Thanks Mike - yes, it is really wonderful to be back in the mountains, though at the same time it feels as natural and unexceptional as breathing. It has been very strange not being in the mountains for 11 months ...
I think perhaps it is the momentary angle of the light, Jack, on that Adonis blue, that makes it seem rather dull. As you know, much of the depth of colour of Adonis is refractive, so angle makes a big difference. Plus, of course, it is late in the first brood and this individual was not born yesterday.
Hi Matsukaze. I can guess from a distance what you might have seen along that road! Certainly, great sooty satyrs. These were abundant yesterday in Valais and often fly in the steep, flowery embankments of those valley roads. I think I might be too early for
humedasae, so might give Aosta a miss on this trip.
Thanks Wurzel. I don’t know about ring ouzel subspecies. I took a lot of photos last year, so will examine them carefully.
Yesterday I went into Valais for Asian fritillaries, which fly rather locally where its foodplant, blue honeysuckle, grows. This is the Alps’ answer to scarce fritillary, that David was seeing in Piedmont:
There were lots of these around - it seemed to be peak season - including some well worn individuals:
Alpine graylings were expected but a great pleasure to see, as always:
There were also plenty of other fritillaries, including heath, false heath and pearl-bordered:
Again, I watched a large blue laying:
Despite that wing being the wrong side she could fly perfectly well. Here’s one of her eggs:
At that altitude, orange tip and green hairstreak are still flying:
Back down in the valley, great sooty satyrs were everywhere:
This marbled white was very delicately coloured:
First Chapman’s blues of the year (of my year, that is):
Silver-washed fritillary:
And to my surprise, because I haven’t seen them at this site before, an ilex hairstreak:
Southern white admirals were no surprise:
For non-butterfly interest, this valley site is always good for
Platycnemis pennipes, the white-legged damselfly:
All these pictures were processed on the train, on the iPad, on the way back to Villars. As always, I will re-process at least some of them properly when I get back to my computer. I just can’t seem to get the compression and sharpening right on the iPad.
Guy
Is the Ring Ouzel the continental form - it seems to have grey edges to the feathers running down the chest - the British race is very much like a Blackbird with a white patch on the wings and the collar 
Those Violet Coppers - stunning 
Is there a different reason for the cracking looking Thor's Fritillaries name other than it usually being found in Norse country? 
