www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Thanks Dave, Neil and Lee. Yes, spring has arrived. I don't know if I'll get another trip in before I return to the UK, but when I get back there will be a whole new batch out!

Lee, she is a curious blue. I've decided she is most probably Chapman's and recorded her as such in the diary on my own site. Chapman's is commoner at that exact location and surveying pictures on the internet I find there are several close in pattern to this one but very few common blues looking very much like her. When I next visit (unless I pop down early tomorrow morning) there should be plenty of blues around and I can compare females.

Guy

Hopefully, Guy, when you arrive in the UK, there will be Whites, Holly Blues, Speckled Woods and Orange Tips on the wing. Things have been pretty mild lately so I think your timing is most opportune.

Arrived back in Switzerland last night. It was lovely weather today so I headed off to two sites in the Rhône Valley, the first for rosy grizzled skippers and de Prunner's ringlets, the second for Camberwell beauties. Both produced the goods and much more besides, with 36 species between them. I left the second at about 15h00 because I wanted to check out a site on my old local patch near Gryon on the way home but that site was fenced off for the shooting club so I had to give it a miss. Nevertheless, 36 species for mid-April was definitely a good day. Here are some of them, beginning with the three target species.

Rosy grizzled skipper (Pyrgus onopordi):







De Prunner's ringlet (Erebia triaria)






(there are two in that picture)

This one shows how that third spot is not always entirely in line:



Camberwell beauty:


(this one had been around a bit ...)


(fresher)


(fresher still - EDIT - actually, this is the same one, though I photographed it about 400m away - so it can't be fresher!)


(a Camberwell beauty's eye view ...)



Some other species (I won't bore you with all 36!!):


(male baton blue)


(female baton blue)


(Provençal short-tailed blue)


(a swallowtail trampling a scarce swallowtail)




(more push-and-shove - this time both scarce swallowtails)


(a precocious chequered skipper)


(southern small white)


(not too many large tortoiseshells about at valley level now. This one looked very strange in flight, with all that white)


(dingy skipper)


(brimstone)

For the record, the full tally was:
Grizzled skipper (malvoides), rosy grizzled skipper, dingy skipper, mallow skipper, chequered skipper, swallowtail, scarce swallowtail, small white, southern small white, green-veined white, Eastern Bath white, orange tip, clouded yellow, Berger's clouded yellow, brimstone, wood white, small copper, green hairstreak, common blue, Chapman's blue, baton blue, green-underside blue, holly blue, Provençal short-tailed blue, large tortoiseshell, small tortoiseshell, peacock, Camberwell beauty, comma, Queen of Spain fritillary, violet fritillary, Glanville fritillary, speckled wood, wall, small heath, de Prunner's ringlet.

Those who knew him will be sad to know my companion Kitten Cat died while I was away. He was an old cat and his kidneys have been failing for some time, though he was happy. The woman who looks after him while I am away said he had moved into the last stages so I asked her to put him to sleep to spare him that final, toxic period.

Guy

I don't know enough superlatives to describe these pictures,

Rob

Sorry to hear about Kitten Cat, Guy.

Yes - some absolutely amazing photos there. I'm sure you're glad to be back in CH

Cheers,

- Pete

Thank you, Rob and Pete (I hope they were good superlatives you were looking for, Rob! ). It's billed to be sunny tomorrow, too, before colder weather sets in again, so I'm heading further north to see if I can get a spring brood map. I see the summer brood yearly but it doesn't fly anywhere near me and I've only seen one spring brood individual in my life. I might be too early, but this year you never know ...

Guy

Superb Guy - those Camberwells really are beauties, as are the double Swallowtail photos. Stunning

Its as though you had a butterfly welcoming committee Guy, waiting for you back home!
Chris

robpartridge wrote:I don't know enough superlatives to describe these pictures,

Rob

Agreed. You really ARE in a wonderful part of Europe, Guy (although I'm sure you already know that).

Scarce and Common Swallowtail in the same image is plain ridiculous, yet you've managed it!!

Great selection of photos of some lovely butterflies Guy, my envy continues unabated

Cheers,

Neil.

Thank you for all the kind comments. Things have really moved in the 11 days I was away - and yes, it was a little like a butterfly welcoming committee!

The Rhône Valley of Switzerland is, indeed, an outstanding region for butterflies. I had no idea quite how good it was when I first moved out here!

Guy

Stunning, Guy! I think the male Baton Blue is my new favourite "Padfield Picture"

Sorry to hear about your cat.

Best wishes,

Lee

I'm flattered you have a favourite 'Padfield picture', Lee!

Up at 06h00 this morning to head for the Jura, where last August I found the only decent concentration of map butterflies I have seen in Switzerland - all form prorsa, obvioiusly. I also saw the nettle patches where females were going through the motions (but I didn't see any actually laying) so had high hopes this would be a place for getting photos of spring brood maps (form levana) this year. Before today I had seen just one individual of this form, pretty randomly at a campsite in France on a family holiday nearly 30 years ago. Today that big gap in my photobank was partially filled! I'm not sure of the sex of all the individuals I saw but none made any real show of being broody and I still haven't got that egg-laying photo. In fact, they were all very difficult to photograph, spending most of their time low in the grass and being extremely wary.







