Re: Padfield
Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 7:48 pm
Although the books give end-June to early August as the flight season of Erebia christi it is essentially over by mid-July these days and I set off this morning not so much to find the butterfly as to explore suitable sites for an early attack next year. I didn't find it, but I did find a fantastic site - textbook perfect for the species, steep and rocky with abundant sheep's fescue, plenty of bare patches and scattered thyme. It more or less spanned the middle of the altitude range of the species and was in a valley where it is known to fly. I have great hopes for this site next year! I also had a wonderful time today, unlike last Thursday when I had quite a miserable time scrabbling about in the wind, seeing almost nothing.
(Tufts of sheep's fescue)
It is not unreasonable to suggest I saw 1000 individual Erebia butterflies today. Probably 900 of these were euryale. The other 100 were split between meolans, alberganus, aethiops, montana, melampus, tyndarus and epiphron. E. euryale was so abundant it was literally impossible to have your eyes open at any time and not see several of the species - sometimes up to twenty. I wasn't really taking photos today, because I was on a 45°slope with a net in one hand, but I did try to get a few. Unfortunately, perhaps because of the honey sun cream I had had to buy in Brig station (I forgot to pack any), almost every time I approached a euryale it jumped onto me. This one found I was already taken - a pair of mating transparent burnets had already smelt me:
Here is another (EDIT: I see it is the same one, though it was photographed four minutes later! It obviously never really left me):
It wasn't just euryale that found me attractive today. Here is a tyndarus (Swiss brassy ringlet) who almost seemed to be trying to net himself. I took him from several angles to bring out the brassy reflections:
The only things I netted in earnest were epiphron. Apparently, christi has a rather gliding fight and so tyndarus, which is almost buzzy (and flashes silver in flight), was never in the picture. I did take a few alberganus, because these are occasionally very small, and a few melampus, though these are on the whole easy to identify in flight and were also very dark and fresh. Although a few epiphron excited me by their flight and general appearance they were soon released after a quick photoshoot in the plastic box. The form of this extremely variable species is very weakly spotted at this site but some of the individuals had elongated spots, like christi, which had me going for a few seconds ... The truth is, christi is one of the most readily identifiable species of Erebia and I would have known even as I netted it if I had one.
Here are two of the netted epiphron:
It goes without saying that they were both released as soon as they had been examined and photographed (uns and ups of each, in the box).
In total, I spotted three candidates I would have interviewed had they accepted the invitation (one got away - the other two turned and disappeared over inaccessible terrain). The chances are they were all epiphron.
Here are a few more Erebia:
(a euryale that didn't leap at me)
(meolans)
(melampus)
(alberganus)
My favourite butterfly of the day was this magnificent female Erebia montana:
She was perfectly camouflaged on the stony path (not on the potential christi site but higher up the valley).
Here is her upperside:
Here is a Niobe fritillary, form eris:
The first silver-spotted skippers of the year were flying:
This means we are now in high summer.
Here is a sooty copper hogging a huge flowerhead all to himself:
It was a wonderful site I found today. With all sorts of blue, from turquoise, through mazarine to alcon, and plenty of fritillaries too, it is a must for next year - beginning of July!
(Left to right: Geranium argus, chalkhill blue, mazarine blue, turquoise blue)
Guy
(Tufts of sheep's fescue)
It is not unreasonable to suggest I saw 1000 individual Erebia butterflies today. Probably 900 of these were euryale. The other 100 were split between meolans, alberganus, aethiops, montana, melampus, tyndarus and epiphron. E. euryale was so abundant it was literally impossible to have your eyes open at any time and not see several of the species - sometimes up to twenty. I wasn't really taking photos today, because I was on a 45°slope with a net in one hand, but I did try to get a few. Unfortunately, perhaps because of the honey sun cream I had had to buy in Brig station (I forgot to pack any), almost every time I approached a euryale it jumped onto me. This one found I was already taken - a pair of mating transparent burnets had already smelt me:
Here is another (EDIT: I see it is the same one, though it was photographed four minutes later! It obviously never really left me):
It wasn't just euryale that found me attractive today. Here is a tyndarus (Swiss brassy ringlet) who almost seemed to be trying to net himself. I took him from several angles to bring out the brassy reflections:
The only things I netted in earnest were epiphron. Apparently, christi has a rather gliding fight and so tyndarus, which is almost buzzy (and flashes silver in flight), was never in the picture. I did take a few alberganus, because these are occasionally very small, and a few melampus, though these are on the whole easy to identify in flight and were also very dark and fresh. Although a few epiphron excited me by their flight and general appearance they were soon released after a quick photoshoot in the plastic box. The form of this extremely variable species is very weakly spotted at this site but some of the individuals had elongated spots, like christi, which had me going for a few seconds ... The truth is, christi is one of the most readily identifiable species of Erebia and I would have known even as I netted it if I had one.
Here are two of the netted epiphron:
It goes without saying that they were both released as soon as they had been examined and photographed (uns and ups of each, in the box).
In total, I spotted three candidates I would have interviewed had they accepted the invitation (one got away - the other two turned and disappeared over inaccessible terrain). The chances are they were all epiphron.
Here are a few more Erebia:
(a euryale that didn't leap at me)
(meolans)
(melampus)
(alberganus)
My favourite butterfly of the day was this magnificent female Erebia montana:
She was perfectly camouflaged on the stony path (not on the potential christi site but higher up the valley).
Here is her upperside:
Here is a Niobe fritillary, form eris:
The first silver-spotted skippers of the year were flying:
This means we are now in high summer.
Here is a sooty copper hogging a huge flowerhead all to himself:
It was a wonderful site I found today. With all sorts of blue, from turquoise, through mazarine to alcon, and plenty of fritillaries too, it is a must for next year - beginning of July!
(Left to right: Geranium argus, chalkhill blue, mazarine blue, turquoise blue)
Guy