Padfield

[The Annoying Czech]

Thanks, Guy. Interesting.

[Padfield]

I tried an evening trip to the cardinal Buddleia today, to see if they would be easier to photograph at a different time of day. I saw none, so conclude they go somewhere else in the evening. But it was interesting nevertheless, mainly because of the many valesina about. Common wisdom has it that this form, though genetically dominant, is at a reproductive disadvantage because it has to keep in the shade and is not courted so readily by males. For that reason, I've always reserved some sympathy for these females. However, I'm pleased to report that they were the belles of the ball tonight! All the males wanted a little slice of valesina pie and several times I watched a female pursued by a super-keen male, doing that thing where he seems to be trying to trip her up as she flies, almost going round her in a vertical circle. I missed a good chance to get a video of this!

Here is a quietly nectaring valesina:



Not for long:



I don't know if they went on to make babies, but if not, it would have been her choice - he was keen!

The ratio of valesina : normal is so much higher at this site than elsewhere in Valais I think it might support the idea there has been a local immigration of fritillaries recently - including the cardinals, of course.









There are two valesina visible in this shot, one top right and one bottom left:



Bath whites (edusa) are resident here, but this one could equally be a migrant, sitting on the Buddleia with all the fritillaries:



Guy

[Padfield]

I popped up to see the hermits today. I suspect they emerged late, like most things, as I found far more males than females, and most butterflies were in good condition, with just a few worn individuals.

Here are three different males:







And here a female:



In the spirit of recent 'spot the grayling' posts, here's a 'spot the hermit' - a female:



Plenty of great banded graylings were flying with the hermits:



For the second time this year I came across some pale clouded yellows (rather than the ubiquitous Berger's), both male and female:




(I was trying to get a shot that showed the extent of the forewing border - but she kept moving!)

Another good species I don't see near me was map:



There were plenty of nettles and this female was particularly interested in sitting on or near them - but she didn't lay for me while I waited and watched!


(I took that photo from some distance as I didn't want to flush her if she was feeling broody!)

There are four maps in this shot:



SO - I really might be able to get a spring brood shot next year!

Horse dung proved a good attractant for many species, including hermits but also blues. Here are a common blue and a turquoise blue:





And finally, as some have noted in the UK, it is brimstone season! There were dozens lining the road on the walk back to the train:


(male)


(female)

Other species flying were marbled fritillary, silver-washed fritillary, high brown fritillary, Queen of Spain fritillary, chalkhill blue, Adonis blue, mazarine blue, meadow brown, speckled wood, wall, small heath, Scotch argus, small, large and green-veined whites, clouded yellow, small skipper and large skipper.

I only spent the morning there, but it was most enjoyable.

Guy

[Padfield]

On Wednesday, I had failed to find any cardinals in the evening and I learnt yesterday that Vincent Baudraz had visited a little earlier in the afternoon, also without success (I had e-mailed him about them). So today I went back at the usual, morning time to confirm they had moved on. They haven't! In about three quarters of an hour I saw two males and photographed one:



This time, they were rather obviously looking for females. I really hope they find some!

I left after getting a few pictures because I had other things to do, but came home by my favourite long-tailed blue site. There were none there - surprisingly, I find, given the number reaching the UK. But I did see a few short-tailed blues:


(female)


(male)

Here is a pair of dryads from the same site:



Guy

[Padfield]

I decided to check my cardinals again ('my' cardinals because I'm still the only person who's seen them, and it seems no others have been reported in the country since the one in June) then head off further east for southern white admirals and rosy grizzled skippers.

Between 10h00 and 11h00 I saw four different males and got a few dodgy pictures - I'm resigned to getting poor shots of this butterfly now, as its extreme speed, wariness and reluctance to rest longer than a second or two don't suit my camera technique!! Here's the best I got today:



Interestingly, one of the males was the same individual as the very tatty one I first photographed on 10th August:



The pattern of wear on the hindwing in particular is definitive.

So these are tough and quite long-lived butterflies, because he wasn't a nouveau-né on 10th!

Satisfied my protégés were still doing fine, I moved on further down the valley, where I found southern white admirals were more numerous than I have ever known them. Almost every clump of hemp agrimony had one or two nectaring individuals, while others were down in the grass romancing and still others were defending territories:













A few rosies were buzzing around:



One reason I wanted to check on these was for the voltinism. These were not fresh individuals. If I see the species in October (like last year) I will conclude there is a third brood.

Here's a hyalensis:



I suspect it is pale clouded, a suspicion supported by its choice of nectar plant (many male butterflies are drawn to nectar on the larval host plant), but I didn't get to sneak a glimpse at the upperside when it flew because my eye was drawn by a rosy grizzled skipper.

My first tree grayling of the year flitted along the path - my 180th species for 2013. I've missed quite a few species this year but made up for them with loads of rarities I don't normally see. And I've only left Switzerland once, back in March, when I went on that rainy and ultimately vain hunt for avis in Màlaga ...

