For previous years' lists and commentaries, often incomplete, click 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009; 2008;
2007; 2006; 2005; 2004; 2003; 2002; 2001. I seem to have
lost the file for 2000.
Robin Fox, in Italy, keeps a similarly updated diary HERE.
SCROLL DOWN for the 2025 CHECKLIST or use the menu below to jump to the
COMMENTARY for each month.
CHECKLIST
FOR THE YEAR 2025
Red admiral (Vanessa atalanta) - 1st January - Valais, Switzerland
Queen of Spain fritillary (Issoria lathonia) - 18th January - Valais, Switzerland
Small tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) - 4th February - Vaud, Switzerland
Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni) - 2nd March - North Italy
Comma (Polygonia c-album) - 2nd March - North Italy
Eastern Bath white (Pontia edusa) - 7th March - Valais
Large tortoiseshell (Nymphalis polychloros) - 7th March - Valais, Switzerland
Small white (Pieris rapae) - 7th March - Valais, Switzerland
Green-veined white (Pieris napi) - 7th March - Valais, Switzerland
Orange tip (Anthocharis cardamines) - 7th March - Valais, Switzerland
Peacock (Aglais io) - 21st March - Vaud, Switzerland
Small heath (Coenonympha pamphilus) - 22nd March - Valais, Switzerland
Speckled wood (Pararge aegeria) - 22nd March - Valais, Switzerland
Swallowtail (Papilio machaon) - 22nd March - Valais, Switzerland
Scarce swallowtail (Iphiclides podalirius) - 22nd March - Valais, Switzerland
Wood white (Leptidea sinapis) - 22nd March - Valais, Switzerland
Commentary (Links in the
commentary are to pictures of the particular butterflies referred to)
January
1st: Happy New Year! 2025 began cold and bright. We did our usual New
Year's Day butterfly hunt in the Rhône Valley vineyards, hoping that
the red admiral we saw on 29th December might still be around. Snow still lay thick on the ground in many places and out of the sun some of the tracks were teacherous. But it was sunny at my winter hotspot and eventually I did see a red admiral. It flew in both directions along this track
before disappearing over the bank into the vineyards above - so no
photograph. But a New Year's Day butterfly is a New Year's Day
butterfly! Earlier, I had very distant views of what I took to be a
goshawk but am not so sure now, looking at the pictures. Here is a very poor flight shot, showing the barring of the upperside and (in the shadow) the prominent fingering. It landed and I got this shot
(a tiny crop from a much bigger picture - it was a very long way away).
By the time I got closer, it was gone. Rock buntings, goldfinches,
chaffinches and greenfinches were moving around in mixed flocks (here
are a rock bunting and a chaffinch) and on the sunny banks there were plenty of lizards (and here). 2nd: Red sky in the morning, prophesying snow later in the day. It hadn't arrived by our afternoon walk but it did snow in the evening. Here is a misty view when the snow was very light and Minnie agreed to go for a walk. 3rd: A bright morning with fresh snow dusting the ground and trees (and here). The kids had made an igloo on the tennis courts. 4th: A bright morning, clouding over later. 5th: It is suddenly much warmer. I went for a cross-country ski on the Leysin pistes this afternoon and the snow was already slow and heavy. Here is the evening sky. 6th: Much of the snow has now melted at moderate altitudes. This is on our walk to work, in Chesières. 7th: There is still snow in Leysin (and here). 8th: Rain and generally fairly grim today! Leysin still has its Christmas lights, so our evening walk was bright. 9th: Rain again, turning to snow by late evening. 10th: Finally, the cold has returned and it snowed much of today. Here is a misty evening view. 11th: A cold day in the mountains. In the morning, I went to Montreux to pick something up. Here is Freddie Mercury, strutting his stuff by the lake ... And here is Leysin in the evening again. 12th: Beautiful sunshine
today - but temperatures well below zero so no chance of butterflies.
In the afternoon I took a cross-country ski. It turned out the pistes hadn't been groomed in Leysin, so it was again hard work, despite the lovely, cold snow. Here is the view towards the Dents du Midi at about sunset. 13th: Another cold, bright day. Tonight was the first full moon of 2025. Here she is shortly after rising. I then caught her in a street lamp. And here she is in all her glory.
