www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

That's an act of immense compassion, Guy, and I wish you well with it. What will happen to Minnie? Will she be coming too?

I can only imagine the mixed emotions for you in this situation, you must be having a tough time. It goes without saying,that we all wish you the very best with the move back to East Anglia.

Thank you all for your very kind comments. Of course, it is going to be very strange living in the flatlands of East Anglia again after half a lifetime in the Alps but I am looking forward to spending some quality time with my father. Vincent Baudraz has also reminded - me many times now (!) - that I will be able to use 'l'hiver britannique' to update my site and get on with finishing and publishing my various writing projects.

Yesterday I said goodbye to my piano.





Fortunately, we have a piano back home in Suffolk. I don't think I could survive without one - this was the first thing I bought when I arrived in Switzerland. I sold her to a friend whose daughter is learning the piano, so I know she will continue bringing music and joy.

Today I decided to visit my cardinals. At the risk of boring everyone who has followed my diary these last years, I should explain (for the last time ) why these butterflies are so important to me. In 2005 I made the news for photographing a female cardinal in Switzerland - the first of the species since 1947. In 2012, Vincent and Michel Baudraz saw another, in almost precisely the same spot. In August 2013 I discovered there was a resident population near Martigny and quickly went to press with les frères Baudraz and Yannick Cittaro (https://naturwissenschaften.ch/uuid/ca4 ... 60a1fef71a). They kindly let me put my name first on the paper, so it was authored by 'Padfield et al.' When I applied for Swiss citizenship, I presented the panel with a proof copy of this paper to prove integration (Swiss citizenship has a very high integration component - you must prove you are an active part of a Swiss community) and basically, that was it. We talked about butterflies for an hour and they told me the same day they were welcoming me in with open arms. So the cardinal is not just a butterfly to me - it represents my Swiss citizenship.

Although the population has thrived since then, it has not spread, and this remains numerically probably the rarest Swiss butterfly. If you know where to go, you will see it. If you don't, you probably won't, though in June and early July they do disperse into the mountains to escape the heat.

I arrived at the site at about 10h00 and the first male cardinals started zooming in at around 10h15. Numbers built up steadily until about 12h30. In the mornings, in the breeding season (they don't breed in the spring), you only see males here, aggressively defending territories. Here is a slow-motion video of a male doing just this. He appears towards the right of the video after a few seconds, scares the hell out of a group of whites, continues flapping and gliding to the right, then turns and zooms straight at me! Watch in HD:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKgsq5XdpFY[/video]

(YourTube URL if the video link doesn't work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKgsq5XdpFY)

And here are a few unexciting photos of some more males, in the excruciatingly brief moments when they paused to nectar:











The first female appeared at 13h15, just breezing through. By then, I had to get back - not least because Minnie was flaking. I might return one afternoon before I leave the country to film some females.

And finally, if anyone has Google Cardboard or equivalent, I strapped my 3D video camera to my crash helmet yesterday and cycled down to the valley - so I could recreate this journey that I take so often, in virtual reality. The content isn't interesting to anyone except me, but it might be interesting as proof-of-concept to others. Because it's 12 minutes, I published it in side-by-side 3D (true left an right, not cross-eyed). This gives the most comfortable and realistic viewing, if you have an appropriate viewer. This also should be viewed in HD:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5WIa3Ynfeo

(the 'teeth marks' in the right eye are because I put the camera in a bum-bag and strapped the bum-bag around my helmet - they are the zip)

Guy

Great shots of the Carindals Guy, I don't think I'll look at them in the same way having read why they're so important to you

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Good luck with the move, Guy - I hope it's a smooth affair and, as you say, it will give you time to complete the many projects you always seem to have on the go.

From my own selfish perspective, I hope it allows us to meet up more often ... Suffolk is a darn sight closer to me than Bern which is where I think we last met up!

That's a brilliant story regarding the Cardinals and your Swiss citizenship!

Cheers,

- Pete

Hi Guy
whilst I don't post much these days I always follow your - and Minnies - adventures with great interest. Having been through a similar situation myself I can relate to the decision you have made and wish you and your dad well. Hope the move goes without hitch and the piano is ready for your arrival! I look forward to your adventures in Suffolk and the surrounding environs and maybe myself and Flossie will bump into you on our own adventures - under a tree with beer in hand

Good Luck and kind regards
Mark

Padfield wrote:
Hi William. I remember you passing through the Aosta Valley some years ago without calling in for humedasae, then I think I recall you reporting seeing them. I guess that was last year - but I can't seem to track down your pictures. You're right - it is enigmatic, like all the anomalous blues - and also increasingly rare: http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/17941/0.