Guy

[David M]

My first tree grayling of the year flitted along the path - my 180th species for 2013.

Nice of you to rub it in, Guy. Here am I on 75 thinking I've had a blinder!!

[Padfield]

Here am I on 75 thinking I've had a blinder!!

Reading your diary, I'd say you have, David! The numbers game is fun, but it's only a game.

I'll be coming back to Suffolk in early September. If a long-tailed blue - or even a clouded yellow - should pass my way that will make my year!

Guy

[Padfield]

I took some friends on a local walk, after they had expressed an interest in butterflies. En route, we took in a local Vaccinium patch where two of the 'cranberry' feeders fly: moorland clouded yellow and cranberry blue. Both these were on the wing - the blues much later than usual at this altitude:


(male moorland clouded yellow)


(female cranberry blue)

A few very active Boloria butterflies were flying around and the first one I briefly netted and checked was pales. Then, when I was wandering without the net I found this one checking out the Vaccinium:



I couldn't get a glimpse of its underside but the upperside is very heavily branded and I have to wonder if this is aquilonaris - which would be new for the site. I will go back alone one day soon and confirm or otherwise!

Guy

[Wurzel]

Just been catching up with your diary Guy and I was very envious of the Map, then the STBlues were even better and by the time I got to Southern White Admirals the envy meter had gone seismic

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Maximus]

Stunning photos Guy, the Valesina's are particularly gorgeous. The differences between Clouded and Pale Clouded Yellow seem very subtle? Glad you've joined the game, very nice, 'spot the hermit'.

Mike

[Padfield]

Thank you for the kind comments!

The last time I went out looking for brown hairstreaks I found cardinals instead, which more than made up for not finding the hairstreaks. Today I headed west to the Canton de Genève and wandered around my black hairstreak sites to see if I could see any brownies there. Again, no luck, but there was compensation, in the form of a male large copper at a site where I've never found this species before. In fact, I've now seen large copper in Switzerland on three occasions at three different sites. I took a few photos of him but I think I was annoying him so soon left him to his own devices:









The last two times I have observed this species long enough to get a photo it was a female so it was very nice to see a male.

Other species seen during the day were:

Large white, small white, green-veined white, clouded yellow, Berger's pale clouded yellow, pale clouded yellow, swallowtail, common blue, Adonis blue, chalkhill blue, Reverdin's blue, little blue, short-tailed blue, Provençal short-tailed blue, brown argus, painted lady, white admiral, heath fritillary, Glanville fritillary, Queen of Spain fritillary, silver-washed fritillary, high brown fritillary, violet fritillary, marbled white, meadow brown, dryad, small heath, speckled wood, large skipper, dingy skipper.

A few piccies:


(I presume this Glanville fritillary is second brood - I always think of this as a spring butterfly)


(high brown fritillaries always go on into late summer)


(heath fritillary)


(violet fritillary)


(one of many short-tailed blues)


(one of a handful of Reverdin's blues - this species seems to be over now at some sites)

Guy

[Padfield]

Finally, we had a little poorer weather and I was able to get some work done!

I didn't get much done yesterday, though, as I made the mistake of upgrading my computer to the Windows 8.1 preview. The process took several hours and when it was finally up and running I discovered a) they hadn't really put the start button back, as they had promised, and b) my antivirus programme had been disabled. I redownloaded McAffee, after which the computer said it needed to update itself again, after which it refused to boot up at all. After going round and round in blue screen circles I eventually decided to restore to factory settings, which are Windows 7. I was going to do that anyway, one day, as I hate Windows 8.

BUT, I did get out this morning, for a quick check up on the cardinals. I knew they were still there yesterday, as Yannick Cittaro, who is in charge of the Swiss butterfly data, had visited the site then and seen two individuals. So it was no surprise today to see the now familiar olive and tan weapon of war duffing up all the other butterflies innocently enjoying their morning nectar! I got a single, very distant shot when he paused briefly on some ivy (which confirmed it was not one of the two individuals I photographed on 20th August) and saw at least one other individual.



Vincent Baudraz (http://www.lepido.ch/) visited the site last week, getting some excellent photos, and today I bumped into his brother, Michel, also hopeful of a Swiss megararity! I assured him they were here, so he just had to wait, and then just as I was regretting I wouldn't share the pleasure with him as I had to leave, in zoomed one of the killing machines! So we are now four to have witnessed this unprecedented phenomenon.

Windows 7 is still restoring on my other machine. Now I've got to reinstall all the software ... I'm definitely going for a Mac next time.

Guy

[Nick Broomer]

Great reports and photos as usual Guy. The 3rd picture of the male Hermit is gorgeous. Excellent work.

All the best, Nick.

[MikeOxon]

I'm definitely going for a Mac next time.

