www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Nice set of pics from Kip, Jason. I consider this to be my 'local patch' - a super reserve! Good to see that the Common Blues are out now, as I've not seen one yet in Yorkshire (one last weekend in Cumbria).

jasonsargerson wrote:...and a surprise for me, for the first time at this site: a Brown Argus.

Always a nice feeling is that, Jason, especially when you have been visiting for some while.

My first DVD Swiss Butterflies: East is still available from me for £12.00, or buy both East and West for £21.00, including postage.

Swiss Butterflies East concentrates on Graubunden, on sites that I discovered myself, just by getting off the train at a promising place.

The DVD features some rare butterflies including Alcon BLue, Amanda's Blue, Damon Blue, Escher's Blue, Silvery Argus, Thor's Fritillary and Southern White Admiral. Sites filmed include 11 top sites in eastern Switzerland, featuring Lowland, Rocky Steppe, Wetland, Mountain and High Mountain.

The film was shot over 4 years from 2014 to 2017 and has film of over 60 species, with a running time of 74 minutes.

Please see the cover images and photos of key sites: Cavaglia, Oberalppass, Preda and Versam.

My book 'Papilio' about butterflies in Europe and South West USA is still available.

This is a forerunner of the European Butterflies magazine, with different sites visited in Europe and the USA.

Countries visited include Corfu, England, France, Gibraltar, Hungary, Italy, Switzerland and the United States.

Over 100 species illustrated, with 140 colour photographs.

Available from me for £10.00, including postage. See my website www.jasonsargerson.uk for more details.

I have given 25 copies to the Lincolnshire Branch of Butterfly Conservation and also 25 copies to the Yorkshire Branch.

Both of their society stands should be selling the book at a reduced price.

Please see attached scans of the cover and sample pages:

I have just returned from my first trip to Switzerland.

The weather was not very kind, so I include in my accounts places I visited using my Swiss Pass.

Day 1: Thursday June 6th.

This was a dull and wet day. I took the train to Zurich from Brig, hoping to sample the new Class 502 units.

I was lucky and traveled from Zurich to Basel in the new train - reasonably comfortable and smooth.

On returning to Visp from Basel, there was a glimmer of sun, so I visited Leuk in the Rhone Valley - only butterfly on show was a Speckled Wood.

A 'Gold Train' shot through Leuk at speed - this was the new Class 526 for the Sudostbahn on test in the Rhone valley - I managed to photograph on my return to Brig.

June 7th - the second day of my trip to Switzerland.

The forecast was good, after all the rain the day before, so I set off for the Cardinal site near Martigny.

This is supposed to be a secret location, but judging by the number of people on the Swiss Butterfly database, many have located the Cardinals.

Also at this site, it is possible to find Iolas Blue, another rare butterfly in Switzerland, feeding on Bladder Senna (Colutea).

I managed to find some nice Cardinals, mostly females, but the Iolas Blues were difficult to photograph - too far away or diving into the Colutea.

Other butterflies photographed included Turquoise Blue, Safflower Skipper and Red-underwing Skipper. Also seen were Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell and Common Blue.

Lovely Cardinal, Jason. Shame about the weather. Seems like most of central and northern Europe (towards the west at least) has been suffering lately.

Still, that scenery is worth the visit on its own!

June 7th pm - I got back to Martigny and because the weather was so good I was tempted to go on the Mont Blanc Express to Chatelard Frontiere.

This site promises Camberwell Beauty, Apollos and Swallowtails on a good day.

In the background is the volcanic looking Aiguille de Mesure, actually in France.

I managed to see 18 species, photographing 10 species: Silver-studded Blue, Provencal Short-tailed Blue, Swallowtail, Common Blue, Adonis Blue, Heath Fritillary, Queen of Spain Fritillary, Duke of Burgundy, Green Hairstreak, Grizzled Skipper.

Not photographed were: Pearl-bordered Fritillary, Brimstone, Orange Tip, Wood White, Small Tortoiseshell, Piedmont Ringlet, Painted Lady and Small Blue.

I did see a Camberwell Beauty from the train, and several Apollos, but not at the site. The highlight for me was probably the Duke of Burgundy, because it frequents the area near the bee hives and it was probably late in the season.

June 8th - a very nice warm day.

It was a particularly nice day forecast so I ventured higher up to Lauenensee in Bern, hoping to see some different species.

However, it was too early in the season, the best time to visit this protected area is at the beginning of July.

In July you may be rewarded with Scarce and Dusky Large Blue and Purple-edged Copper and possibly Violet Copper.

I only managed Small Tortoiseshell, Small Blue, Green-veined White, Small White and Dingy Skipper.

Lauenesee is a spectacular place though, with the lakes and waterfall, meadows and mountains.

Gstaad used to be the home to Roger Moore - now sadly passed away. Take the 181 Post Bus to Lauenensee.

I stopped off in Spiez on the way back to Brig - always superb views of the lake from the railway station.

June 9th - the fourth day of my holiday in Switzerland.

It was very wet, I decided to go to Geneva by train in the hope that the weather would improve - but it just rained.

I saw Cormorants, Herons and Great Crested Grebes on Lake Geneva on the section between Vevey and Lausanne.

Returning from Geneva, I got off at Aigle and took the TPC train to Monthey.

I walked from Monthey Ville station to the Monthey SBB station in the rain and waited for the train back to Brig in the rain.

Some photos from previous times of Lake Geneva and the TPC train.

Monday 10th June - Day 5 of my Swiss Trip.

It was forecast wet again, so I went on a long train trip.

When i arrived in Zurich, it was sunny and also when arriving in Schaffhausen.

