Very rare and quite expensive

[Padfield]

For those few Erebia specialists whom it might interest, here are some piccies of my first and to date only confirmed Erebia christi (Rätzer's ringlet). Matt and I went hunting for it on a bit of a whim today and this sadly broken female was the only certain sighting we had in four hours on site. I had two other good candidates that I couldn't reach and Matt had one other (that he couldn't reach either). This species inhabits inaccessible shale slopes and has a galactic distribution restricted to a very few sites near the Swiss-Italian border, where it is said to be uncommon. The cost? Matt's car broke down and had to be towed away to a garage. I fell down a near-vertical slope vainly pursuing my second 'possible' and dislocated my shoulder. BUT IT WAS WORTH IT!!








(Still a mass of snow, even though this was one of its lower altitude sites)


(Much easier going on four feet than two - I must train Asha to use a butterfly net!)

Guy

[Paul]

Ouch! Obviously a very tricky one to see.... at least you did. Thanks for the opportunity to see photos!!

[Pete Eeles]

Flippin' 'eck - only just seen this post.

Take it easy, Guy. Not that it's any consolation, but I also suffered a similar fate - managed to get a partial dislocation of my shoulder while falling (with grace) at the bottom of a hill - while also looking for Erebia in Bulgaria. At the time, I was thankful that my martial arts training had saved my camera as I rolled onto my shoulder and then straight back up onto my feet But a week after I'd returned home, my shoulder looked like someone had stuffed a rugby ball under my skin. Yuk.

So ... on that note ... get well soon (since I'm sure you must be in agony).

Cheers,

- Pete

[Padfield]

For you, Paul, it was technically a subluxation - an increasingly recurrent problem I've had ever since I made a bad tackle playing for the school 2nd XV and ended up lying on the ground with my arm sticking out at a funny angle. Out it goes - pop! - but in a minute or so I can usually work it back into place. My Dad has the same thing with his jaw, after having that dislocated in a boxing match at school!

Anyway, I'm off for E. flavofasciata tomorrow - if I can still wield a net. I'll post piccies if I get it. No guarantees though.

Guy

Just seen your post, Pete. Thanks for the good wishes! The first is the worst, but seriously, watch out! Every time it comes out it wears the passage a little and it comes out more easily in the future. They X-rayed me when I was a school boy and showed me the little rut made by the bone moving out of place. They predicted, absolutely accurately, that I now had a problem for life and I should do my best to prevent it happening. What did I do? I moved to a country where there are no flat surfaces and there is ice on the ground 6 months a year...

[Padfield]

No show flavo. It had been a bit of a long shot - the Swiss butterfly recorder, an extremely nice young man called Yannick, who actually gets paid for swanning around in the mountains identifying butterflies, wanted to check out a grid square that hadn't been actively recorded since the 50s, and then only two species had been recorded, flavofasciata and gorge. We searched very thoroughly and I think I can confidently say flavofasciata was not there. We did find about half a dozen gorge, though, which made it worth the trip:




There were also dozens of cacaliae, a species I usually encounter individually:




The terrain was no less strenuous than the christi terrain but I was extra careful not to slip and further damage my shoulder!!




There is also much more snow at relatively low altitudes this year than I have ever known before:



Guy

[Paul]

T&L suggests Ratzer's is more common in alternate years... do you know which this is good or bad??? (!) Super shots of Silky Ringlet & Dusky G... I just gotta come out again to look for some of these... sigh.. another year