Although the sky was perfectly clear, I wasn't in the right place at
the right time to see this year's bright comet! Maybe tomorrow ... 14th: Bright and cold, with cloud in the valley. 15th: Still bright and cold. This was taken on our walk to work and this on the way back. This is the evening sky, with Orion over the Grand Chamossaire and Mars below Castor and Pollux. 16th: Bright and cold again (and here). 17th: I wondered if the continued sun might have brought out some tortoiseshells in the cemetery, but nothing flew. It was just too cold. Here is the view over the valley. 18th: Although the Rhône Valley north of Martigny was under thick cloud, the forecast was for bright sun all day from Martigny eastward.
So we visited our usual winter hotspots in the vineyards, hoping for a
red admiral or even perhaps a Queen of Spain. When we reached the first hotspot,
at about 10h30, it was still bitterly cold - 1°C - and nothing was
flying. We moved on after about 20 minutes. Very soon after this, the
first Queen of Spain of the day appeared and posed beautifully for photos.
The temperature was still no more than 2°C and even in the sun it felt
cold, but he had decided to make the most of it! Half an hour later,
walking back past my first hotspot, I spotted a second Queen,
who again allowed good photos. By now it was about 3°C. We walked the
long way back, taking some time at a winter clouded yellow spot. No
clouded yellows flew, but we did find a third Queen of Spain. This one settled less photogenically in the grass. Flocks of rock buntings (and here)
were roaming the vineyards and I saw one hummingbird hawk moth. There
are very few nectar plants around but in places there are mats of field speedwell, as well as a few Potentilla flowers. 19th: Another of those days when the valley is in cloud and it is lovely up in the mountains (and here, and here). 20th: View over the valley on the way to work in Chesières. Here is Minnie walking back to the bus at lunchtime, by when it was quite sunny. 21st: Another day of thick cloud in the valley. Here is the evening view of Mars and Jupiter. 22nd: Walking to work. The snow has mostly gone at this altitude (about 1100m). 23rd: A wet and fairly miserable day! Here is an evening view of active cloud over Leysin. 24th: Morning walkies. 25th: Morning walkies. 26th: More fresh snow. This is the same view as yesterday morning, but now white again. 27th: Early morning. It is still fairly snow-free in Chesières. 28th: Fresh snow for our morning walk (and here). This is our afternoon walk a little higher in Leysin, and this the evening view. 29th: Bright and cold. 30th: Morning in Chesières. 31st: A day of thick cloud. Here is the American School, right at the top of Leysin - and still in cloud - and here is a view from our afternoon walk.
February
1st: We walked up to try and escape the cloud today but it followed us up the mountain! At times, it was a complete white-out. This picture shows the rolling waves of cloud during one of the brief periods when we could see blue sky. 2nd: A sunny day but not warm. We visited the cemetery to see if any small tortoiseshells were on the wing but saw none. This is the view towards the Dents du Midi. 3rd: The south-facing meadows
in Chesières are very bare now. I wished I'd had my camera this morning
as a distant stoat, pure white in its winter livery (but with a black
tail-tip) was hunting a hundred metres or more away, near a road. This video clip was taken with my iPhone - but all you can see is a tiny white thing bouncing around! In the shade there is still some snow, though. 4th: I took another trip at about midday to the cemetery (and here).
Again, despite the sun, I saw no small tortoiseshells feeding on the
heather. Then, as we left, a single tortoiseshell appeared near the
road and disappeared before I had even got off my bike. So I headed a
little higher, to the south-facing meadows above the cemetery, and
quickly saw another two tortoiseshells sparring. They didn't return, so
I pushed the bike up through the snow to slightly higher slopes, where I know small tortoiseshells fly early. There, I quickly found and photographed this individual (and here) and this one. A total of 5 small tortoiseshells. More may well fly tomorrow, though I will be working ... 5th: Another sunny day. At about midday, as we walked for the bus in Chesières, two small tortoiseshells were flying on this bank. I got a rather distant photo of one on my iPhone, of which this is a crop. 6th: When I left in the morning, Leysin was above the cloud. Chesières, however, was still in cloud
when I arrived. At that time, I could see from my webcam that Leysin
was enjoying sun, but by the time I got home the cloud had risen. 7th: A brightish morning, leading to cloud later. Here is Minnie in a school room while I taught. 8th: Cloudy. I had to go to the valley to buy Minnie a new lead and harness, so we had a little walk along the Rhône. It was cold! 9th: A cloudy morning leading to a sunny but cold day - peaking at about 4°C. I cycled Minnie to the cemetery
at lunchtime, seeing just one small tortoiseshell on arrival (it flew
under the bike as I cycled past). As on 4th Feb, I then went up through
the snowy woods
to sunny banks higher up, where I saw another single small
tortoiseshell - also in flight, while I was talking to another dog
walker. Here is the moon rising through haze in the evening. 10th: Cloudy (and here). 11th: Another gloomy day (and here). 12th: There is now very little snow in the meadows in Chesières. 13th: On a wet morning, here is my first cowslip of the year (on my walk to work in Chesières). A frightening evening sky! 14th: A bitterly cold morning, with wonderful cloud formations all day. In the afternoon I went to Lausanne to buy spices. Here is the lake from Ouchy. 15th:
