Padfield

[Nick Broomer]

Your diary is always a wonderful read Guy, and the way you portray the butterflies in your photos is just brilliant. But i have to say, the Meadow Brown shot is absolutely superb, as soon as you see it, it just hits you in the face, great.

All the best, Nick.

[Padfield]

Thank you for your kind comments, Nick.

I hope your scepticism is justified, David! My source was the Torygraph.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/weath ... month.html

Guy

[essexbuzzard]

I don't think they dare tempt fate,David,as long fine spells are such a rarity in this country-and neither would i!
Guy,that Bergers Clouded Yellow,with the snow-covered peaks behind,is absolutely brilliant!

[Padfield]

I'll be watching your butterfly reports to see how reality matches that forecast! Admittedly, the headline misrepresented what the weathermen actually said ...

I'm glad you liked the Berger's, Buzzard!

I stayed a bit at school today to help some pupils who were worried about tomorrow's exam, then jumped on the bike soon after 16h00 and headed off to some local meadows (the opposite direction from yesterday) to look for meadow fritillaries (Melitaea parthenoides), which I still hadn't seen this year. A small number of males and females were flying but it was hot and none really wanted to settle. I didn't chase them (so as not to trample the meadows) but did take a few record shots, none really worth posting here.

A single woodland ringlet flew by. I'm a little worried for this species, which seems to be declining in our region.

Chapman's blues, Adonis blues, common blues and little blues were all common. Here is a sooty copper, nectaring deep in the flowery meadow:



I'm keeping my eyes peeled for chestnut heaths, after noting that older maps show this species in the region, but today only small heaths were on the wing:



Walking back to the bike I spotted a chequered skipper buzzing back and forth, without ever stopping, and while I stood waiting for it to settle a Duke flew up. He was pale and rather worn - not surprisingly for the date:



Then I spotted a much fresher male defending a nearby territory, just the other side of the path:


(His rival is in the grass beyond the track. And yes, the picture is correctly orientated - the meadows, like most things in Switzerland, are on a hillside)

The same mountain range I showed yesterday is visible from this site too:



And here's another view of the same range:



I've mentioned this before, but I'm sure this is the inspiration for Magritte's 'Domaine d'Arnheim'.

Guy

[David M]

You truly are blessed, Guy.

Oh that it could be in the UK that we could make a casual visit to a site at such a late hour and uncover such richness.

[Padfield]

You truly are blessed, Guy.

Oh that it could be in the UK that we could make a casual visit to a site at such a late hour and uncover such richness.

Although the species count is much lower in the UK, I am quite certain that in the days of Frohawk and South an English (or Welsh, Irish or Scottish) meadow was every bit as rich in natural history interest as any meadow in the Alps (bit of language here: the word 'Alp' comes from 'alpage', which means a grazing meadow. I live in the 'Pré-Alpes', which doesn't mean 'pre-Alps', as commonly mistranslated, but 'meadow Alps' - something of a tautology). During the last century or so,the British countryside has come under literally intolerable stress from urban expansion, intensive agriculture and a small-minded determination to replace the wild with the tame. Thanks to the selfless work of many of you, designated areas retain the richness of yore but whole swathes of countryside between are barren areas, where a limited number of species compete against the odds to maintain their footing.

Politicians always speak of 'the environment' as if it were the context for human existence. But what they call 'the environment' I call my friends and their homes and their land. In my ideal world there wouldn't be a minister for the environment but actual representatives in parliament for the creatures who live in the country, who would be considered constituents, with voices (albeit barks and mewings and buzzings and whirrings). Of course I know that world is a fantasy - but just giving the fantasy a moment's life helps put the purely human interests of government into perspective.

Guy

[Pauline]

I'm with you totally on that one Guy - just wish there was more who thought like that.

[Ian Pratt]

Here,here-well.said Guy.

[Padfield]

I didn't think I was alone!

I set off early this morning for the Jura, hoping to catch an early chestnut heath and a late spring-brood map. The forecast was for 'mostly sunny', so the project looked promising. However, the weather forecast was misleading: it was 'mostly sunny' until about 11h30 but after that 'mostly cloudy' - I would say 80% sun before and 80% cloud after. This probably had a bearing on the fact the total number of species seen was tiny. I could certainly have seen more by wandering down the lane from my house instead of crossing the country.

There were almost no heaths at all, of any species. The only Coenonympha I saw was a single small heath that crossed the road and then dived down into the grass, where it clearly intended to stay:



Nor did I see any other grassland Satyrids - no meadow browns, marbled whites or ringlets. I wandered meadow after meadow without seeing a single blue and clocked up a total of three fritillaries, of which only one passed close enough to permit identification. It was this pearl-bordered fritillary:



I saw one species of skipper - a couple of dingies - and one hairstreak - a green hairstreak.

