www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Thanks David and Wurzel. Blazing June it has not been so far, either here or in the UK, so far as I can tell!

Annoyingly, though, it was blazing all day today. I say annoyingly, because I took half a dozen kids from school on a nature walk in my woods yesterday, when it was all mist and rain, and we saw virtually nothing. Today I would have wished for cool weather, as there was supposed to be a whole-school race from Ollon, at 530m, to the top of the Grand Chamossaire, at 2112m, and Minnie and I had said we would run it. In the end, recent rain made the track too muddy to guarantee that the stragglers would be back in time for the rest of the day's events, so the race was shortened. We ran from 530m to about 1400m, then back down to school, at about 1250m. It took Minnie 1 hour 12 minutes. Here we are on the finishing straight, with about 200m to go:



As soon as we finished the race we zoomed home then off to Geneva and out into the countryside to my poplar admiral site. We arrived there at 14h00, in the heat of the day, and spent two hours wandering around looking for admirals. White, yes - but fewer than 100, in contrast to the many thousands flying last year - red too (just one), but no poplar at all. Very interesting, if a little disappointing. On 6th June last year we saw a dozen at that site, morning and afternoon. On 6th June this year none - and no white admirals either. On 22nd June some white admirals but no poplar. Nor, for that matter, were there any lesser purple emperors, which should normally have been out. It was nice to see a few woodland browns, though these are common in my local woods so didn't really merit a 30km bike ride (from Geneva and back). But it was a lovely walk and as I sat drinking beer with Minnie before cycling home I felt what a privilege it was to be there, in the cool woods, with my best friend.


(I only photographed one white admiral - it was lovely just to watch instead of shooting for a change)


(woodland Brown)


(black-veined white)


(ready to go home)

Guy

Guy, I'm breathless just reading that!

You deserved at least ONE Poplar Admiral, surely?

How were you able to keep the camera steady after all that running and cycling - you must be Zen

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thanks David and Wurzel. A lifetime of chasing butterflies up and down hills does wonders for a man's fitness! And a dog's ...

I must admit, though, it's all been pretty intense recently. Friday was graduation day, which was held in the mountains this year, under the gaze of the Miroir d'Argentine - an impressive rockface very popular with climbers:







I cycled there early so I could do a quick butterfly check beforehand but as I expected the species I was looking for was not yet flying. This is a very late year.

In confident anticipation of a Leave vote I had stocked up with Adnams Ghostship and spent the rest of the day in a kind of euphoric, alcoholic haze. Minnie had no idea what I was so happy about but was happy too anyway. The complete lack of butterflies at either of the sites we visited in the afternoon did nothing to dampen our spirits. What did was the realisation, at 23h00, that I was supposed to be at a meeting in Geneva at 09h30 the next morning. Somehow we got there on time and Minnie met a lot of dogs at lunchtime on the banks of the lake. Here's a view of the famous waterspout:



Today's trip, squeezed between other commitments, was to an Asian fritillary site. I had little time there and the sun never showed, but I think it was probably too early for the Asian fritillaries anyway. There were plenty of fresh northern walls - usually worn by this date:





My first mountain green-veined whites of the year were flying too, but only males:



There were no alpine heaths, a butterfly that as a rule doesn't mind a bit of cloud and is usually common at this site. The only other species I saw were little blue and dingy skipper:





The fact all these butterflies have open wings shows how warm it was, despite the 100% cloud cover.

Unusually, I managed to gain the morel high ground:



There is no mushroom to equal fresh morels. Normally, they're a spring mushroom but I can now vouch for the fact they taste just as good at the end of June.

Guy

Hi Guy, I've been to Geneva a couple of times,and I remember seeing lots of black kites there. Did you see any? Good luck with the Asian Fritillary,I hope you find some.

Hi Buzzard. Yes, there are black kites from Geneva all round the lake, along the valley and up into the mountains where I live. A couple of years ago I came across an amazing flock of them scavenging near wetlands in the canton of Geneva but well away from the lake:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44JtAFah-Q0[/video]

That was something of a one-off - I've passed the spot many times since without seeing that number, though their whinnying calls are always in the background anywhere near Geneva.