It was -15°C overnight in Leysin but a brilliant sunny day was
forecast, so we set off for the Rhône Valley in the morning. When we
arrived in Martigny it was still subzero, but by the time we reached
the first winter hotspot it was +1°C. As we rounded the corner, a small tortoiseshell flew, closely followed - literally - by a Queen of Spain. They landed close to each other, then the Queen moved in,
apparently romantically. I was some distance away and couldn’t get
brilliant pictures, but it was a good start to the day. Over the next
couple of hours we saw more of both species, probably reaching double
figures for each (it wasn’t always possible to tell which were
different individuals). Here, here and here are more Queens and here and here more small tortoiseshells. This Queen
had lost most of its wings - perhaps to a bird or lizard or perhaps to
a vineyard strimmer - but it seemed to be enjoying itself. It could fly
directionally and had found a good bank of speedwell to nectar on. Here
is a view along the Rhône Valley.
By the time we left it was still only 3°C according to my watch. We had
to go early as we needed to get back to Leysin and out again to visit
friends. No red admirals and no clouded yellows. The cold appears to
have finished these off for the season. Lizards were common on the rocks and banks. 16th: My birthday. It was a sunny, if chilly day, so Minnie and I went to the cemetery
at lunchtime to see if any tortoiseshells would be flying. Sure enough,
there were at least half a dozen - perhaps more - on the wing. They
were very active and hardly ever stopped, even on the heather. Perhaps
we should have gone earlier in the morning, when they would still have
been warming up. Here
is one who did pose for me. In the evening I was playing the piano for
church in Villars, and as it was my birthday I didn't get back home
until late. Just as we got into the flat, my birthday moon was rising behind the Grand Chamossaire. 17th: Another sunny but chilly day.
In and around the cemetery, three or four small tortoiseshells were on
the wing. Again, they were restless and rarely stopping, but this one and this one paused long enough for a quick photo. It felt bitter, as haze from the valley was drifting over (and here) and there was a distinct breeze. 18th: Another glorious day. In the morning, choughs were gathered (as always recently) on the railings by the road, from where they popped over to dig food out of the walls. Small tortoiseshells were flying in the cemetery, often in couples (and here).
It all feels very springlike, despite the low temperatures - but there
is doubtless more snow to come before the real spring. Black
woodpeckers were conspicuous, both by their noise (calls and drumming)
and even in their sudden dashes between trees. I had no chances for
photos, though. 19th: Another beautiful day. We set out after lunch intending to do a short walk but Minnie was on form so we climbed a bit higher and descended back down to the cemetery, from where we walked home. Throughout the walk, small tortoiseshells appeared. Numbers were low but they were distributed widely - there is a general emergence. Here, here and here are different individuals - that last one in the cemetery, where several were flying, courting and sparring. Here is a red kite circling high above Leysin. 20th:
After a gloomy morning it seemed mild and even sometimes sunny in the
afternoon. For a break, we wandered round lower Leysin and the Suchet,
to see if anything was flying there. It wasn't! Here is the view of the
Grand Chamossaire from the Suchet. 21st: We cycled out to the cemetery again today. Here is Minnie in the nearby meadows. The clouds are coming but the butterflies were still flying. Here and here are two different small tortoiseshells. 22nd: Overcast - seemingly no chance of butterflies today. We took our afternoon walk at Villeneuve, where despite some sunny spells the prediction held true - no butterflies. Here is the view over Les Grangettes and here the view out towards Victoria's tree. 23rd:
Very overcast and absolutely no chance of wild butterflies today, so we
took a trip to the Papiliorama. It turned out to be more crowded than
I've ever known it - probably because it was a wet, miserable,
half-term day - but I saw the usual range of species, including Hebomoia glaucippe, Phoebis philea, Papilio dardanus, Papilio lowi(and here, a male), Heliconius ismenius, Cethosia biblis, Fountainea nobilis, Doleschallia bisaltide, Consul fabius,Catonephele numilia and many more. Here is a lusty group of Heliconius hecale and here a still crumply Danaus genutia pumping up on a tree. There are plenty of tropical birds in the simulated forest there, including red-crested turacos, currasows, white-winged doves, toucans and roseate spoonbills (I've posted a video here). There are always one or two fruit bats hanging around! 24th: A work day! The sky was brilliantly red before dawn (and here) but the rest of the day was rather gloomy! 25th: Cool but bright. We took our lunchtime walk around Leysin (and here). The snow returned in the evening. 26th: A snowy day. And here. 27th: A working day. Here and here are pictures from our evening walk. 28th: A bitterly cold morning gave way to a bright but cold day (and here). In the sunnier parts of our lunchtime walk, small tortoiseshells were flying over the banks, despite temperatures of just 1°C. More were on the wing in the cemetery - here, here and here.
