dawn and the sky is clear, you will see it.

Guy

[Padfield]

Off the mark! Although the forecast temperatures at Martigny, in the Rhône Valley, were for a minimum of – 8°C before dawn, rising to a maximum of – 1°C during the afternoon, it was also forecast to be sunny all day, so I took the risk and went looking for Queen of Spain fritillaries. I set off late, arriving at my first hotspot shortly after midday. Within a minute of my arriving, a male Queen of Spain flipped up from the vineyards, spun over the path, flashing silver as it went, checked out the sunny bank without settling and flew on. I waited a further 15 minutes there but no more appeared. This is the location:



Then I checked my other hotspots, without success. Finally, from 13h00 to 13h30 I waited at the first hotspot, still without seeing any more. By this time, the chilly breeze that had prevented the earlier Queen settling was stronger and it felt intrinsically unlikely any more Queens would appear. I saw no lizards and just a handful of flies during the walk.

Guy

[MikeOxon]

It's remarkable to see the effect that the increased insolation has at your latitude. I can't imagine seeing butterflies flying over snow, here in UK.

When I was in NZ recently, the latitude in the North was comparable with North Africa in our hemisphere but the air temperature was usually quite cool, in the oceanic climate. It was easy to forget the need for sun-block in those conditions.

[LancsRover]

Unbelievable Guy, I didn't think anything would be flying at such a low temp. You have given me fresh hope after driving down from Zaragoza to Valencia yesterday in deep snow, enough to close the A23 motorway.
I'm on the coast now, being battered by the wind and rain, temp. around 10c.

Happy New Year, Russ.

[Padfield]

Thanks MIke and Russ - and Happy New Year too!

Russ - the secret is to find sheltered, steep slopes for butterflies to bask on. The sun will be higher in the sky in Valencia, of course, but it will still take a steep angle to make it 'overhead' to the slope. The terracing in vineyards provides plenty of such places, which is why these particular Queens regularly fly in January and February.

Guy

[David M]

Excellent sighting, Guy. Almost an incredible one from a British perspective.

I did think about venturing out myself today but at 4c maximum I decided against it. Generally, we need an air temperature of 7c or more to have a chance of seeing butterflies here, but clearly that's not the case chez toi.

[Padfield]

Hi David. I actually think this snow Queen phenomenon is quite rare. It is quite a special microclimate around Martigny, especially on the south-facing, terraced vine slopes.

I had too much work to go to the valley today. It was sunny and (relatively) warm in the mountains in the morning but did cloud over later, and there was thick, low cloud/fog over the part of the valley I could see.

Minnie on her morning walk:



And two shots from roughly the same place at the beginning and end of my lunchtime walk:





Guy

[Goldie M]

Beautiful scenery Guy and Minnie looks to throughly enjoy it. Goldie

[Padfield]

Thanks, Goldie.

Today it was sunny again and despite an ambient temperature of only – 3° I saw a single Queen of Spain in the valley. It is possible I saw two different individuals in total but the shots I have are all of the same one. I also saw and photographed a red admiral.







No small tortoiseshells yet, so it looks as if that species is now relegated to third!

Guy