Czech Republic - foothills of the Beskydy Mountains.

[The Annoying Czech]

I can understand your wish to see the Poplar Admiral. I am going to Bulgaria next week and have a vague hope that I will see one, but they are more difficult to see than the Emperors. Even some of our experts here have only seen them a few times after years of searching and seeing many, many other species of butterfly!

No bloody Bulgary for me! Since we have quite sophisticated butterfly mapping here in CR (due to a small area and many enthusiasts, I guess), I know that Poplar Admiral is present IN MY SECTOR!!! (But those segments are sometimes lying, like in Purple Emperor's case. Patience, patience and hard-work...

The funny thing is a (female) friend of mine from the opposite part of the republic, with quite similar opportunities, met two Poplar Admirals, and no Emperor (that she'd love to). Emperors are even better phenomenon anyway!

(A lil' trouble for me is that in the Beskydy Mountains, which is nearby, found like 115 Purple Emperors, 50 Lesser Purple Emperors, and only 2 or 3 Poplar Admirals when roughly monitored. But the ratio is atrocious.)

Your lucky beetle looks like Rhagium mordax, but you've many more longhorns out there than we do here, so treat that as a very provisional ID!

Thanks. We really do have?

Are there many folk in Czech republic who visit UKButterflies?

I have no clue. Traplican is a Czech, living in a really, really good place for a butterfly lover.

Is there a similar Czech butterfly website?

Sure. Equally good, I think. And many galleries/blogs (1, 2, 3). In fact, I initially thought I might be alone (!)

We also have some tropical butterfly houses, one Parnassius Apollo centered reservation (45 min by car for me), "a butterfly savanna", handful of key locations of various red listed butterflies, some heavily monitored areas/species, some studies... And like 50% of species (from cca 150?) more or less endangered, or near of it

BUT NO DISCUSSION FORUMS! (I love to irritate you with relatively unreachable species like Nymphalis Antiopa from time to time; see my nickname )

[The Annoying Czech]

Depsite a quickly changing weather, I had three great & funny sightings in Stramberk *) (28.6. - relevant for first 6 butterflies) and my home village (23. 6.; 27.6. - the second six butterflies). Stramberk is basically a small city on the other edge of the Beskydy Mountains with a very special, kind of alpine-looking reservation. Since hosting a surprisingly good number of Apollos, I obviously could not resist. This is actually a very successful repatriation - all other populations has been literally destroyed around here. The butterfly itself is dumb, lazy and noisy.

The next target is Mr. Large Blue, still having a connected (or continual) population in a certain parts of the Beskydy Mountains.

Also, any chance the Blue on the right is not Common Blue? I may post more detailed photo, if needed.

*) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Štramberk / http://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamenárka

[The Annoying Czech]

Four days ago (2011-07-07) I made a trip to "Lusova valley" in Halenkov, CZE and "Little Vranca" in Novy Hrozenkov (where the weather went absolutely wrong). It took me only about 1.5 hour by car including straying and ignoring some speed related traffic rules Plus like 16 Euros for a gas, which's a pretty reasonable price for the butterfly paradise I was able to see & snap.

The Lusova valley is very long valley with broken terrain, kind of like the river in Apocalypse Now. I just found unblemished final meadows and well-preserved oldschool farming instead of Colonel W. E. Kurtz, dead bodies a and madness The people were quite talkative, although the dialect was weird, and no one cared about my trespassing, etc.



Regarding our beloved flying treasures, I've never seen both such abundances and species diversity by far. This crazy overflow made snapping them absolutely easy, since they even defeated Meadow Browns in abundance (I checked the area long before the trip: 70+ species per year and the strongest (almost square, meadow-to-meadow) populations of Large Blue were pretty good arguments for the visit.)

The whole place was literally cramfull of Fritillaries of X species, including Niobe (pic. #7), critically endangered in CR. As for bigger species, I've also seen two Swallowtails and seven Emperors (Red, Purple), one of them attacked my ear and the other was curious what I'm lunching.



I also snapped the desirable Large Blue, actually many times, but rarely forewings. After all, why not, this great-looking butterfly was also abundant, sometimes more, sometimes less. Some smaller Blues slipped me, so I believe I could have got more than 11 new species I've never snapped before.