Guy

Great video,Guy! Wow,I didn't see quite that many when I was there. I wonder why black kites are so common in the area, where the summer climate seems to be broadly similar to southern England, where they are a rare visitor. Perhaps the English Channel is the barrier. I'm guessing someone was feeding the birds in your clip?

There must have been some kind of food refuse to scavenge there, Buzzard. I don't think it was specially for them but they liked it!

End-of-term insets and training have been more intense than usual and I haven't had time to do much butterflying - nor has the weather been very good. But a couple of days ago I was able to get up into the local mountains, if only to establish that almost nothing is flying yet! No oeme, no pandrose, no clouded Apollos, all of which should normally have been flying. Not even any alpine grizzled skippers or alpine arguses. But a lovely walk, with the usual lovely views:



A few days ago I did see my first high brown fritillary in my local woods, so summer is at least on the way ...



Yesterday was mostly rain and thunder but today was hot, so Minnie and I went off to Italy for Hungarian gliders, large chequered skippers and summer-brood nettle tree butterflies. I saw all three, but with only poor photos of the skippers and none of the gliders - there were very few flying and it was extremely hot and muggy, as well as being overcast at the main glider site.

Here is a nettle tree butterfly, freshly emerged I think and taking minerals:



This is the only one of about half a dozen large chequered skippers that actually stopped for a moment:



I tried to sneak round for an underside but he boinged off after my first, distant shot:



At one site, a single individual bounced incessantly all around the site for about ten minutes before I got bored with walking in circles following him!

I think the biggest surprise of the day was a male, spring-brood Camberwell beauty, still valiantly defending his territory. I've never seen one as late as July before!



Elsewhere, a freshly emerged large tortoiseshell landed on my right shoulder - impossible to photograph as the camera was around my neck.

A few other shots from the day, before I turn in for the night:




(purple-shot copper)


(another purple-shot copper)


(heath fritillary)


(Hungarian glider habitat - a couple of males were gliding in and out here when the sun shone. I would have taken some video but the sun went in and I never saw them again!)

Guy

That Nettle Tree Butterfly is an absolute cracker Guy

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Great shots Guy, your weather there is much better than our's at present. Goldie

Padfield wrote:


(Hungarian glider habitat - a couple of males were gliding in and out here when the sun shone. I would have taken some video but the sun went in and I never saw them again!)

Guy

More interesting stuff Guy.

That looks like the larval foodplant of the Hungarian Glider in blossom ( creamy white plumes ) in the centre of your picture Guy. In N.Italy during late July 1981, I found several of their freshly laid ova on that plant growing actually alongside water courses with some actually growing in the water in the stones and rocks. Maybe explains the name rivularis ... Neptis rivularis last time I used the nomenclature which was many moons ago. Maybe changed now. In August a day or so before the long drive back to home in the UK, I found a number of their larval tubes on leaves of Spirea growing in a disused Quarry. Back home I purchased a few potted plants of the ornamental Spirea x bumalda Antony Water from a local Garden Centre. The little larvae overwintered successfully on that plant in a similar structure to the hibernaculum used by our White Admiral. Produced fine butterflies the following summer. I had 100% survival using potted plants netted over exposed to all weathers. Similar to the ones on the bottom left in this picture of one of my Greenhouses used exclusively for Butterfly breeding. :~



Here's side view. Sometimes wish I had held onto it.



I dismantled my Greenhouse a few years ago and sold it on ebay.. Got a good price for it.

Thanks Wurzel. They're not always that amenable, but even so, I had to be stealthy.

We've had our share of downpours too, Goldie! Not least yesterday, when it tipped from dawn till dusk.

Yes, that's the foodplant, CC - goatsbeard. I should check it carefully for ova but haven't yet - always chasing the clock, sadly. Although the plant itself isn't restricted to streams and rivers all the sites I know of for rivularis are along waterways. I was given a site in Ticino just today, by a friend who was there last week, and that too was along a path by a river.

