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Paul Wetton wrote:I especially like the Queen of Spains beautiful and very fresh looking. Do you get these up the Val d'Herens at the end of June as I've never photographed or video'd them before.

You'll see them, Paul - by the end of June they fly everywhere in Switzerland, even up to the mountain tops. Whether you'll be able to lug your 20kg of photographic equipment after them as they zoom around is quite another matter!

This was taken in the Val d'Hérens at the end of May last year:



Guy

I'll get some footage somehow, even if I have to get them before they wake up in the morning.

I think I may be a little fitter by the end of the three weeks dragging that gear up and down the slopes.

More great photos by the way Guy.

Lovely photos Guy and great to see you're 3 species in already!

Do you get Queens on the French side of the Alps too, and is end of June a good time for them then?

Thanks,

Lee

In answer to Lee - I think Queens are common throughout Europe. They love the sun, though, and this is probably the key to finding them.

The forecast cloud is taking longer to reach us than predicted, though it seems to be gathering as I write. As it was still bright and sunny this morning (and this is half term) I cycled to yesterday's red admiral site to see if that individual was an isolated example or if there were more on the wing.

The latter.

This is yesterday's butterfly, now defending a patch of open rock near where he (or maybe she, looking at the abdomen) was yesterday:



Not far away was this more intact individual:



And this is a third:



All the action was being played out here:



We had a very cold December and the freeze lasted into the new year. I believe it is not the cold that kills this species in the winter but the length of winter. It can last until February. I'm not sure it can last through till the real spring.

Guy

padfield wrote:In answer to Lee - I think Queens are common throughout Europe. They love the sun, though, and this is probably the key to finding them.

Thanks Guy - I'm hoping I might find one this year!

Cheers

Lee

Excellent pics, Guy, and very interesting subject matter.

Do you ever see early Brimstones where you are?

I've never seen brimstone or comma before March - like large tortoiseshell and Camberwell beauty, these seem to be 'well behaved' hibernators.

January and February butterflies are: small tortoiseshell (consistently ready to emerge from early February if the weather is sunny and relatively warm); Queen of Spain (earliest 27th Jan, in 2008 - like ST seems to be ready to fly on any appropriate day or sequence of days perhaps); red admiral (January and February in certain recent years but less reliable than the other two - and much less likely to be seen later in the spring); clouded yellow (occasionally a January butterfly - perhaps when the winter has not been too severe).

Guy

I found the Queen of Spain to be very difficult to photograph, even wilfully so, becoming airborne at the last possible moment. Is this a common experience for this butterfly?

A question - are the larvae of the Large Tortoiseshell readily observed in the wild?

Hi Matsukaze. I've never noticed anything particularly difficult about QoS.They're lively, alert creatures and you have to use stealth - be aware of where your shadow falls, never tread on broken twigs, never move any part of your body fast. But you knew all that. They can be very territorial, and in these cases even if you do spook one it is likely to return to a place nearby. I don't think I've ever missed one I wanted to get a picture of. But then again, there's a difference between creeping up with a tiny, light compact, as I do, and manoeuvring big photographic kit into place...

Large tortoiseshell caterpillars should be easy to find, but I've not knowingly found any - perhaps because I haven't expressly looked. A mission for this year. The female lays quite big batches of eggs and on the one occasion I witnessed this it was on a small bush, relatively close to the ground. Tim Cowles recently sent me a photo (not his) of Camberwell beauty caterpillars hanging off a willow like a bunch of grapes and we wondered why we hadn't seen these either...

I'll keep my eyes peeled in 2011 and post any findings here.

Guy

I've just dug out my diary for 1996, when I saw the egg lay:

"Saw a female large tortoiseshell checking out some sallow for egg-laying. [...] On return, saw her again, this time actually laying. She was under the branch of a young sallow, her wings folded slightly above (i.e., ventrally) as if dying. But in the 15 minutes I watched she laid maybe a dozen eggs. She was still there when I left". (5th May)

And because I didn't carry a camera everywhere in those days, I sketched what I had seen:





Guy

Thanks - a lovely picture!

I'm hardly going to find Large Tortoiseshell in north Somerset, but am in the habit of checking elms and sallows for other larvae at the right time of year, and maybe one day I will be in the right place at the right time...

1.30pm today, temperature barely 5°C (6°C at very most), slight breeze, hazy sun:





Now I shall have to promise no more red admiral shots...

Guy

That latest one looks in reasonable nick, Guy.

It's the same individual as butterfly 2 in my last red admiral post - and yes, in good condition. I'll be watching carefully in spring to see if these same butterflies are still around. Sadly, I suspect they won't be. But better to enjoy a little aseasonal flying in February than to go to bed in November and never wake up again, which is what most red admirals do.

Tomorrow sun is yet again forecast for the Rhône Valley, with temperatures up to 9°C, so I'll go to a site I haven't yet visited this year on the off-chance of clouded yellows and/or peacocks. It's also a strong Camberwell beauty site, but I actively don't want to see one of these as their foodplant is nowhere near in leaf yet. They should stay in bed.

Guy

I travelled further east along the Rhône Valley today and found no change. Small tortoiseshells, Queens of Spain and red admirals seem to be the only things on the wing. Only small tortoiseshells were actually common - they were everywhere. Just three Queens and just one red admiral, in flight.


It looks as though something got at this small tortoiseshell in hibernation.


Something had had a go at this Queen too, though apart from the bite marks it seemed fresh.


Maybe a lizard.

Finally, the first green tiger beetles were scuttling around:



Guy

New species for the year: Large tortoiseshell. Unfortunately, I have no picture, as I spotted it circling around the base of a chestnut tree just at the moment the sun slipped behind clouds. The butterfly flew up into the tree and never re-emerged. That was it for the day - a dense band of high cloud moved in from the west. Large tortoiseshells often rest on tree trunks, where they are brilliantly camouflaged.

Small tortoiseshells were ubiquitous and very common, especially over the Bulbocodium meadows, where it was easy to see five or six individuals in the same field of vision, sharing their time between sunning and nectaring. Queens not so abundant, but present all around my walk, looking small and darting compared with the tortoiseshells, and flashing silver when they spun round in the air and caught the sun.

Their favourite nectaring plant at this time of year is speedwell:



Rubbish picture, but it captures the moment.

I found a fallen oak branch and quickly located a healthy purple hairstreak egg on it. This is now in my fridge, following Pete's advice. I'll warm it up when the oak buds break, but at some stage I shall have to return it to the valley, I presume, to avoid bringing the Rhône Valley genes into the mountains.



When the sun went in it was easy to tell it was still winter. Here's my attempt at an arty shot looking over Martigny, with a mountain stream looking like smoke rising from La Batiaz:



Guy

No need to apologise for your photo of the butterfly, Guy, they are always wonderful to see. As for your hairstreak egg, well that it just plain stunning!

Susie wrote:As for your hairstreak egg, well that it just plain stunning!

Thanks - and to think there is a fully formed caterpillar in there just waiting to get out...

Guy

I agree - just the kind of photos to cheer us up at this time of year ... hibernating adults, hibernating immature stages and stunning scenery! Time to dust the camera off!

Cheers,

- Pete

I'm glad I'm not just boring you all. This is a most exceptional February and I'm pleased to record it - last year my first butterfly was a single red admiral on 27th Feb and the Queens didn't come out to play until 13th March.

I forgot to post this picture, of some neatly opened eggs on the same fallen branch I took my quercus egg from. I wonder if anyone knows what they are.





Guy