Sadly I never got round to posting them (I keep meaning to do it retrospectively!), I was there pretty early but still saw good numbers of males - a stunning place, hopefully I'll get back there one day.

Good luck with your move back to the UK - sure there are many UKBers (myself among them) that can now make good on a drink/day butterflying they owe after all your photos from the Alps and ID help. The former certainly inspired me to give European butterflying a go, and the latter made it possible!

Cheers,

Will

Hope all goes well with the move and that you do not miss the alpine butterflies too much!

Padfield wrote:... Humedasae didn't actually turn up at a roadside bar for my pleasure!

This actually happened to me a couple of years back with another Italian endemic - Hipparchia neapolitana - which came to join us for coffee one morning, posing nicely on the tablecloth for photos. It was the only one we ever saw.

Those Cardinals are truly magnificent butterflies, they look like they'd give a Purple emperor a run for his money in a barny!

All the best with the move, I can imagine lots of mixed emotions with it. Perhaps you could put your keen eyes to good use in Suffolk woods to see how well PE are spreading in that part of the world

Evocative images as always, Guy....only this time it's YOUR life rather than those of your array of butterflies, which makes it all the more poignant.

Great to see cardinals re-appearing, and good to know that butterflies played a key role in your citizenship acquisition (you kept that one quiet!)

I wish you all the very best with your move Guy. I have enjoyed seeing your photos of exotic species but I am also looking forward to seeing some that I can better relate to

I hope everything goes well, Guy. It would be good to meet you one day.

All the best,
Vince

Thank you all for your very kind comments. Getting ready to leave still occupies all my time at the moment and I haven’t even been out butterflying recently. On top of that, my computer has already left with the removers, so I’m down to iPad processing of pictures. I might post a few more before I leave, but equally, I might not ...

Today, Minnie had her final worming before travel. Next week she will be trotting around on British soil for the first time in her life! Photos of that are sure to follow!

Guy

Good luck with your house moving Guy.
Family is priority.
I'm sure that many great opportunities are waiting for you and I have no doubt that you will rise to them.
Switzerland's loss is UK's gain.
Chris

Hoping things are still running smoothly.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

p.s. did I mention the Winter Social?

Padfield wrote:
Today, Minnie had her final worming before travel. Next week she will be trotting around on British soil for the first time in her life! Photos of that are sure to follow!

Great to hear Minnie's coming too, Guy. We'll all look forward to seeing her four pads on UK soil once you've had time to post the images.

Welcome back to Blighty & safe journey.

Hi! Guy, Welcome back, i've enjoyed your photos of Butterflies I've never seen, also your adventures with Minnie I'm sure she'll settle down here quite quickly, I brought my dog from Canada and he really settled down here, he loved the sea especially
All the best to you and your Father, Goldie

Thanks to everyone again for your kind comments. Minnie and I have been back in the UK for a couple of weeks now. It is quite a culture shock - not least from the point of view of living in an urban (albeit quiet market town) environment after being in a tiny mountain village on the edge of the forest ...


("So where are the mountains ... ?")

I haven't decided exactly how I shall focus my butterfly energies yet. The simple lack of species forces a big game-change. But it was nice to see the local meadow has been allowed to wild up in recent years, so common blues and small coppers now thrive there:







It's good to see speckled woods thriving more than ever - a new species for Suffolk since my childhood, but one I've been seeing for some years now on my trips home:



When the leaves fall, I think hairstreak eggs will be my main mission. Before then, probably plenty of cycle-rides to the coast in the hope of tripping over some rare migrants ...

Guy

' The simple lack of species ', I'm afraid you've been spoilt in Switzerland, but welcome home.
If you are near the East Coast, your rare migrant might be Camberwell Beauty, a rare treat
for us, but maybe a little mundane for you ?. .

Best wishes,
Trevor.

I think it's going to be a bit of a culture shock for us too, seeing your diary full of familiar butterflies. If anyone can come across a Camberwell Beauty, its you though