Padfield

[David M]

Good to see the natural rhythm returning, Guy (albeit with a weather 'caveat' to come).

Those Queens must be amongst the hardiest of all European species.

[Padfield]

Tough and long-lived, David. Snow has returned with a vengeance, right down to the valley, but the Queens will be fine.



In 2014 I photographed this Queen on 12th January and then again on 1st February, after intervening cold and snow:


(12th January)


(1st February)

If anything, the colder the better on non-flight days, as this keeps metabolism and energy expenditure low.

Guy

[Padfield]

Bitterly cold but sunny today and though the snow hasn't melted yet the small tortoiseshells were up and about. I saw the first as I walked home from school at lunchtime, in Chesières, so at about 1200m. Then, reaching my village of Huémoz I saw two more. I nipped home, got Minnie and we set off again, seeing mabye half a dozen in total.

This is one place they were flying:



One seemed particularly fond of that snowy verge, where it took minerals from the damp ground. It did rest on the snow a couple of times, but only briefly and I wasn't in a position to capture it on film.



According to WeatherPro (which often underestimates temperatures, I think) the ambient temperature should have been about 3°C. This is a fairly open spot which doesn't really trap heat and it didn't feel much warmer than that. But this didn't put off the tortoiseshells.

Guy

[David M]

Amazing that butterflies should be settling within centimetres of compacted ice, Guy. They really do behave quite differently in your part of Europe than they do in ours.

[Goldie M]

It looks rather bleak there Guy, no flowers just melting snow, when I've seen Tortoiseshells here their nearly always on flowers, Dandelions Daisies etc, their real survivors aren't they, very tough over there, great for you to see them so early and a nice photo roll on the milder weather here Goldie

[Padfield]

Roll on the milder weather indeed, Goldie!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNIe9ZK7FDQ[/video]

That was this afternoon. Not much flying.

Guy

[Jack Harrison]

I have to say Guy that I love your doggie pictures - and that is a real compliment from a cat lover (I'm not noted as as a dog fan).

Cat cost circa 100 quid at the vet today - just because he was had the runs Maybe cheaper than carpet cleaning

Jack

[David M]

I think we all just love Minnie, Jack.

If it were possible, I'd love to know what she's thinking. She looks SO pensive.

[Padfield]

If it were possible, I'd love to know what she's thinking. She looks SO pensive.

Something like this, mutatis mutandis ('chamois' for 'umpire' &c.):

http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rf10/dws.html

Compliment appreciated, Jack! £100 is stiff for a vet's bill even by Swiss standards.

Guy

[David M]

Very amusing!

I'm sure Minnie's thoughts are a bit more profound than those!

[bugboy]

I think it's about time Minnie got her own personal diary on here!

[Padfield]

It's better that she crash mine, Bugboy. If Minnie had editorial control over content there would be few butterflies and quite a lot of unsavoury things on show here!

Today's target was large tortoiseshell. I have already seen one this year, at the end of February, but I never even saw that settle. The valley is still cold, though, and despite the sun (which was veiled by hazy cloud) I saw little at my first site apart from small tortoiseshells. There were a couple of Queens and a single red admiral but a chill wind kept most things at bay.





I suspected it was better further east, so left that site at midday and moved along the valley. Within five minutes of arriving at the next site I had seen two male brimstones - and brimstones (all males) were a constant presence for the rest of the day. None so much as paused, though, so intent were they on tracking down a female. There were lots of small tortoiseshells, a single peacock and then, finally, a large tortoiseshell. As the afternoon warmed up more came out and in total I saw half a dozen.





A small tortoiseshell:




(it wasn't supposed to open its wings)

Factoring in a little shopping, I didn't get home until after sunset. A single cloud hovered in the sky and the forecast remains good for tomorrow - so I'll probably go to the second site early and catch some of the new species while they're still warming up.



Guy

[trevor]

HI Guy,

You've certainly got it made in Switzerland. We can only dream of Queen of Spain Fritillary and
Large Tortoiseshells over here. But that's just for starters, as the season progresses you'll tease us
with Camberwell Beauty, Lesser PE.,and the like!. Not to mention the exquisite images as well.
It's all too much.

Good hunting in 2015

TREVOR.

[Padfield]

Thank you for the kind comments, Trevor. Switzerland is a lovely country to live in, for many reasons, but the butterflies must come top of the list. I also find it a very civilised country, with perhaps the best animal welfare laws anywhere in the world.

The last couple of days have brought nothing new out but those that have emerged have now established themselves as up and about. Today hazy cloud completely obscured the sun but large tortoiseshells, small tortoiseshells and Queens were all flying. I had little time to do more than a brisk walk round my nearest vineyard Queen site and there were no particularly brilliant photo opportunities.

Here is Minnie checking the violets by the track for cardinal caterpillars. She didn't find any (and they would be very small, as they hibernate almost straight out of the egg and the snow has only recently melted):



Guy

[Padfield]

I've just spent a few days in freezing cold Vienna, on a maths competition, and have been up to my eyeballs since. It's a shame, as it's been lovely weather in Switzerland. Today small tortoiseshells, brimstones and red admirals were out in force in my village, as well as a single comma and a large tortoiseshell.

In the evening, at 20h15 precisely, some of the Valaisan mountains were illuminated, striking an eery silhouette against the sky. Here is part of Les Dents du Midi, shrouded in cloud and set beneath Orion (tragically, I cut Betelgeuse out of the picture - when it's dark it's difficult to frame the scene perfectly):



The phenomenon lasted exactly 3 minutes. It was part of the 200th anniversary celebrations of Valais joining the Swiss Confederation.

Guy

[David M]

Very atmospheric, Guy.

Will you get to see the partial solar eclipse this Friday?

[Padfield]

Very atmospheric, Guy.

Will you get to see the partial solar eclipse this Friday?

It's looking positive at the moment ...

http://www.meteosuisse.admin.ch/home.html?tab=overview

[David M]

Looks nigh on perfect chez toi.

Good luck with your observations.

[MikeOxon]

tragically, I cut Betelgeuse out of the picture

Very easy to put right with Photoshop

I see you are about to reach Page 100 of your diary!

Mike

[Padfield]

tragically, I cut Betelgeuse out of the picture

Very easy to put right with Photoshop

That did occur to me, Mike - but it would have been WRONG!

I see you are about to reach Page 100 of your diary!

I think this will be the last post on double-figure pages ...

So, to close the 99th instalment, here's Minnie enjoying the eclipse:





You could say she was over the moon (and sun) about it ...



Rex and his owner, who happened to be passing, were happy to share the moment. We all agreed it got perceptibly colder and duller at peak eclipse.



Guy