Padfield

[William]

That Green Hairstreak shot is stunning Guy

[Padfield]

Thanks for your kind comments, Mike and William.

The weather is going to break before the weekend, so I took another day out (in the Rhône Valley) while it was still warm and sunny. It was very windy, though, which meant photography was difficult.

Orange tips have suddenly emerged, en masse. They were everwhere, males and females - and I didn't see a single one stop more than a second! A couple of grizzled skippers (malvoides) put in a show, a single speckled wood had set up in a shady corner and most impressively scarce swallowtails were drfting elegantly up and down one of my favourite tracks. Berger's clouded yellow was another new species for the year and a single wood white was flying. The full list for today was: Large tortoiseshell, small tortoiseshell, peacock, Camberwell beauty, comma, Queen of Spain fritillary, brimstone, small white, green-veined white, Eastern Bath white, orange tip, wood white, Berger's clouded yellow, holly blue, green hairstreak, speckled wood, scarce swallowtail and grizzled skipper. Not bad for 20th March!

Some piccies:


(large tortoiseshell)


(small tortoiseshell)


(Queen of Spain)


(scarce swallowtail)


(grizzled skipper)


(holly blue)


(comma)


(peacock)


(speckled wood)


(green hairstreak)

Guy

[Padfield]

A glimpse of the conditions today!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z859SlMzYq0[/video]

Guy

[Padfield]

Early morning today:







I said the weather would break ...

Guy

[Chris Jackson]

Now that's what I call continental weather Guy! Don't put your skis away yet.
The weather has broken down here in the Med. also, it has dropped from 21°C back down to 14°C with April showers. This has put my hopes of seeing an Orange Tip from one day to the next, temporarily on hold.
Cheers, Chris

[Maximus]

Fabulous photos in your last couple of posts Guy. The Nettle-tree Butterfly is stunning and unusual looking, interesting terrain too

Mike

[Padfield]

Thanks Max - much appreciated.

The cold weather is still with us - the outside cat's bowl (that's the outside bowl, not the outside cat) was frozen solid this morning. So I took another trip to the Papiliorama, before it gets too full in the school holidays.

There were lots of Neptis hylas (the common sailor - very closely related to the European gliders) floating and flipping, and also a few Athyma perius, a superficially similar butterfly but not so closely related.


(hylas)


(perius)

Another pair of lookalikes were these Archeoprepona:


(One-spotted prepona - demophon)


(Two-spotted prepona - demophoon)

If there were a three-spotted prepona it would have to be called demophooon!

This is Anartia amathea:



Always best to check it's the right foodplant ...


(Danaus chrysippus - ssp. alcippus)

There are always plain tigers (Danaus chrysippus) and monarchs (Danaus plexippus) hanging around the milkweeds, where they breed freely. Here is an adult plexippus and a caterpillar.





Another species that breeds freely here is Papilio thoas, the king swallowtail:



Most people passed by the caterpillars, doubtless taking them for bird droppings:





This is the caterpillar of one of the owl butterflies:





Past his best, but a beautiful butterfly - Cethosia cyane:



Also past her best is this female Myscelia ethusa. Butterflies have a high life-expectancy in butterfly houses:



Catopsilia scylla:



Very past his or her best, but actually the first one I've seen, was this Hypna clytemnestra (known in English as the 'jazzy leafwing'!):



And to finish with a more convincing leafwing - I think Kallima inachus, though it's difficult to tell from the underside if it is that or Kallima paralekta:



No, I'll close with one I haven't yet identified:



Guy

[Padfield]

No chance of my wild brown hairstreak eggs emerging any day soon! Last year it was about 1st May and in previous years sometime during April.

There are two eggs in this picture:



This is the one on the left:



It is still cold but most of the snow has melted at my altitude and below and spring temperatures are forecast for the weekend.

Guy

[Padfield]

I went back to Italy this morning, hoping to get better pictures of nettle tree butterfly and also intending to scout for southern festoon. I don't think it's recorded from that region but it's just about in range and there's always hope.

There wasn't much hope today, though. The forecast of mostly sunny was sort of correct, in the sense that the sky was mostly blue, but the few clouds there were covered the sun almost the whole time. Everything was lurking, waiting, often by the track, so I kept putting things up, but very little was flying. In the few sunny intervals everything got up, but these never lasted.

Nevertheless, I saw certainly over 100 large tortoiseshells. They were simply everywhere - on the track ahead of me, gliding around the trees even when it was cloudy, zooming up in pairs and threes from either side as I walked and generally omnipresent. Here are three individuals - no longer the brilliant, pristine individuals of some weeks ago ...







The other constant companion was green hairstreak.



That numbered dozens, rather than hundreds, mainly because it was slightly more local. I thought I was going to get a series of very interesting shots at one point, when I spotted a little ménage à trois, but a quatrième arrived and put them all up.