March 1st: A hazy day. Here is Leysin in the evening and here the old moon in the new moon's arms. 2nd: We got up early
and caught the 07h00 from Leysin, arriving in Domodossola at 09h53. We
then walked the 6km to our usual March site, arriving there at about
11h15. Minnie is a slow walker now so I actually picked her up and
carried her most of the way! I expected to see lots of butterflies but
in the event, despite warm sunshine all day, almost nothing flew. At
11h30 I saw a first brimstone - a male, in flight. I didn’t see another
butterfly for an hour, when a red admiral briefly crossed our path.
Then a second brimstone flew past as we took a refreshment break and an
unidentified Lycaenid took off as we passed some bushes. It was
probably a small copper but I can’t rule out green hairstreak - I just
didn’t get a good enough view, into the sun. Here is one of our rest stops and here one of the hairy traverses - though less hairy now it has been shored up! As we began walking home, a second red admiral appeared and allowed a distant photo. Shortly after this I spotted a comma
nectaring on some flowers in the village and a small tortoiseshell
zoomed past nearby. That was it for the day - no more butterflies! I
did in fact see one other, shortly before heading home, and it might
well have been a nettle tree butterfly. But I saw it too briefly and
can’t rule out comma. It was near some nettle trees and flew around a
bit before settling out of sight up a slope from where I was. By the
time I’d climbed the slope it was gone. There were no butterflies at
all in the wild expanses around the river Toce
on the edge of Domodossola. Normally I can guarantee at least a Queen
of Spain there, even in February, and there are often small coppers and
large tortoiseshells. But nothing today. Minnie was able to have a well deserved drink, though. All in all, a quite surprisingly butterfly-free day, but we had a good walk. Minnie slept all the way home! 3rd: A work day. I saw a couple of small tortoiseshells near Chesières in the afternoon. 4th:
Sunny all day, though a little chilly in the wind. Small tortoiseshells
flew in the cemetery in Leysin and over the nearby meadows. A single
brimstone was roding in the woods. 5th: Very warm and springlike.
Small tortoiseshells flew in the meadows near Chesières and on the
flowers outside the school where I work. 6th: Another beautiful, sunny day - but a work day. Small tortoiseshells were on the wing in the meadows. 7th: Exceptionally, I had a day of no teaching until 20h00, so Minnie and I set off for a walk along the Rhône in the morning (and here). Almost as soon as we got off the train, the first brimstone drifted by. For the rest of the day, this continued to be a common species, with both males and females flying. Soon after the brimstone, a Queen of Spain
zoomed past - the first of very many. This was by far the commonest
butterfly of the day, with numbers easily reaching three figures. On
one hillside alone I saw dozens, drifting, sparring, nectaring and even tumbling around in mating groups! Their foodplant is this small Viola species - one of the tricolor group. Small tortoiseshells
were also common and I saw probably eight large tortoiseshells. There
was quite a breeze blowing and the large tortoiseshells were not being
cooperative as far as pictures were concerned. The only one I actually
saw at rest was this plump female, and she declined to open her wings except to fly! Commas are also now out and about, though in small numbers. The commonest white was eastern Bath white, though both small and green-veined were also flying. Right at the end of our walk we had the welcome sight of a male orange tip roding. He only stopped once, in a very inconvenient place,
though he did spend some time trying (and failing) to get a reaction
from a male green-veined white. In all, this was the first proper
butterfly day of the year: warm, springlike and with butterflies of
nine species seemingly everywhere. The crag martins have arrived. Here is a buzzard passing overhead. 8th: Cloudier weather today. A few small tortoiseshells did fly near the cemetery. Here is a golden eagle passing overhead (and here). 9th: Mixed bright and cloud. Small tortoiseshells again the only things to fly. 10th: A wet morning but by the time we were on our way to work the rain had cleared and Minnie was wearing her coat for nothing. This is a view from the same walk and this the evening view from Leysin. 11th: Cool with mixed cloud and some sun. 12th: Back to cloud - here is an evening view. 13th: The snow has returned. 14th: I didn't take any photos today. It was cloudy and snowing overnight - so I didn't get up at 04h00 to watch the eclipse! 15th: A very cloudy day. Here and here are a couple of shots from our afternoon walk around Leysin. 16th: Woke up to snow again.