Scarce Copper (usually common in most of the Czech mountains) engaged me absolutely. It was between those 11 I've never snapped before, unlike Large Copper. It's like little flying sun in the sunset.



I have to return there, I just have to... Since I haven't found either Scarce Swallowtail or Brintesia Circe, I call it unfinished business!

[The Annoying Czech]

Back to normal, back to my village. I realized that Swallowtails are actually making hilltoping in the highest spot of the place (384 m above the sea level). This male was particularly on a lookout for at least two days. I strongly believe he eventually found a "Swallowgirl", since he was really hard-working on it



P.S. Mr. Padfield, if you're watching this - are those butterflies in the middle Brenthis ino and Cupido argiades, as I presume?

[The Annoying Czech]

Hello.

1) I am the father of seven Small Tortoiseshells I think only three of them were ready enough to survive out there, though.



2) I am still snapping, actually to get more familiar with manual sharpening.

Also, I snapped Lesser Marbled Fritillary and Short-tailed Blue, my "long term (un)usual suspects". Then I finally discovered Marbled White and Dingy Skipper in the village (in the less-explored southern parts). I saw one Large bloody Tortoiseshell, unusually shitty photo, but this is a find!

The July abundances here goes like this: 1) Meadow Brown, 2) Green-veined White, 3) Map Butterfly, 4) Ringlet, 5) Pale Clouded Yellow, Common Blue, Essex Skipper and some other Nymphalises.



3) I prepared some hi-res wallpapers made of some of my better photos, you may check it via the link below.
http://www.filefactory.com/file/cc74b9b/n/bflies.rar

[The Annoying Czech]

Since I finally found the colony and not only dispersing females, I spent the morning with observing Large Copper(s). It's possibly both the most worthy and the most beautiful species present in my village (I myself see Large Copper, Scarce Copper and Lesser Purple Emperor as best-looking butterflies I've ever seen, especially in flight). It's also the only not-so-rare Copper right here.

What's more, the imagos has pretty interesting ethology, one particular individual (pic. 5) seemed to be very interested in lovemaking in three But the smaller male eventually defended his gigantic bride (7, 8, 9) and they are generally funny to watch. I think I'll be coming back till Monday, when I'm going to Wallachia for three days (because of butterflies, of course).



Oh, and the biotope. AFAIK, Lycaena dispar rutilus doesn't need fenlands to survive here at all, but the meadow was wery vet today. Now, when I'm writing this, is raining again

[The Annoying Czech]

Ciao!

I've been chasing butterflies in Moravian Wallachia for three days, visiting traditional meadows called polany generally situated in a pretty difficult ground. The meadow slopes were sometimes so slope that even communists, a well-known environment vandals, failed in fertilizing it during the "great collectivisation".

I snapped here all Maculinea/Phengaris Natura 2000-listed Blues; Large Blue, Scarce Large Blue and Dusky Large Blue in the neighbouring biotopes, and I strongly recommend a visit to anyone who's butterfly-friendly when wandering through central/eastern Europe.



A certain valleys of Halenkov (49°19′21″N 18°8′50″E) and Huslenky (49°17′44″N 18°6′49″E) ... where the time stopped.




So, the flying beauty I snapped here...

Peacock. Not from here , found en route, I couldn't resist to kill two birds with one stone.

Camberwell Beauty/Mourning Cloak. She apparently fell in love with me, dumb tame lady. Or is it just my sweat?

Purple Emperor female, second evening visitor of my friend's cottage, but scarcer. White Admiral arrived once too, and it was evidently a beer-loving individual.

Silver-washed Fritillary and either High Brown or Dark Green Fritillary. Who knows - I don't. All of them very abundant, or even dominative.

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary, locally abundant. Looks like I arrived in the right time. Since they're living in the wet meadow with burnets next to the cottage, together with Maculienas, these are very comfortable morning/evening "oh God, I have plenty of time" photos.




Scotch Argus. Local, isolated and probably dying out! Dying because the current management is very Large Blue-friendly (umbrela...), so the species is frozen out to the most remote scrubby forrest meadows. I'm so sorry for this great species. Haven't seen more than two imagos simultaneously.