Today I had very little time too, as I had to be home by 16h30. But it was a glorious, sunny day so I headed off for the Asian fritillaries that weren't flying last Sunday. They were today, males and females, all fresh:


(female)


(same female)


(male)

This is a relatively rare species, found in just a few alpine valleys in Switzerland.

The site had really hotted up since last week and even though I actually left it by 12h30 to check out a different site on the way down to the valley I saw several new species for the year, including alpine heath, alpine grayling, large blue, blind ringlet and large ringlet. There were plenty of chequered skippers around but no alpine grizzlies - usually a reliable species there. Other butterflies flying were common blue, Mazarine blue, little blue, small white, black-veined white, mountain green-veined white, orange tip, swallowtail, small tortoiseshell, false heath fritillary and northern wall.

I changed my mind on the way down and actually tried somewhere completely new - a track leading off the main road at about 950m:



I didn't have long there but decided it was somewhere worth coming back to another day, not least because I found a lovely, dark, female alcon blue:







I'm not convinced about the distinction between alcon and rebeli. This was a dry mountainside, so she should technically have been rebeli - the species or subspecies that feeds on Gentiana cruciata. But she was almost all dark, like typical alcon. My local rebeli fly higher up the mountain and the females are much brighter, with visible dark spots on the uppersides. There is much discussion about whether alcon/rebeli represent two true taxa or ecological/altitudinal forms. She was a lovely butterfly, whatever!

I also saw my first Escher's blue of the year, before jumping back on the bike and zooming home.

Guy

I still haven't really recovered from the end of term and would have loved a lie-in this morning. However, the forecast was for unbroken sunshine today and less good weather tomorrow, so I set the alarm and got up early again.

Although technically it was Monday today, I made it Thor's day. I headed off for the site I found in 2013 - I think my nearest Thor's fritillaries - and found them flying in such good numbers I focused exclusively on them all day. This is a local and in many parts of its range locally threatened butterfly, restricted to damp alpine woodlands with open glades. It has a disjunct distribution, being found in Scandinavia and the Alps, but only in the Alps is it really dark-coloured. The males are darker than the females. I took dozens of pictures, of which here is a selection. Apologies in advance for a lot of pictures of the same species coming up!!

This was the first one I saw, right on the grassy verge where I left my bike:



The plant is Geranium sylvaticum. This turned out to be the main attractant, though they did nectar at other flowers too.

The underside of the same female:



It was difficult taking photographs beside the road because cars, cyclists and walkers were almost streaming past and Minnie was getting in their way. So I headed into the woods and down towards the river. This is typical habitat:



Here, they were mostly males:





I was lucky with a flight shot here:



There weren't enough cranesbills to go round:



A very dark male:



Another individual at the same river spot:





They were equally happy nectaring in deep shade:



This is a female:



And I think the underside of the same female:



This is a different female:



And another:



Minnie did her own thing while I photographed thore ...



... just occasionally photobombing in her inimitable style!



Obviously, other species were on the wing too. This post is already too long, so here are just a few to close:


(orange tip)


(Niobe fritillary)


(pearl-bordered fritillary)


(geranium argus)

Before heading home I stopped to have a beer and it was just so lovely sitting there in the shade I caught the train an hour later and had a few more. It feels as if the holiday is finally beginning.



Guy

I stayed at home today, doing just my local woodland walk in the morning, in the hope of the first purple emperors of the year. There were none, though I did see a white admiral, as well as my first local woodland browns. These are already common:



The weather was mostly overcast with occasional sun. In general, only browns were flying but there were so many of these it was surprising not to see any Arran browns - usually on the wing by now. One of the non-browns out and about was my first local marbled fritillary of the year:



That reminded me I hadn't seen any lesser marbled fritillaries yet, so in the afternoon, on the way back from the shops, I took a detour via my nearest site for this species. About four fresh males were cruising around the meadowsweet. When the sun went in, one of them posed for a brief photo-shoot:



So, little by little, everything is coming out to play in 2016 - just a little later than usual.