I think a lot of us are thinking that way! I still use Windows XP, because I haven't been able to get on with any of its successors. I used Linux Ubuntu for a while but couldn't get drivers for my microscope camera - otherwise, it seemed fine.

Mike

[David M]

I'm definitely going for a Mac next time.

I think a lot of us are thinking that way! I still use Windows XP, because I haven't been able to get on with any of its successors. I used Linux Ubuntu for a while but couldn't get drivers for my microscope camera - otherwise, it seemed fine.

Mike

I'm also in that league. My PC is 5 years old now and I'm dreading replacing it (it currently has Vista loaded).

There are far too many changes for a forty-something simpleton to accustom himself to in such an abbreviated timescale.

[Padfield]

Thanks, Nick. Yes, male hermits are beautiful creatures (though they don't do much) and very seriously threatened in Switzerland.

I agree, Mike - XP is the best OS Microsoft have produced so far. I, too, tried Linux very briefly. I used to be into 4D Rubik Cubing (http://www.superliminal.com/cube/cube.htm) and the early implementation of the 4x4x4x4 cube was only available for Linux so I had to dabble. I used a live version rather than installing it and seem to remember that getting it to control my telephone modem so I could send off the completed log file was harder than solving the cube ... I really don't want to move to Mac but Windows 8 is so ugly and claustrophobic I may end up crossing over to the dark side when the time comes (yes, 'definitely' has been downgraded to 'maybe' now my Windows 7 machine is up and running again!).

Guy

PS - Just seen your comment, David. I skipped Vista and would strongly advise you to skip Window 8 if you get the chance! But I guess some people like it.

[The Annoying Czech]

Hermits are first species expected to extinct in CZE in the next decade(s). It seems to be pretty much inevitable right now, as they need large biotopes and high population density. They didn't even survive in Slovakia.

[Padfield]

That's very sad, Marek. I knew the species was struggling in Western Europe but had supposed it was more secure further east.

Next instalment in the pandora saga - Michel saw and photographed a female an hour after I left. I always visit in the mornings and see only males but if females are joining them in the afternoon ... Good news.

Guy

[Paul Wetton]

Windows 8 is really designed for touch screen but in desktop mode once you get used to it is very similar to Windows 7. On saying that I swapped Windows 8 on my new PC for Windows 7 which is slower but much more like previous versions of Windows and thus more familiar to me. Once we all go touch screen I think we will get used to Windows 8 and future versions.

[Padfield]

Windows 8 is really designed for touch screen but in desktop mode once you get used to it is very similar to Windows 7. On saying that I swapped Windows 8 on my new PC for Windows 7 which is slower but much more like previous versions of Windows and thus more familiar to me. Once we all go touch screen I think we will get used to Windows 8 and future versions.

Of course, you're right, Paul. And I did get used to Windows 8 - I just didn't like it! I found it ugly and flat. It loaded up much faster than Windows 7 and was obviously better 'under the hood' but if you spend most of the day staring at a computer screen it's more important what's above the hood ... I'm happy again now!

In the past few days both Michel and Vincent Baudraz have found female cardinals at my site, always in the afternoon, so I decided to have a go at them myself today. I worked in the morning and headed down to the Rhône Valley in the early afternoon, meeting Matt Rowlings and all his family, who had turned out in force to witness this phenomenon! Before long, a very compliant female turned up. I got a number of photos of her, but the shortcomings of a compact for such a mobile butterfly were evident - the 0.6s time delay of my camera meant I rarely got the picture I wanted. Never mind - she was a brilliant butterfly. And she wasn't alone. During the two-and-a-half hours I spent on the site I saw at least four different females and several males too. Eggs will most certainly be laid - or have already been laid - and if the species is capable of surviving the Swiss winter there will be more cardinals here next year. I still can't quite get my head round it - before August this year there had been just three (confirmed) individual sightings of this species since 1947 in the whole of Siwtzerland and the three individuals were in three different years. This year, it seems, there is a thriving population of the creatures - and almost on my doorstep!!

It seems the buddleias where I see them constitute the 'lek' area. Males move in from about 10h15 onwards, descending from somewhere slightly higher up the mountain where they roost and probably where the actual breeding site is. After they have established their territories, the females arrive. By now the males are very active and virtually never rest. Presumably, this is when the males pick up their partners, or vice versa, though the females I saw today rejected male advances. Quite possibly they had already mated and were just fattening up ... Maybe receptive females are very quickly taken up and mated - it's quite a big site and easy to miss a quickie. Finally, it seems they all go elsewhere after about 16h30 (the latest anyone has seen a cardinal on this site thus far).

Here are some of the pictures:














(rejecting a male paphia)

I took dozens of pictures, these being my first females of the year. Many of the above are of the same individual, who hung around, but not all are.

In the UK you will remember 2013 for its long-tailed blues, continental swallowtails and clouded yellows - for me it has already gone down as the year of the cardinal.

Guy