I was leading church services in St John's, Montreux, in the morning,
and in Villars-sur-Ollon in the evening, so it was a busy day. Here is Minnie by the lake in Montreux and here the snowy scene that greeted us back in Leysin at lunchtime. 17th: Morning in Leysin (and here). These are flowers outside my apartment block, braving the snow, and this is Minnie on our morning walk. 18th: A bright morning, with heavy cloud over the valley (and here). I had to buy some things in the valley so we went down mid morning, by when the cloud had cleared and it was bright and warm down there. We came up again by the scenic route via Le Sépey. Here is the lizard in the Henri Badoux vineyards and here the view towards Lac Léman, with Aigle Castle in the foreground. Here is the view from Leysin in the early evening, after work. 19th: A warm, sunny day. A few small tortoiseshells were flying along the track to work (near Chesières) in the morning. This is the view from Leysin in the afternoon and this the evening scene. 20th: Another sunny day. Here is the moment of dawn in Leysin and here the track near work where small tortoiseshells and a single small white were flying later in the day. 21st: Essentially a cloudy day but warm, with a few sunny breaks.
These got fewer in the afternoon but I still saw my first peacock of
the year making a dash over a meadow near the cemetery. The only other
things flying were small tortoiseshells. 22nd: A sunny but windy day in Valais.
From the moment we arrived at the beginning of our walk, we started
seeing butterflies and in the course of the day saw a total of 16
species. Again, the commonest by far was Queen of Spain, which was flying in triple figures. Some individuals are looking very worn now. Whites were out in force, too, with orange tip (and here), green-veined white and eastern Bath white being the commonest. Here is a Bath white feeding on sallow
- something I hadn’t seen before.There were also good numbers of small
whites and I saw a single wood white, though only in flight. Every
sunny bank seemed to have whites drifting all over it. Brimstones were
also roding widely, with far more males than females in evidence. Large tortoiseshells were frequent, but at their best site the wind was just far too strong for them to do their usual stuff. Commas were common. Both swallowtails were on the wing. Only this scarce swallowtail stopped for a photo (and here), but I saw at least two machaon. Also new for the year were speckled wood and small heath,
the former flying in good numbers at all their usual spots, the latter
represented by a single individual. I thought I was going to miss out
on grizzled skippers, as I saw none in their usual hotspots, but on the
way back they put in an appearance. Here and here
are two individuals. I think the wind had kept them at bay before. I
saw a single peacock, in flight only, and a reasonable number of small tortoiseshells.
Surprisingly, no Lycaenids were on the wing - not even a holly blue or
green hairstreak, both of which should be flying by now. Nevertheless,
it was a good day out, especially as the forecast had actually been
rather poor. Here's Minnie in the evening, near the church in Leysin. 23rd: Cloudy and bright in the morning turned to just cloudy later! 24th: Another OK morning turned to cloud and rain later. 25th:
The day began bright but descended into thick cloud and light rain (and here) by
the time we took our afternoon walk. I noticed in the morning that the
black redstarts were back, and in the afternoon that the black kites
were back too. A small number were circling high with some buzzards
(and here, and here).
26th: A busy day, packing, taking Minnie to the kennels and finally
heading off to Geneva, to spend the night before catching an early
plane tomorrow morning to Málaga.
27th: Up at 04h30 to get to the airport and catch the 08h10 plane.
Everything was on time and I was at my hostal, unpacking my bags, by
midday. My first mission was to check out a very local site where
capers grow and desert orange tips fly. Sadly, the capers were all
leafless and seemingly dead, though there was some new growth at the
base of some of them. Unsurprisingly, there were no desert orange tips.