This was the only one that (briefly) showed any interest in getting down among the nettles:



Just for comparison, for those who don't know this amazingly dimorphic species, this is the summer brood, photographed at the same place last year:



That was my only target for the day and I didn't expect to see much else - but I was pleasantly surprised. New for the year were grizzled skipper (malvae, as opposed to malvoides), red-underwing skipper, pearl-bordered fritillary, sooty copper, little blue and pale clouded yellow. I think this last species must be resident here. Nearer to where I live it is found only as a migrant, breeding opportunistically in temporary clover fields during the summer. My local resident is Berger's.


(pale clouded yellow)

This wood white posed for a 'Padfield' photo!



Everything flew later in the day than in the Rhône Valley and most things were only beginning to get going by the time I had to leave - it is a very long journey to this site. One of the later fliers, that turned out to be quite common, was Glanville fritillary. This melanic individual was striking:



In flight it looked most like false heath fritillary and I really wasn't sure what I was looking at until it landed. I knew it wasn't Nickerl's from the flight pattern - Nickerl's is a pathetic flier - and I suspected Glanville, but was intrigued all the same. Here is another shot of it:



And here is a normal Glanville, seen shortly afterwards at the same site:



Here is a Jurassic fox:



The full species list for today:

Grizzled skipper, red-underwing skipper, dingy skipper, swallowtail, small white, green-veined white, wood white, pale clouded yellow, brimstone, orange tip, sooty copper, green hairstreak, little blue, common blue, comma, peacock, Glanville fritillary, pearl-bordered fritillary, small heath, wall, speckled wood.

Quite exhausted now! Fortunately, it will rain tomorrow.

Guy

im impressed with the foreign butterflies, also with the shots you have of them. Looks like im going to have to up my game
alot

maverick wrote:im impressed with the foreign butterflies, also with the shots you have of them. Looks like im going to have to up my game
alot

Lepidoptery begins at home, Maverick! And I seem to recall you photographing some pretty serious foreign stuff rather recently ...

Guy

Glorious stuff, Guy. You must feel quite bereft when you travel and stay in the UK.

Switzerland is in a league way above us when it comes to spring species.

That melanic Glanville is quite something! I wouldn't have given it a second glance and have put it down to Heath (which, to those that have never been to the continent butterfly-watching, is normally one of the commonest species around)!

Cheers,

- Pete

Thanks again for the comments. Yes - that Glanville frit really had me going until it settled and I could confirm what it was.

It was unexpectedly sunny today but I was Mr Music for the Easter service so spent the morning bashing out 'Thine be the glory' and other stirring hymns! Then I scarpered off to the valley ...

My nearest short-tailed blue site produced almost nothing - just a few common blues, Chapman's blues and green-underside blues. Further east along the valley rosy grizzled skippers were again out in force:





A stiff breeze was keeping most things at bay but I still managed to find quite a lot, including my first turquoise blue of the year:



There were also one or two Adonis blues, plenty of holly, green-underside, Chapman's and common, and now a few little blues and Provençal short-tailed too. This is a Provençal short-tailed:



It is strange that the large tortoiseshells seem to be over already but commas, which have been on the wing just as long, are still going strong. This one was rather lightly marked and bright:



I wondered if it was an exceptional overwintering hutchinsoni but never got a chance to see the underside.

De Prunner's ringlet:



Green hairstreak:



You can't tell from that photo, but the hairstreak was lying with its wings parallel to the ground, so the background of the picure is in fact the ground.

I rescued this ascalaphid from the puddle you can see behind it, where it was lying motionless, apparently drowned:



It was really delighted to have its wings free of the surface tension and moved them around constantly. I placed it in direct sunlight and a slight breeze, hoping its drenched body would dry out before the clouds came:



These insects can warm up by vibrating their wings and that might help for getting itself dry.

On the way back I stopped off near Martigny to look for cardinal caterpillars. Unfortunately, I think these feed at night, so I'll probably have to do a nocturnal hunt to maximise my chances. All I found, among the copious wild pansies, was a single Queen of Spain caterpillar (I think):





It wasn't feeding - just apparently resting up near a pansy plant, perhaps before heading off to pupate somewhere. Despite the fact there are thousands of Queens in these vineyards I have yet to see a caterpillar on the foodplant.

The weather looks set poor for a while now.

Guy

Great stuff again, Guy. That Turquoise Blue is to die for.

Padfield wrote:It was unexpectedly sunny today but I was Mr Music for the Easter service so spent the morning bashing out 'Thine be the glory' and other stirring hymns! Then I scarpered off to the valley ...

I can just see it ... "The sun is shining, and I need to go and see God's creations, and we'll therefore be singing 'Thine be the glory' in double time. A-one, two, three, four ..."

I've reared Queen of Spain in captivity, and the larva is very different from the one you show (excellent photos by the way!). I think it's either High Brown or Niobe Fritillary.

Cheers,

- Pete