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The coldest May (so far) since 1984 melted this weekend and it was actually hot today for the first time all year. There's no disguising it's a late season, though, with snow still grasping down the mountains, and most species are behind this time last year, which was itself late.



A trip along the Rhône Valley today (bike and train) produced 40 species, despite my missing nearly all my targets for the day (because they weren't flying yet at their sites - the missed targets being Provençal fritillary, Zephyr blue, turquoise blue and Osiris blue). Here are a few highlights. I might add some tomorrow, as I will be visiting a different site then.


Swallowtail and scarce swallowtail taking minerals together, not far from...


... a grizzled skipper and green-veined white.


Camberwell beauties are absurdly common this year. They were almost constant companions today and I found it more enjoyable just to admire them than to worry about getting photos.


This one did insist on sitting next to me, though!


This is a close-up of a fresh grizzled skipper.


This dingy skipper, at the other end of its life, had taken on a beautiful golden hue.


Chequered blue, flying at a site where I never knew it flew. One of the wonderful things about butterflying is discovering new things in new places.


A reminder of the Suffolk coast - small copper form caerulopunctata.

Yesterday I stayed more local and found this female short-tailed blue laying eggs on sainfoin, a plant I didn't know the species used:



This male Provençal short-tailed blue, by far the commoner of the two species, was in my local woods:



Today's outing took me up to 94 species for the year. I'm aiming for 200 (=20 x 10) this year, to celebrate 2010 in style!

Guy

Highlight of day two of this hot weekend was Nickerl's fritillary (Mellicta aurelia), of which I found four individuals. The only other Mellicta/Melitaea species around was Glanville fritillary - no heath and no false heath, unlike this time last year, when both were flying.







Remarkably little else was flying, compared with this time last year, but here are a few piccies, focusing on British species:


A couple of Queens.


A peacock that looks as if it's fresh out of hibernation.


A Duke - another species that seems to be enjoying the late spring.


There is a Camberwell beauty visible in this picture (just over half way up, slightly to the right) - he was defending the gorge against anything foolish enough to try flying along it. Here is a detail from the same shot, in case you can't see him!



Today I saw all the hibernators (small tortoiseshell, large tortoiseshell, brimstone, peacock, comma, red admiral, Camberwell beauty) and yesterday I saw all except the tortoiseshells. It is very definitely spring here - summer is not yet in sight!

Guy

Some great stuff there! Do you think we may get an influx of Camberwell's in the UK too?
Shows what a cold winter does; as I left the UK Spring was in suspension. When I went to Finland, it was back to the start of Spring - buds tightly closed on the Silver Birch - but when I left the trees were just bursting into leaf.....And I returned to a warm UK with Spring in full swing!
This warm spell was brought things on a little, but things are still a week or so behind the last 2 years around here.
What I notice is the late development of larval food plants - either from the cold weather or now, lack of moisture,....I hope we get some cool wet spells to save the plants....Being the UK, we usually do....
N

NickB wrote:Do you think we may get an influx of Camberwell's in the UK too?

Most British CBs are Scandinavian in origin (though Jeremy Thomas mentions that the 1995 influx came from Poland) and so conditions in central Europe might not be indicative. Nevertheless, if the bumper year down here is duplicated in the north ... who knows? Of course, lots of adults in the spring doesn't necessarily mean lots of adults in the summer, but it must be a good start.

Guy

Fantastic weekend by the sound of it... both types of swallowtail in one shot, ... that orion is an absolute gem, and fresh Nickerls... wondered what they would be like .... same site as last year? I wonder if your late season will have caught up by July I don't know how many people follow your own website, but it's great to see some highlights in this overseas thread....

The orion was at the Provençal frit site, Paul. I was amazed by its colour, because as you know, near Martigny the males have a few scattered blue scales at best:


(April this year)

They are bright blue in the Tessin (where they are also double brooded) so perhaps the colour is clinal, getting bluer as you go East. Or perhaps that individual was just a freak. Difficult to draw conclusions from one butterfly.

The late season should keep the intermedia fresh for you, Paul!! That'll put a new 'checkerspot' in your quiver!

Guy

Saw some in Haut-Var this week which were anything but bright blue, though I'm not sure I have any photos of the uppersides I can post on here.

can't wait!!!!!

OK, this is a tweet! Live lep feedback! I'm sitting in the tea-time sun in the Rhône Valley, watching THE iconic Rhône Valley blue nectaring on its foodplant, bladder senna. Picture to follow, when I get home!

Guy

"Drool!".....
N

Guy

Beautiful....

AND FINALLY, with the weather due to break tomorrow and the cold return, another local (and international) rarity, this time on my own mountain (photographed after school ended today ):


(Male)


(Female)


(Not afraid to get her feet dirty!)

I found my first local colony of this species in 2003, since when it has been driven to extinction at that site by the relentless development. Luckily, I found other colonies a little further off the beaten track, where they still seem to be thriving.

Guy

Hi Guy,

Is that Violet Copper? They're stunning!

Cheers

Lee

Lee Hurrell wrote:Is that Violet Copper? They're stunning!

It is - sorry, I forgot to say! Tiny butterflies but really lovely.

Guy

Fabulous....a year of surprises....

N

Guy..... I bet you were happy to see those, I know you missed them a bit last year... what superb creatures/ photos.....

Just a thought, but considering my very blue small blue(s) and your very blue orion, could the harsh winter encourage variation of this nature, as does hot or cold nymphalid pupation?? Basing this supposition on just 2 photos is a bit weak, anyone else found any bluer than usual blues, not easy I suppose if you're thinking about adonis

The S. orion is quite blue in Finland as well. I don't know whether the variation is climatic or something else. If the blue ones are on higher ground in Middle-Europe, I might lean towards climatic.

P.S. I'm after photos of L. helle as well. It is not that rare in northern Finland, but I haven't gotten there at the right time - yet.

Spring has given way to summer. Many second broods are on the wing (small white, small tortoiseshell, for example) and single-brooded spring butterflies are mostly looking rather tired now. Here are a few highlights from a trip to a single site in the Rhône Valley:


Apollo


Provençal fritillary (subspecies berisalii)


A summer gathering of black-veined white, green-veined white, southern small white and safflower skipper


Olive skipper


Zephyr blue (subspecies trappi)


Southern white admiral


Purple-shot copper (subspecies gordius)


A spotty (but not spotted) Adonis blue (for Susie)

I could go on and on (43 species flying today)... But I'll finish with a Camberwell beauty, butterfly of 2010. He must have been on the wing at least 10 months by now:



Guy