So much for what was not flying. Now what was! Before 11h30, two of the sites I had identified as potential violet copper habitat (when I came out to recce the area a few weeks ago) produced the goods. Here is the first I saw - a beautifully fresh male:



This was at under 1000m, so would normally count as quite late in the violet copper season. But he is no geriatric. Nor were those at the next site:



(The out-of focus butterfly on the left is also a violet copper)



As you can see in those last two pictures, the violet coppers here were nectaring on the peripheries of their breeding area, among grassland plants rather than in the bog.

Other species confirmed that it is still spring here. Peacocks were common ...



... even if some were showing signs of age:



Orange tips were abundant, both males and females. Here is a female:



Commas, small tortoiseshells and red admirals were all on the wing, though I saw no brimstones. A single male hyalensis (my portmanteau word for Berger's and pale clouded yellow) was my only yellow.

What made the trip really worthwhile, though, were the Dukes. I saw far more today than I see in a year normally. They were flying literally by the dozen and at two places I saw at least five at the same time. First, I came across a woodland colony. On a corner of a ride it seemed every bush had a Duke and they would tumble into the air together in groups of three or four. Photography was difficult not because they were difficult to approach but because if, in approaching one, you didn't notice another and accidentally put it up, all would suddenly take to the skies in a pugilistic frenzy. Here are a few shots from that site:







Not far away, even more Dukes were defending the wet edges of a meadow. Here is one of the few worn individuals I saw, surveying what used to be his Dukedom:



Here is another (which also gives an idea of the weather):



In this region, Dukes seemed omnipresent, even flitting around the path where I walked (the blue thing is my backpack):



Dukes are normally a May butterfly. By mid-June you would not expect to see more than a few, rather worn, individuals. In the Jura, it seems to be peak Duke season - and perhaps significantly, I saw just a single Duchess:



By about 15h00 the percentage cloud had gone up to 90% or more and I headed home, to rain and approaching storms.

Guy

[Padfield]

A year ago today I climbed my local mountain and recorded: Grizzled skipper, alpine grizzled skipper, olive skipper, dingy skipper, chequered skipper, marsh fritillary, Queen of Spain fritillary, shepherd's fritillary, pearl-bordered fritillary, red admiral, painted lady, small tortoiseshell, small white, large white, Berger's pale clouded yellow, dewy ringlet, probable bright-eyed ringlet, northern wall, violet copper, green hairstreak, little blue, Adonis blue.

I noted that it was a late year.

Today I did the same walk and saw: small tortoiseshell, little blue, dingy skipper, green hairstreak, Queen of Spain fritillary, northern wall, small white and violet copper.

The ground is bare where the snow has just melted, with crocuses coming through. On steep west- and south-facing slopes the vegetaion is further advanced but in many places, especially on east- and north-facing slopes there is still thick snow. Here are some mountain views:















I was very pleased though, that my upland violet coppers are now out in force - or at least, the males are. I spent just half an hour or less with them and saw between 6 and 12 males (difficult to count).

Here is a short video of one of them:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSwv-CTpu3c[/video]

And some piccies:




(That's a different male, looking more worn)


(What a beautiful underside!)

This one spent much time twisting and turning on a bistort leaf, licking it (very difficult to photograph as it was never still):





I was in a rush, as I always am on a Sunday, so took few pictures. Here is one of the many green hairstreaks still active above 2000m:



Guy

[Padfield]

I managed my exam invigilations to leave this morning free for a quick black hairstreak twitch to Geneva. As luck would have it, it was a beautiful day, and very warm - a heatwave is forecast for the next few days. My first site quickly produced half a dozen black hairstreaks, all males, twisting and tumbling high in their lekking trees, and I got a couple of purely record shots. It was lovely to see them and I stood for a while just watching them. For me, this is a yearly ritual but for them it is their once-in-a-lifetime chance. I tried to see today from their point of view, not mine.

Here's one of those distant shots, just, literally, for the record. I'm sure many forum members will recognise the experience of seeing this species well out of reach!!



My second site produced the surprises. I went there because the privet often attracts the hairstreaks lower, but today they weren't interested - there was obviously more than enough honeydew on the higher leaves. But suddenly it was a different Lycaenid that caught my eye. About 20m distant I spotted a female large copper, heading fast away from me. Dropping everything except my camera, I ran after her, keeping a safe distance so as not to spook her. After a while she stopped briefly, allowing a quick record shot, and then a little later stopped long enough for me to risk a real shot. Here are first the record shot, then a slightly better one:





She then flew on and I let her go. What an amazing stroke of luck - only my second ever large copper in Switzerland.