Guy

The skies have been lovely recently. I took this picture of Scorpius last night, with Mars (= Ares) set against Antares and Saturn in the picture too:



The same picture, annotated:



On our evening walk tonight I noticed the glimmer of a beautiful sunset through the trees and ran on and on along the road until we found the only spot where we could get a clear view for a photo. It is unusual to get so clear a view of the lake from up here in the mountains. The lights just visible on the far shore are Montreux and Vevey:



Finally, as we walked home, Jupiter was conspicuous between the clouds. I gazed at it and imagined Juno orbiting it, having arrived yesterday. She is expected to complete 37 orbits over 20 months, then crash into the gas giant and die. This picture was hand-held:



Guy

Guy, fascinating stuff. I blame the late Sir Patrick Moore for my interest in the night sky. Mind boggling stuff since my schoolboy days in the 1950s.

Is that Mars I see low in the South Western clear Skies after midnight? Even to my aged minces ( note CC content I did there ... ), it sometimes appears tinged red ... as per The Red Planet.

Visited my little Nature Reserve with my younger son this afternoon. Very warm. What was once open grassland, has now been over run with Rose Briar and Sloe/Black thorn and some Hawthorn thicket. It will turn to woodland in a year or so unless I get a local farmer to bulldoze most of the rapidly growing scrub away. Despite less grassy areas, still plenty of Marbled Whites flying with a few mainly male Meadow Browns. Nothing else much to be seen but a couple of Buzzards overhead... a common sight and always good to see.

Guy,

Lovely shots of the Thors. I am right in thinking they are localised just to Switzerland, as I they have not appeared on my radar before in the French Alps.
The Orange Tip is nice too casting it's shadow.

I also like seeing how contented Minnie looks in all your posts.

Regards Kev

Hi CC. Yes, Mars is bright but setting, low in the South-West, after midnight - and your ageing minces are not deceiving you! It does look distinctly red. Jupiter is much further to the West. I was a fan of Patrick Moore too, though during my childhood he was on the telly too late for me to be allowed to watch.

You are right too, Kev, that thore does not fly in France. It is not entirely restricted to Switzerland, though. There is a small corner of Germany where it flies and it is also found in the Austrian and Italian Alps. I remember Paul K, aka Kip, came across one quite by chance in Italy last year (I think it was last year - maybe the year before).

Keeping on the fritillary theme, I went up high today for Cynthia's fritillary. Of all the alpine fritillaries, this is probably the most iconic. Like the purple emperor, it is not actually rare but nevertheless the object of special attention and devotion.







Those are all hilltopping males. I only saw one female today, much lower down the hill, doubtless freshly emerged:



All the pictures were taken with Minnie attached to me as this is Marmot Central. I don't trust Minnie not to disappear down a hole after one!!



Marmots are a cross between a meerkat and a womble.




(Minnie checking out a marmot hole)

They were not the only mammal around. I'm sure I've seen this ancient ibex before:





Here is a different one:



Other butterflies flying included dewy ringlet ...



... alpine argus ...





... dusky grizzled skipper ...



... and loads of painted ladies:



Altogether, little was on the wing. A few idas and mazarine blues were around and quite a lot of little blues, but the site is behind schedule, as most sites are. I expected Cynthia's fritillary to be less affected by 2016 because it flies very high, so conditions in April and May are not so relevant, and has a two-year cycle. Lower, one-year species are all late.

We cycled back down to the valley, stopping briefly on the way without seeing anything special, and called in at a site for ilex hairstreak. It was a little late in the day but I'm not sure that's why we saw none. I think they have declined in the last few years.

I'm never quite sure who these wagtails I see down by the river are. I always called them grey wagtails but they don't look like the pictures at all. Perhaps a birder could confirm the species.



Guy

Oh those Cynthia's are to die for Guy. Like the British Swallowtail I've wanted to see one in life since I was a small child!

My stab at your Wagtail would be a young White Wagtail, Motacilla alba alba the continental race of our Pied one.

My stab at your Wagtail would be a young White Wagtail, Motacilla alba alba the continental race of our Pied one.

Agreed. Certainly not Grey Wagtail which is in fact quite yellow

Jack