Sooty Copper. Safe but not really abundant. Somehow reminds me of the burial purposes. Don't ask

Large Blue. Last bastion of hope for the Large Blue in the Czech Republic is right here. He's doing fine, medialized, studied and monitored. Rest of the populations across the country will most probably go to hell because the lack of micro-management, sheep pasture, etc.

Scarce Large Blue. Local but very abundant on the biotope. I like him for showing me the forewings!

Dusky Large Blue. Local and less abundant on the biotope. Relatively safe in the whole country.

Scarce Copper. Apparently abundant and widespread during the whole summer. The English name lies like a gasmeter

Silver-spotted Skipper. Abundant...


I do believe I'm returning back in like May 2012. I feel I still have some unfinished business...

[PhiliB]

Another wonderfully entertaining report Marek, keep them coming.
The Fritillary you're not sure about is a High Brown.

Phil

[The Annoying Czech]

Thanks. It's a High Brown then A late, fresh individual coming from a very lazy caterpillar

Those are from my home village again.



I probably found another colony of Large Copper. I checked three "suspicious" biotopes, two of them seemed to be in a suitable condition for LC and I found a male at one of them. Since I was just rather passing by for like five minutes and males are not dispersing and tracing the biotopes in the country, I expect at least a small colony there

I think the butterfly developed a solid system of meta-populations in only 10 years, probably successfully tracing the suitable areas which, I believe, might be often devauled by thistles, teasels, etc. and therefore fading. LC seems to be prosperous here in places with "laying" grass possibly with presence of trefoil, lotus, Tragopogon hybridus (the last one = often nectar source for LC) etc. there or nearby. The places are often very small, with males making an "outlook tower" from higher grass, burdock leaves, ... Females are found more randomly and generally scarcer. Males are very restless. LC probably hates high grass and expansion of bush.


I also found my first 2011 Hairstreak - a really shitty snapped Purple Hairstreak just when I was thinking about how absolutely boring is the place which I'm browsing. I was wrong, I further saw here Swallowtail, many Silver-washed Frit's, Speckled Wood much scarcer than sooner, and some sexy tame moth I believe to be Pterophorus pentadactyla (?).

P.S. please, what do I have in the last line? Possibly Colias crocea & Zygaena filipendulae?

[JKT]

and some sexy tame moth I believe to be Pterophorus pentadactyla (?).

More likely Gillmeria pallidactyla and definitely not G. tetradactyla/ochrodactyla.

[Michaeljf]

Marek,
some wonderful photographs and species there. The Camberwell Beauty on it's own would please me! Nice landscape shots that you've included too. The High Brown is a really fresh speciment too - considering you have quite a short range macro you get great shots.

Thanks again for sharing the images with us, though of course they just make me jealous in equal measure!
Michael

[The Annoying Czech]

and some sexy tame moth I believe to be Pterophorus pentadactyla (?).

More likely Gillmeria pallidactyla and definitely not G. tetradactyla/ochrodactyla.

Thanks.

Marek,
some wonderful photographs and species there. The Camberwell Beauty on it's own would please me! Nice landscape shots that you've included too. The High Brown is a really fresh speciment too - considering you have quite a short range macro you get great shots.

Thanks again for sharing the images with us, though of course they just make me jealous in equal measure!
Michael

Thanks Yeah, I had to buy one of the cheapest reflex cameras but I'm still satisfied for the time being.

I must say the color scheme of Camberwell Beauty is a bit challenging to snap (eg. against the sun) and generally the species looks better real-time. Besides, I think I've seen only two of them this year (and one Large Tortoiseshell), luckily in a good circumstances. (I slightly have a problem with snapping a "hidden species" like Emperors, Hairstreaks, because I need some time for a solid shot. So I'm often angry on them.)

I have quite well-snapped Beauty's rear wing with a fresh creamy hem that a young individuals do have. I'll post it sooner or later (along with one unhappy Giant Peacock Moth ).

[The Annoying Czech]

Since the weather was great and the butterfly season is pretty much falling off, I made a big tour around my monitored village, finding an interesting steep land meadow with good numbers of Six-spot Burnet. I'm going to continue following the place up in spring 2012. Speaking of Six-spot Burnet, I've seen them like three per year and today five or six on one flower (copulating, nectaring, basking and generally having a cool party).

I also dogged out a colony of bloody Wall Brown that slipped me in the mountains.