I did see a few large whites
and small whites, clouded yellows and speckled woods, as well as a
single painted lady. Next, I headed out along what used to be a very
insalubrious track where tramps and rubbish lived and lots of
butterflies flew. It has now been completely cleaned up, and though
this is doubtless much better from the point of view of health and
hygiene, it is currently much worse for butterflies. I did see a few green-striped whites and geranium bronzes. I used to find African grass blues here but there were none. Nevertheless, I did find African grass blues (and here, and here)
further along, at another favourite site. They were very active and
difficult to photograph but I enjoyed sitting there with a beer,
enjoying their company! I also saw a single monarch flying around the
only Lantana bush they seem to have left. I couldn't get a photo then, but as I walked back I saw another 3 or 4 and photographed one of them at extreme distance on the other side of the river. I walked a very little way into the hills, seeing black-eyed blue, lots of Spanish festoons (and here, a different individual), a few swallowtails, western Bath whites (and here), dappled whites and a single Cleopatra. Then, walking back into Málaga, I watched a pair of parakeets at their nest in a palm tree.
28th: Up into the local hills today. Spanish festoons are very common indeed this year. Here is a couple in love, deep in the grass and here another individual. Black-eyed blues were also very common, though the males were playing hard-to-get so far as photography was concerned! Here is another female, showing her upperside. Other common species were wall, green-striped white, dappled white, western Bath white and clouded yellow (that was one of three helice I saw today). I also saw a fair number of painted ladies (also always the wrong side of the sun!), lots of Spanish marbled whites, a single small copper and good numbers of both swallowtails. Here is a swallowtail and here an Iberian scarce swallowtail.
I was surprised not to see any Provence hairstreaks and even more
surprised not to see any Iberian orange tips. I saw a small number of
Austaut's blue (Polyommatus celina)
but no southern brown arguses and no green hairstreaks. What I hadn't
expected to see - but was delighted to spend some time with - was a
fresh, male two-tailed pasha (and here),
hilltopping at about 14h30. In 2023 I saw one on 1st April and thought
that was exceptional. A March pasha really is exceptional!
29th: A short and relaxing trip to a local site for Provence orange tip, as I hope to do a big day tomorrow. Here is a male and here a female.
Quite a few were on the wing, mostly to be seen flying around yellow
plants and occasionally stopping briefly for nectar. Other species
flying were Spanish festoon, large white, speckled wood, wall, swallowtail, small copper,
clouded yellow and one or two black-eyed blues. Very strangely, no
green hairstreaks here either, though I visited a little corner where I
have always seen them in the past.
30th: I caught the 01h00 bus to Baza this morning, arriving (with the
time change) at 05h30. From there, I walked out of Baza and over the
Hoya to a site I had been kindly given for Iberian greenish black-tip, Euchloe bazae. It was a very long walk and I arrived shortly after dawn (here is the night sky
from near Baza, at the beginning of the walk, with Scorpius,
Sagittarius and the Milky Way). For two hours, I saw no butterflies at
all - just too cold (it was about 2°C when I arrived). The first - a painted lady - appeared shortly after 10h00, and the next, a wall,
at about 10h30. I wondered if I was too late in the year for the
greenish black-tips. At that point, a Danish biologist turned up and
told me he had been here a week and they always turned up well after
10h00 - so well after 11h00 today. Several Portuguese dappled whites
appeared, and quite probably other Eucloe species, then at 11h22 the first bazaeflew round me.
From then until when I left to walk back to the bus station (about
13h00) we had constant company, with probably three different males
flying around and frequently settling. Here, here, here and here are some more pictures. The air was alive with hilltoppers - mostly Euchloe spp.
but also wall, painted lady and Iberian scarce swallowtail. Very
pleased with such a lovely new species (I've never seen this butterfly
before), I headed back to Baza, picking up a Provence hairstreak on the way.
31st: I took another easy day today, so my feet could recover a little
from the walking yesterday! In the late afternoon, I went along the
river to spend some quality time with the African grass blues. As I
walked, a monarch flew past, circled a bit and then moved on. Here is a female African grass blue,
seen along what used to be the unhygienic part of the walk. I was glad
to see her - there is hope they may return there. At the more remote
spot, a single male was roding, nectaring and occasionally basking (and here). I drank a beer with him then went back to the hostal to get an early night.
April
1st: To Gibraltar
early this morning. This was the first cloudy day of the holiday,
though there were sunny patches in the afternoon. I saw no butterflies
at all as I climbed the Mediterranean steps and found just a single
painted lady at the top before I came down again. It didn't matter - I
did this trip mainly for old times' sake. But I had hoped to see
another Portuguese dappled white (the only one I have previously
photographed was at the top of the Rock). Here is the view from the Goat's Hair Cave (rather, one of two, twin, Goat's Hair Caves) and here the view looking over Catalan Bay from the Med Steps. As there was nothing up top, I descended and went round to the eastern side of the Rock, to a spot where 42 years ago
I used to sit and watch Provence orange tips and green-striped whites.