I went to photograph the Munot Castle by the River Rhine in Schaffhausen and also a train crossing the Rhine Bridge.

Leaving Schaffhausen, I went to St Gallen, via Winterthur - it rained all the way, but was dry in St Gallen (unusually).

I arrived on the new Class 502 double deck train and went outside the station to see the new Appenzellbahn Tango trains.

I left St Gallen on the Voralpen Express to Luzern (Lucerne), seeing the lake outside the SBB station and the huge 3 section trolleybuses.

Then it was back to Brig by 1915 - no sandwiches left!

June 11th - last day of my holiday in Switzerland.

It was forecast for some sunshine, so I visited Leuk, where there is usually something even in dull weather if it is warm.

In the morning there were a few butterflies, such as Adonis Blue, Idas Blue, Small White, Bath White and Marbled White.

I took the train to Martigny in the hope of some sun there - but no luck.

I returned to Leuk and managed to see Great Sooty Satyr, Wall, Common Blue, Queen of Spain Fritillary, Idas Blue, Small White and Marbled White in the afternoon.

I attach a photo of Leuk on a sunny day and the butterfly photos.

In total I saw 34 species on my trip (more than in a whole year in the UK), but not as many as the 38 species in June last year.

Not too bad for only 3 butterfly days out of 6.

Pleased to hear you had an enjoyable trip, Jason, even if the weather was far from ideal. As you say, being able to rack up 3 dozen or so species puts things in the UK into perspective.

At last a sunny day - only the second sunny day I have recorded in June in the UK this year!!

I saw some Red Admrals, Painted Ladies, Small Tortoiseshells, Meadow Browns and Speckled Woods at Hessle Golf Club today.

On returning home, there was a very worn Painted Lady feeding on the Verbena bonariensis.

I have sent my records of my sightings from my recent trip to Switzerland to the Swiss Butterfly Recorder: Yannick Chittaro.

If you visit Switzerland and record your sightings Yannick is always very pleased to receive your records.

His email is yannick.chittaro@unine.ch The database where all the records appear is at www.lepus.unine.ch/carto.

The best site for Swiss Butterfly photographs and information is run by Vincent and Michel Baudraz and is www.lepido.ch.

For example my records of Poplar Admiral at Chatelard appear on the database and photos are on lepido.ch.

Some photos of Poplar Admiral:

I 'discovered' a new tree species when I cycled down Westbourne Avenue in Hull today - it is Indian Horse Chestnut - it flowers much later than our Horse Chestnut. Somebody thoughtful has planted several on Westbourne Avenue, thus expanding the flowering season for trees into July.

I went to Wood Lane, Cottingham this afternoon, but the sun went hazy, so I only managed Speckled Wood and Meadow Brown.

I have just returned from my second trip to Switzerland this summer.

It seemed like hard work, there was only one full day of sunshine and two half days.

However, I was lucky to see some key species - at one place (Cavaglia) it was briefly sunny and raining at the same time.

On day one Thursday 11th July, it was dull so I went on the train all the way to Basel, from Filisur in Graubunden where I stay in the east.

I get a first class train pass in the east because the trains are often crowded.

I traveled on the new Class 502 to start and then on the new Class 501 from Zurich to Basel - the Swiss seem to use this as a testing ground.

The train appeared to have small windows - maybe there is a technical reason for fast trains to have smaller windows.

When I returned to Filisur, it was still dull. A quick trip to the woods yielded only Small White, Large Wall Brown, Comma in its favourite place and surprisingly White Admiral - I look forward to Southern White Admiral here usually.

On the second day of my holiday in Switzerland, Friday July 12th, I ventured down the Poschiavo Valley to Brusio.

Sunshine was forecast, but it was relatively cool. I needed to see some butterflies to make up for the previous day.

The weather on the way over the Bernina pass and down through Alp Grum was not very promising - see photos of Ozpizio Bernina and Miralago.

The Cambrena glacier has significantly receded.

At Brusio, I found butterflies such as Common Blue, Small Heath, Comma, Small Skipper, Heath Fritillary and Spotted Fritillary.

It was disappointing not to see any larger Fritillaries, there are usually Silver Washed, Dark Green and High Brown on the buddleias.

The highlight was Purple-shot Copper, one of my favourite butterflies, usually found on the Yarrow at Brusio.

I left Brusio on the 12th July on the 1205 train to Cavaglia.

On the way back I caught glimpses of Apollo, Swallowtail, Marbled White and Silver Washed Fritillary.

By the time i reached Cavaglia, it was dull and I had to persuade myself to get off the train and go to the site.

On passing through the village (about 3 houses), the first place for butterflies is a patch of rough ground with red clover.

I was pleased to find Black-veined Whites and Large Ringlet - a good start despite the dull weather.

Walking further upstream, amazingly the sun came out and i could see some butterflies flying!!

The sun shone briefly on and off and it even rained at the same time as being sunny.

I managed to see Thor's Fritillary for the first time here for 3 years - I like this butterfly because it is always variable.

Also seen were Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary,Titania's Fritillary, Heath Fritillary, Niobe Fritillary, Mazarine Blue, Large Wall Brown, Almond-eyed Ringlet, Dusky Grizzled Skipper, Red Admiral and Painted Lady.

No Coppers though - usually Purple-edged, Sooty and Scarce and occasionally Purple-shot.

So, a good list of butterflies - it poured with rain when I got back to Cavaglia station, so very lucky.

That Swiss scenery is to die for, Jason.....it also helps when the butterfly fauna contains the likes of Thor's Fritillary and Poplar Admiral!