Nettle tree butterflies were also lying in wait near the path during the cloudy times - and they were simply impossible to spot. Here's one I saw land among leaves and then simply couldn't find when I got there. I took a shot of where I thought it was, just out of interest, and it is there, unconcealed, in the photo - but I'm damned if I could see it in real life:


(it's not even hidden - when you see it you won't be able not to see it)

As soon as the sun appeared, the nettle tree butterflies materialised and flew into the nettle trees - then before I could get any decent pictures the sun would go in again! Here are the best of the few I got:







Firsts for the year were a few chequered blues, three swallowtails and a single wall. Here is one of the chequered blues:



I took few photos worth posting, but here are a peacock, a small copper and a grizzled skipper:







The view:



The full species list for the morning (I was on the site from 11h00 till 14h00):

Swallowtail, small white, green-veined white, eastern Bath white, orange tip, brimstone, wood white, small copper, green hairstreak, chequered blue, nettle tree butterfly, red admiral, peacock, large tortoiseshell, Camberwell beauty, small tortoiseshell, comma, Queen of Spain, wall.

Guy

[Chris Jackson]

That's a good haul Guy. I found your Nettle-tB in photo 6 - you have to look for the antennae, they are a give-away, otherwise it melts in perfectly with the dead oak leaves! Your yearlist on your personal site is looking good and I expect it will be accelerating exponentially very soon.
I should be in Evian-les-Bains with the family for 1 week at the end of April and I hope I'll find some interesting species in the region.
Cheers, Chris

[Pauline]

I reckon you are well and truly spoilt Guy Green Hairstreaks to die for, LT in the hundreds and that beautiful chequered blue - just loving your photos and the camouflaged nettle certainly was a challenge.

[Wurzel]

Fantastic stuff Guy - that Chequered Blue is lush and is one my 'most wanted' list and the Nettle Tree's cryptic colouration is bewilderingly stunning

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Padfield]

Hi Chris. I've never spent any time round the French side of the lake but it looks lovely from across the water! I'd be interested to know what you see there. If your family gives you any time off for good behaviour - or want to come with you - a day trip round the corner into the Rhône Valley of Switzerland is perfectly possible. I don't know if there's anything there at this time of year you particularly want to see - most of the early stuff, before the mountain season, is also found in the South of France. I will be around at the end of April.

Pauline and Wurzel - thank you, as ever, for the comments. Chequered blue is indeed a lovely butterfly. In Switzerland, or at least, at the western end of the Rhône Valley, it is quite different to look at - almost black above, with just a hint of blue in the male. As you move further east along the valley you see bluer individuals and in Italy they are very blue.

It's all kicking off!

Guy

[Lee Hurrell]

Lovely photos, Guy. It took a few minutes to find the Nettle Tree butterfly (I actually had to refer to the shape of the underside in your next shot and then I got it instantly).

I'm happy with my first Small White (and 6th species) of the year this weekend! Things will be kicking off here too now.

Best wishes,

Lee

[Padfield]

Thanks, Lee!

I nipped out locally this afternoon, to see if violet fritillaries were flying yet. No - nor green-underside blue, which was the other thing I thought might be on the wing. But the trip was not wasted and I got a few photos. Here is a tailless scarce swallowtail:



These orange tips are just good friends:



She made sure he understood that ...



... and then went off in a sulk:



Also flying at this small site were small white, green-veined white, brimstone, holly blue, red admiral, small tortoiseshell and comma. I saw a swallowtail (machaon) as I cycled back.

The brown hairstreak eggs are still waiting ...



Guy

[Pete Eeles]

Love the OT photos, Guy, and the story that goes with them!

Cheers,

- Pete

[Padfield]

Thanks, Pete. It really is a vulgar gesture female orange tips make, isn't it?

A quick afternoon trip to the Valley today, arriving on-site at about 15h00. There was hazy sunshine and quite a breeze but even so, in the short time I was there I found 23 species flying.

New for the year were violet fritillary, dingy skipper, green-underside blue and another blue that very annoyingly chose to zoom off before I had a glimpse of the underside. I got a couple of record shots of the upperside, which suggest female common blue, but the almost total lack of orange is very unusual. The only other real possibility for the site is Chapman's blue. In the second picture it sort of looks as if there might be a cell spot beneath but that could be an illusion.





In one field, all the large tortoiseshells not only looked rather knackered but all had particularly tatty hindwings. I noticed the black redstarts were back in residence and wondered if there was a connection ... Here are three different individuals from that field:







Alternatively, they are all females and these are laying injuries.

This little ménage à trois (Eastern Bath white) caught my eye:





The troisième soon got the message and zoomed off to try his luck elsewhere, leaving the couple to get on with their business down in the grass:





When he's done, life will become a happy round of flying up and down the field, getting drunk and chasing the odd bit of skirt, knowing his seed is already safe. When she's done the serious work will begin ...

The other species about today were grizzled skipper, swallowtail, scarce swallowtail, small white, green-veined white, wood white, brimstone, Berger's clouded yellow, orange tip, green hairstreak, holly blue, peacock, Camberwell beauty, small tortoiseshell, Queen of Spain, comma, and speckled wood. A few piccies:

Queen of Spain:



Dingy skipper:



Grizzled skipper (malvoides):



Brimstone:



Holly blue:



Violet fritillary:



Guy

[David M]

Fascinating update, Guy. Your Swiss season appears to now be gathering pace!

[Neil Freeman]

Great stuff Guy, I am filled with admiration and envy in equal measure, I particularly like the Brimstone and Holly Blue photos

Cheers,

Neil.

[Lee Hurrell]

Just stunning.

I think I can see a hint of orange on the right hind wing but it is an odd looking blue!

Wonderful stuff, Guy.

Best wishes,

Lee