Both were flying today, but drifting around at distance and very rarely
stopping. Up the Rock, I was mugged and robbed. My aggressor jumped
onto my back, unzipped my backpack and made off with my bread, which he
then proceeded to eat calmly a little way up the bank.
Fortunately, he didn't have a taste for beer but he did initially get
away with my bag of charging cables - which I managed to get back from
him by diving across the road. Here is another, more innocent monkey.
2nd: The weather turned today, with a lot of cloud interrupting play.
My targets for the day were false baton blue and Lorquin’s blue, at a
site I found some years ago near Antequera. The train was delayed by
nearly an hour and I arrived much later than intended, but at that
stage there were still quite lengthy sunny spells and I am certain
neither butterfly was flying at the site. Two years ago, on 3rd April,
both were numerous, and in the company of many other species.Today,
there was no hint of either. Significantly, I think, there were also no
skippers, where in 2023 there were both southern grizzled and false
mallow. I hope this is simply a late year. I checked out the wider
region, where I have also found false baton blue and lorquin’s blue and
again, not a hint of either. It was far from a wasted day, though! I
checked every Euchloe that settled a moment, and although for most of the day it was only western dappled white (and here), at about 18h00 I saw a Portuguese dappled white go to roost and managed to get a half decent shot through the foliage. I haven’t consciously seen this species here before, but I think it settles less frequently than other Euchloe species. Another highlight was this strikingly blue female Adonis blue. I spent some time watching this pair of painted ladies,
hoping something was going to come of their intimate discussions, but
in the end a third appeared and they all zoomed off together. Other
species flying were Provence hairstreak (two seen), small heath (two), large white, clouded yellow, Austaut’s blue (and here, a male), Spanish festoon and small copper. Corn buntings were singing everywhere and I spotted this Iberian grey shrike in the far distance. Other birds included stonechats (and here), woodchat shrikes, dartford warblers and crested or thekla larks.
3rd: My last day in Spain for this holiday. Normally, I spend my last
day in the local hills, saying goodbye and thank you, but today it was
raining and really very grim up there. But I did see one thing I have
never seen before: the Rio Guadalmedina in full spate (and here)!
This is what I usually describe as the 'dried up river bed running
through Málaga' but today it was a real torrent. It must have been a
controlled release from the reservoir just upstream, as by the
afternoon it had reduced to a dribble and I'm sure will be back to
normal tomorrow. In the afternoon, when it was drier and warmer, I went
up to check the capers and see if they had grown enough to attract any
desert orange tips. No: there were still just early shoots at the base (that is, the top) of the plants (and here). A single, female large white was hanging around nearby and a female blue passed through without stopping - presumably Polyommatus celina. 4th: Flew home today. Here is Málaga airport and here the view from my balcony when I got back. 5th: Picked up Minnie
in the morning. In the afternoon we walked up the mountain a bit to see
what conditions were like at one of my spring butterfly spots (at
1650m). It was still mostly under snow (and here). Here and here
are shots from the way back down. Orange tips (including one at 1574m)
and small whites were flying over the meadows and by the woods but
there are no violet fritillaries yet. 6th: We got up early this
morning and headed to Domodossola for nettle tree butterflies. Unlike
last time, I was able to take the bike, so arrived a little earlier.
Even so, it was hot when we got there and within seconds of locking the
bike I spotted this nettle tree butterfly
in the tree above me. I got a couple of shots before it moved on.
During the rest of the morning I saw probably a dozen - low numbers -
and none of them settled even a moment. Here is Minnie on the walk. Also new for the year were sooty copper (and here), green hairstreak
(the commonest butterfly by far), holly blue (a small number, locally)
and chequered blue. The chequered blue spot is on a slope with no shade
and Minnie couldn’t stay there long. Even though I shaded her with my body,
it was just too hot. In the time we were there, we saw at least half a
dozen and probably more, but none of them stopped. Shortly beyond this
point the track had become dangerously eroded
and I carried Minnie to make sure she didn't fall. I think it may soon
become impassable there. Other species flying were small copper, wood
white (here and here
are individuals taking moisture at moss), brimstone, orange tip, small
white, green-veined white, comma, large tortoiseshell, painted lady and
wall. We came back via our usual Queen of Spain hollow, where Queens
were flying with some more small coppers. 7th: A bright, sunny day but a little chilly. A few whites, orange tips and small tortoiseshells were drifting around on our afternoon walk. 8th: Another bright, sunny day (and here)
but again cool - a maximum of 11°C in the heat of the day. Only a few
whites, orange tips and small tortoiseshells were flying on our
afternoon walk, until the very end, when a brimstone crossed our path.
