Padfield

[Pete Eeles]

Superb observations and piccies, Guy. Just superb. Nothing else to say

Cheers,

- Pete

[Padfield]

I am a bit of a twitcher, Jack, and I enjoy accruing my year list. But it's not at all what it's really about - just an added dimension that is more exciting in mainland Europe because there are more butterflies here. If you do take the numbers seriously, then I reckon your 50+ in the UK last year is comfortably worth more than any of my year lists. Harder earned and, I'm sure, proportionately more satisfying too!

Guy

EDIT - and thanks, Pete!

[ChrisC]

41 by the 1st of April? i'm just going to stop reading your diary
Like the scenery pics in the mix.
Chris

[Padfield]

I forgot to post this picture of a grizzlie I took yesterday. I know the purists won't like it, because there are grass blades over the wings ( ), but it gives a good sense of the openness and freedom one feels in the Rhône Valley at this time of year:



You never get that kind of view with the naked eye, though, unless you lie down on the ground and stick your head next to a butterfly, which I never do because I don't like to crush the vegetation.

School begins tomorrow and today is officially a work day but I will nip down to the woods and see how things are progressing there. At my altitude the season is similarly paced to the UK season and I don't expect any non-UK species to be flying yet.

Guy

[Paul Wetton]

Love it Guy bits of grass and all.

I don't generally get down on the ground for fear of not getting back up again.

[Jack Harrison]

The advantage of angled screens - you don't need to get down low.

Jack

[Padfield]

The first wood whites, grizzled skippers and green hairstreaks have started emerging up here in the Huémoz meadows, and there were brimstones, orange tips, commas, small tortoiseshells and green hairstreaks in the local woods. Just one non-UK emerger as well: violet fritillary. About half a dozen of this characteristic spring fritillary were motoring around the meadows at lunchtime, apparently never pausing.

Here's a wood white. He may pretend to be innocent but it is quite clear he has been at the dandelions again!



Not too long now before the brown hairstreaks will hatch. Race you to the leaf buds...



It's clear all that precocious small tortoiseshell activity was not in vain:





Guy

[Pete Eeles]

I have to say, Guy, that you're an absolute master of photographing butterflies (or their immature stages) in their environment. Both the Grizzly and Brown Hairstreak ova are prime examples. Thx again for sharing! And apols for cluttering up your diary!

Cheers,

- Pete

[NickB]

Nice example of what a wider-angle lens gives you, Guy.
N
Enjoy school

[Lee Hurrell]

I forgot to post this picture of a grizzlie I took yesterday. I know the purists won't like it, because there are grass blades over the wings ( ), but it gives a good sense of the openness and freedom one feels in the Rhône Valley at this time of year

I'm still a sucker for those scenic shots Guy, superb!

Cheers

Lee

[Jack Harrison]

Yes, Guy’s pictures aren’t just of “voucher specimens” - the type of photo that so many of us (me included) take. Yours usually tell a story. I love them.

Jack

[Padfield]

High praise from you all! Thank you. It encourages me to take more!

Guy

[Padfield]

Blink and you will miss this season. Records are tumbling, with earliest sightings of several species today, including chequered blue, de Prunner's ringlet and rosy grizzled skipper. Conditions have been perfect recently, with warm sun and just enough rain to keep the grass green.

Here are a few highlights from a day in the Rhône Valley.

Just like many of you in the UK, I was finding green hairstreaks at every turn. Where in previous years I might have seen a single male defending his patch, today there were often several, tumbling together in the air and sometimes settling for territories quite close together.



Dingy skippers don't deserve their common name - they are quite beautiful insects (though equally as aggressive and territorial as green hairstreaks):



I think my favourite butterfly of the day was chequered blue. These are very smart butterflies, especially when fresh, and have a habit of settling in most picturesque places. This one chose a delicate forget-me-not:



Further along the Rhône Valley, the chequered blue's diminutive cousin, the baton blue, was quite common, often taking minerals on unsurfaced tracks:



Here is a Provençal short-tailed blue buried deep in a lucerne field. Last year the first of these flew on 24th April.



The first Erebia species to fly in Switzerland is always triaria (de Prunner's ringlet). Typically, I find my first one (i.e., one) around mid-April. Today they were locally common and some had obviously been on the wing a while. Although this isn't a good picture, here's a record of this interesting butterfly:



Here is a tiny Chapman's blue in a patch of delicate crucifers - this is why I don't lie down on the ground to get pictures:



I could go on! Altogether, I saw 32 species at a couple of sites today. The weather will continue like this into the beginning of next week and then rain is expected - just what we need to prevent the lush foodplants desiccating. So far it is a spring designed for butterflies!

Guy

[NickB]

Fabulous, Guy
I can just imagine what a time you are having trying to keep up with them all!
We too need rain; not sure much is on the horizon though in East Anglia

[Paul]

Love the orion Guy, hope to see some soon maybe.... fantastic butterflies

[Padfield]

Big build-up to LOTSW2, Paul and Nick!! I hope you see all your target species. You certainly should be spot on for orion, in terms of timing.

I nipped off at lunchtime today to look for short-tailed blue (argiades) close to home. I didn't find it, but just as I was about to leave a Provençal short-tailed blue (alcetas) appeared, closely followed by a single common blue and a single holly blue. I took the alcetas for argiades at first, as it was obsessed with birdsfoot trefoil and had a little orange colouration. But it was alcetas.



Rather little was flying at the site, but this swallowtail was proudly defending a small territory (where the red admirals were in February) from various dead flower stems:



Then some treasure-hunters arrived with metal detectors and he had to go looking for another spot.

Guy

[Padfield]

The weather has turned cold, with some snow on Tuesday and a chilly breeze even when the sun is shining.

My local brown hairstreaks have just hatched - today, I would guess. I nipped down to the blackthorn after school (as it began to rain) and quickly located the pair of eggs I showed earlier in this thread (couldn't do any better with the pictures because of the light):





The sloe is in full blossom and it was difficult to look for caterpillars, but I did find this one, who looks not a day old:





He is barely a millimetre long but already knows he is supposed to line up along the leaf. In a few days he will look more like a classic brown hairstreak larva - like Vince's here: viewtopic.php?f=21&t=5032

My orphaned purple hairstreak egg still hasn't hatched, though.

Guy

[Pete Eeles]

My orphaned purple hairstreak egg still hasn't hatched, though.

Great report Guy. With regard to the PH ... really not sure what's going on there! Is it in a cool location (e.g. outside in the shade) or indoors?

Cheers,

- Pete

[Padfield]

With regard to the PH ... really not sure what's going on there! Is it in a cool location (e.g. outside in the shade) or indoors?

He's indoors, Pete. Yes, it's quite cool - certainly cooler than the 24 degrees it was recently in the Valley, where he comes from.

Guy

[Paul Wetton]

Some fantastic shots Guy. I love the Green Hairstreak photo.

Will all this early emergence have a knock on effect for my visit later in the year, do you think, or will everything have settled into a more normal thythm by the end of June?