I didn't have long, as I had to be back in Villars for a grades meeting. Also, within half an hour of my seeing her, a man on a mower set about the meadow, quickly reducing it to a butterfly-free zone (this is a managed site and there was nothing sinister about this - I was just very lucky to catch the large copper before the site was mown).



But in the time I had I saw plenty of pearly heaths and small heaths, common and Adonis blues, a few Reverdin's blues, including a lovely female, heath, Glanville and knapweed fritillaries, brown argus, large, small and black-veined whites, Berger's pale clouded yellows and clouded yellows, loads of orange tips and (second surprise of the day) several ilex hairstreaks. I have never seen ilex hairstreak at this site before.


(female Reverdin's blue)


(heath fritillary)


(distant, record shot of ilex hairstreak - my first for the site)


(all under the watchful eyes of the black kites ...)

Before I started the cycle ride back to Geneva I needed to recharge from a 2l bottle of coke. As I drank, a butterfly landed on the bottle and squinting down my nose I saw it was a second large copper - this one rather small and probably a male. My third Swiss large copper. It flew off and round a bush and despite searching I couldn't find it again.

It always feels like playing truant, nipping out like this during a school day - but I'm very glad I did.

Guy

[David M]

More stunning even than you normally produce, Guy.

What a thrill it must have been to see that Large Copper (and what sadness as you later saw the meadow being reduced to nothing).

[Pete Eeles]

Superb rutilus, Guy!

Given the length of the tails, isn't that a female Black Hairstreak?

Cheers,

- Pete

[Padfield]

Thank you David! Meadows have to be grazed or mown, and this one is mown. As you will know, proper mowing (effectively, mechanised scything - not strimming!!) at the right time maintains excellent habitat. It is annoying when you arrive just after the event, though!

Good point about the tails, Pete. I must admit, I cheated a tiny bit and that picture came from the second site, not the first, where the males were lekking. My pictures from there were even worse!! Nevertheless, I did take it to be a male at the time. The only other picture I got of that individual is this one:



The abdomen does look a bit girly ...

Guy

[Pauline]

Fantastic photos Guy especially the Hairstreak. I think I'll have to stop trudging around in the rain looking for the odd butterfly and just stay indoors and read your diary instead

[Padfield]

Judging by your latest photos, Pauline, I think you're better off trudging around recording the butterflies near you!

Today was the end of the school year and the end of my teaching life until September 2014 - I'm taking a year off to write.



When the ceremonies were over I took the train to Montreux and cycled home via a site where pale clouded yellows were flying in July last year, to see if they were occupying their clover fields yet. They weren't - so I spent some time by the lake instead:




(That's Montreux over the water)

There were very few butterflies anywhere but I enjoyed the emperor dragonflies:





I saw a lesser emperor in flight but it never stopped so I couldn't get a photo of it.

There were also various darters and Coenagrion species, as well as lots of four-spot libellulas:



Among the few butterflies I did see were a comma and a brimstone, the latter roding like a spring male - but though it never stopped it appeared dull and worn in flight and I wondered if it was the tail end of the spring brood.

One of my students had given me a fine bottle of Hennessy X.O. in a humidor with an equally fine Cuban cigar, so I spent a very pleasant evening watching the sun go down over the Alps, contemplating my freedom for the next 14 months!

Guy

[David M]

Today was the end of the school year and the end of my teaching life until September 2014 - I'm taking a year off to write.

I don't wish to pry unduly, Guy, but is this butterfly/natural history related?

[Mark Tutton]

Hi Guy
I don't post much but always read your diary and posts first! Your empathy with the enviroment and understanding of ALL of your subject matter (butterflies and a lot more) is second to none. I have been trying to emulate some of your photographs this year by including the background with some success. Whilst I appreciate those specimens in pin sharp focus and blurred backgrounds for what they are I must say that I much prefer seeing the butterfly in the environment in which it is found and your photos are par excellence.
Enjoy the year end, and your cigar, and I look forward to seeing what you are going to write - it will be great whatever the subject matter I am sure - please keep us all posted and enjoy your sabbatical.
Kind regards
Mark

[Padfield]

I don't wish to pry unduly, Guy, but is this butterfly/natural history related?

No - this is a work of philosophy (and your polite enquiry is certainly not prying). I took a year off ten years ago but didn't finish the book then. I will start again rather than continue where I left off but I've since had time to plan the whole better, have a better idea of the target audience and have refined many of the arguments. Furthermore, I have been sent off with such fanfare and good will I really have to produce the goods this time!

And thank you too, Mark, for your very kind comments and wishes. I have to say I have enjoyed your and others' photos of butterflies in their contexts and while I obviously don't deserve any credit for the technique it's quite flattering to see it associated with my name so often!

Guy

[Wurzel]

Absolutely stunning shots Guy If only my "just a record shot" (Large copper) were as good! Good luck with the book.

Have a goodun

Wurzel