And I saw Large Copper on another place, furiously nectaring and presumably just emerged, with no colony and biotope in sight. I generally know about the only colony, but with a solid number of males, pushing out each other to the less lucrative spots. (Some bigger fresh males were attacking even me They have spirit, these ones )

I also learned about how complicate is for Silver-washed Frit's to get the right running temperature When they're not sunbathed enough, there is no way to avoid me and the camera

Anyway...



The trio on the top are the remains of my mountain trip posted above. (The Giant Peacock Moth male sniffing in the shelf was nailed. Literally )

I'm already more and more thinking about next spring, August is definitely a degressive month in this times with hot springs. I'm possibly waiting for 2nd generations of Lesser Purple Emperor, Cupido Argiades, etc. that are already a reality in the Central Europe. And I still didn't find bloody Small Copper and Queen of Spain.

P.S. I recalled today how much I don't like this spider (Which is able to stick to the trousers very very well... en masse... eee. )

Take care,


M.

[The Annoying Czech]

Czech nature of the August...



Since I find my 26th place at "June 2011 Competition" pretty much horrible, I started to flirt with aperture, brightness and better manual sharping.

The abundances are actually fading away drastically, but the diversity remains quite OK. And I frankly don't miss those Meadow Browns and Common Blues so drastically. So I focused on
• Queen of Spain (Yes! Finally! Bloody Queen...!)
• Small Copper (Or rather "Small Slipping Copper")
• Short-tailed Blue (Which seems to be rather local in the Europe, here's relatively new-expanded and already abundant, or at least very visible - males are extremely often found sucking the bog and minerals, getting bored in the grass very soon)

I also decided to left the Large Coppers alone, since the imagos - both males and females - are individually dispersing through many biotopes and became really common. The interesting observed fact is that I saw fresh female in 2011-07-23 and now, 32 days later, I found another fresh lady. I also suspect them of making colonies with different mating strategies, gender structure and behaviour. It's a clever species , surprising and confusing.

P.S. I think I'm closing my season trips, due to a combination of crazy weather (30-35 degrees and it's getting higher and higher), quite lack of money and college problems.


M.

[The Annoying Czech]

Worn Dispar, worn Argiades, brown bokeh at Small Copper... Autumn's here, and next series of mine will be probably the last.

[The Annoying Czech]

Since I'm still unemployed (I graduated in August 27) and because GREAT, almost non-stop sunny 20+ C weather lasts from the early August, I can't stop butterflying in any case

The Septemer abundances are traditionally low, worst than in April - but some Queen of Spains and especially Small Coppers arrived, not seen earlier than, lets say, August 20. But hey, I'm not complaining! It was a good, long and mostly sunny year. And the Queen of Spain might be the most capable flier I've ever seen; both quick and elegant. I love that guys!

I think last Large Copper died in September 12. This is actually pretty long-term, especially considering the fact the popuations aren't more than 10-yrs-old.

And as you may see, I finally got that bloody Hairstreak (to my great joy). A really big one, evidnently a ♀.

Enjoy the photos, if possible.

[The Annoying Czech]

I'm pretty much closing up the butterfly season, 25 C almost everyday but no interesting species available, that's a bit ridiculous. Thanks for watching



As for the more optimistic news, I'm working on taming one Queen of Spain right behind my house, which is presumably a male. I personally call him Joseph!

I recently found 40 species around my village, with (I guess) 5 - 10 extra species "to be found". That's maybe more than I thought, but it's still right in the shit. (The best valleys on the other side of the mountains hosts 90 - 100 species, but I'm not about to move because of the butterflies. )

I'd like to snap 100 species (or at least) 75 in 2012, possible with a good macro. This is only real under a certain circumstances.

I'm especially curious about species like Clouded Apollo, Scarce Fritillary (before it's gone), Woodland Brown (one locality, although large one) and Violet Copper (one reintroduced population coming from some destroyed Austrian habitat, kept under secret). Keeps me in the challenge.

And I'm getting more and more interested in conservation.

