At my first site, Queen of Spain and small torotiseshell were abundant, their combined numbers certainly reaching three figures. I couldn't work out why all my pictures of them were so lacking in fine detail until I realised, on the train between sites, that I had forgotten to lower the ISO after taking pictures in the gloom yesterday. Tant pis! Here are a Queen and a small tortoiseshell from that first site:
![Image](http://www.guypadfield.com/images2013/lathonia10march2013a.jpg)
![Image](http://www.guypadfield.com/images2013/urticae10march2013a.jpg)
It was nice to see butterflies nectaring as well as just sitting around in the sun:
![Image](http://www.guypadfield.com/images2013/urticae10march2013c.jpg)
About half an hour into the walk I saw my first large tortoiseshell, gliding elegantly among the vines and occasionally stopping on foliage where it appeared to be seeking water droplets rather than nectar:
![Image](http://www.guypadfield.com/images2013/polychloros10march2013a.jpg)
I soon saw another, being chased by a small tortoiseshell. I wish it had been possible to video this as it illustrated perfectly the differences in flight between these two species - the encounter was a little like a Jack Russell attacking a greyhound. The Jack Russell won.
A third large tortoiseshell at the same site was basking on a large expanse of rock:
![Image](http://www.guypadfield.com/images2013/polychloros10march2013d.jpg)
![Image](http://www.guypadfield.com/images2013/polychloros10march2013e.jpg)
It was still early but the clouds were coming in from the West so I caught the train further east along the valley to see what else was flying there. The first thing I saw was a brimstone - one of a dozen males drifting back and forth along the path throughout my walk. I also saw a single female brimstone but sadly not a single individual of either sex touched down all afternoon. Small tortoiseshells were common and there were a few Queens, so it was a very pleasant walk. The first big surprise was a single Eastern Bath white, motoring back along the path against the direction I was walking in. I turned and followed it for 200m but it never settled and eventually flew up and over a bush where I couldn't follow it. Just before I caught the train home I saw another Bath white. This one might have settled but a farm vehicle trundled past, putting it up and it flew over the Rhône.
Less surprising was this comma - one of two or perhaps three I saw today:
![Image](http://www.guypadfield.com/images2013/calbum10march2013a.jpg)
Peacock and a single small white brought the species total to 8.
Before the clouds finally settled in I enjoyed watching three large tortoiseshells defending or attempting to take territories along a creek. They were very alert, frequently resting on trees in a head-down position, from where they would launch out at anything that moved (except brimstones - they ignored the brimstones completely):
![Image](http://www.guypadfield.com/images2013/polychloros10march2013i.jpg)
![Image](http://www.guypadfield.com/images2013/polychloros10march2013j.jpg)
Here is the habitat - perfect for large tortoiseshells and, a little later, Camberwell beauties, to set up their territories in:
![Image](http://www.guypadfield.com/images2013/10march2013a.jpg)
The bushes on the left are young (but well established) sallows.
This awful picture is significant only because I think it is the first time I have had two large tortoiseshells in camera view at once:
![Image](http://www.guypadfield.com/images2013/polychloros10march2013h.jpg)
It couldn't last. The third put up one of them and the other immediately joined the fray.
The tatty wing edges of this individual probably bear witness to quite a few aerial scraps:
![Image](http://www.guypadfield.com/images2013/polychloros10march2013g.jpg)
At one point, a large tortoiseshell that was circling aggressively or perhaps inquisitively around me excreted a stream of white ejecta, that shot out as if at pressure. I don't know if this was related to its territorial bullying but it didn't seem to be aimed at me.
Back to cloud. No chance of a comet sighting tonight.
Guy