[The Annoying Czech]

Just for the comparison:

••••• (Very abundant) - "God damn those"
Green-veined White
Brimstone
Pale Clouded Yellow
Peacock
Small Tortoiseshell
Map Butterfly
Small Heath
Meadow Brown
Ringlet
Large Skipper
Small and/or Essex Skipper

•••• (Abundant)
Large White
Small White
Clouded Yellow
Red Admiral
Comma
Painted Lady
Common Blue
Chequered Skipper

••• (Either local or scarcer & solitary) - "You'll always find them if you want to"
Real's Wood White
Orange Tip
Silver-washed Fritillary
Queen of Spain
Marbled White
Large Copper
Small Copper
Holly Blue
Short-tailed Blue
Dingy Skipper
Six-spot Burnet

•• (Scarce)
Swallowtail
Purple Emperor
Lesser Purple Emperor
Lesser Marbled Fritillary
Wall
Speckled Wood
Brown Hairstreak
Purple Hairstreak

• (Sporadic) - "One timers"
Large Tortoiseshell
Camberwell Beauty

Not recently seen
Bath White
Dark Green Fritillary
White-letter Hairstreak

[Dave McCormick]

Love the images of the habitats and butterflies and moths, makes up for the complete lack of them here

And I'm very interested in ID of those four moths. (I do believe the Skipper on the left is Thymelicus lineola.)

I think 2 are mottled beauty (not totally sure though) others are white ermine and light emerald

[The Annoying Czech]

Let there be light!

Although I failed in realizing some plans, 2011 season was a hugely successful butterfly comeback for me. And a great pleasure too.


Some of the reasons:

• I maintained focused from April to late September with peak from June to August '11

• Created a 60-paged document of local butterfly watching focused on some worthy biotopes/species. It was useful for me from time to time ant it'll cerntainly be useful in the future

• Participated in mapping of the Czech butterflies, sent all discoveries mainly from my village to "butterfly database keepers"; made one "regionally important find" (Brenthis ino)

• Got in touch with many photographs and conservators I learned many things from and many things I'll learn in the future; found a travel-mate when chasing Parnassius apollo in Stramberk, CZ; joined UK Butterflies community I particularly got a great and promising contacts in Wallachia, CZE

• Gained many scientific literature and interesting GPS where to find someting really rare in 2012+ (from both photographers and conservators/organizations)

• Learned how to shoot a bit, which's probably a run that never ends

• Started creating a "Butterfly wall" made of some of my best 2011 photos in my "casa"

• I'm joining the transect mapping from 2012 and presumably some other projects (TBD in Spring 2012)

• Yesterday I got in touch with local agro/farm leaders I wasn't really hoping them to listen me (especially when they're cca 30+ years older than me). I intend to moderate the negative AgroEnvi impact on butterflies this way, plus to understand the agrocultural insight, etc.


...and because loitering is an one-way ticket to hell...


2012 goals!

• I'm going to buy Sigma 105 mm macro in late March/early April

• If I find Maculinea nausithous together with Lycaena dispar, I'd like to struggle for a small protected area, especially when already accompanied with Brenthis ino, Cupido argiades and some Apaturas. Unfortunatelly, I suspect nausithous to be found in entirely different place(s) in my neighbourhood

• Travel much across Moravian part of the Czech Republic with focus on scarce or not-yet-seen stuff like Parnassius mnemosyne, Limenitis populi/camilla, Argynnis Daphne/Hecate/Niobe, Brintesia circe, Erebia epiphron/sudetica, Lopinga achine, Phengaris Blues, etc.

• Plan to visit Croatia (near Zadar) in late July with as low travel expenses as possible. Although Czech butterfly fauna is more similar to Croatian one than to British one, I'm hoping to see some Mediterranean aspect. If you have something to tell me about Croatian butterflies, feel free to drop me a line via PM.


Long-term goals

• I'd like to work in butterfly conservation or something relatively close. Return to studies, if needed.

• Carry on the local monitoring, make it more long-term, write down anything that deserves to be written down. Reach 50 local species (it's 41 for 2011 - relatively poor Central European area; I believe Traplican would easily reach 60-80).

• I already own some pieces of land and I'm going to inherit more of them. That could have some conservation value too, if I stay active enough.

• Butterflying in Europe - Sweden, Romania, The Alps in preference. East has priority (cheaper, wilder, less destroyed).

• 10 persons in CZE knows the GPS of the sole population of Lycaena helle. I want to be the 11th!


Only time will prove what's doable and what's naive.

Thanks for last year's comments and especially IDs. Here goes some wallpapers I photographed "by accident".