Here is a pair of wood whites (and here). The male is keen but the female not so much. He tried to do the antennae thing
but she resisted and eventually he flew off to find a more amenable
mate. While I was giving Minnie some water, a female black woodpecker
flew in and began working her way up a nearby tree. It was very difficult to get photos because so many twigs and branches were in the way, but I did get a few: here, here, here and here. A little later, a stoat came running along the road towards us. I put Minnie on the lead but he turned sharply to his left anyway and disappeared! 9th: A bright morning, but again cold, turning cloudy as the day progressed. In the afternoon I found this dingy skipper,
my first of the year, in the road. I assumed it was too cold to fly so
went to pick it up, but it flew off all on its own into a nearby
meadow. Here is a black redstart. 10th: Another sunny, cool day. On our lunchtime walk near Leysin I noticed the kidney vetch was coming out, and while checking for little blues spotted this fresh green hairstreak. Other species flying were wood white, small white, green-veined white, orange tip and small heath. As I walked up to school for a 16h00 lesson, I found my first violet fritillary
of the year (photographed with my iPhone). Last year, this first brood
was all but wiped out by heavy, lasting snow in the second half of
April. 11th: Another sunny day.
We took our afternoon walk around the Suchet in Leysin, where the first
pearl-bordered fritillary of the year passed us and briefly nectared on
a dandelion. There were lots of violets in flower but no bugle. Sadly,
I didn't get a shot of it. Other species flying were orange tip,
green-veined white, small white, wood white and brimstone. This is a female brimstone.
As we headed home we saw a small tortoiseshell. These are thin on the
ground now, after being very common earlier in the year. 12th:
With cloud and rain forecast to spread from the west today, I headed
east, hoping to see Camberwell beauties and de Prünner’s ringlets
before the weather broke. It was sunny when I arrived but very little was flying - mostly whites and walls. Before long I put up a first large tortoiseshell,
but very surprisingly, no Camberwell beauties for the whole of the
outward walk. We took our beer stop at a habitual place, where small heaths and Queens of Spain
were flying, but there were no grizzled skippers - something I always
see here. Just as we got up to go, the first Camberwell beauty of the
day cruised past and went on its way. Later, a single (presumed) male settled briefly on the path, before being put up by some bikers. By now it was more cloudy than sunny. Other species flying were my first ascalaphids of the year, orange tips (and here), green-veined whites, small whites, wood whites, brimstones and scarce swallowtails. Here is a rock bunting
on a post in the vineyards. A complete absence of Bath whites made me
think this site has changed somehow in recent years, as they used to be
abundant here. The absence of de Prünner’s ringlets was equally
strange. Hoping to find this last species, we caught the stopping train
back to Aigle and got off at a station near where I have seen dozens of
de Prünner’s in the past. We did a walk I haven’t done before and which
turned out to be very interesting. In particular, there were lots of chequered blues,
of the blue variety found in eastern Valais (as opposed to the very
dark variety found in the west, near Martigny). The terrain looked very
good for de Prünner’s but there were none. Instead, plenty of speckled woods and walls, a few commas and Queens of Spain, lots of whites, including wood whites, and a few scarce swallowtails. By now it was heavily overcast. I will try the same walk on a sunny day in the future. This is an asp viper (and here, and here), an endangered reptile in Switzerland. It slithered off before Minnie had a chance to engage with it ... 13th: Not a butterfly day! 14th: Reasonably bright, but cool, with clouds. Kidney vetch is now in full banks of flower
around Leysin, but still no little blues. A few wood whites,
green-veined whites, orange tips and clouded yellows were on the wing,
as well as one or two small tortoiseshells and my first altitude Queen of Spain fritillary of the year. Here and here are scenes from the afternoon. 15th: A wet morning, but it cleared up by lunchtime and as I came back along that same track, small heaths were already sparring in the sun. Back in Leysin in the afternoon, the sky was blue. 16th: Cloudy and wet in the morning, leading to snow by the evening. 17th: We woke to snow this morning (and here) and it snowed most of the day. In Valais, the snow broke records. There was snow on 17th April last year too. 18th: Cloud and fog in the morning (and here), leading to a brighter afternoon, allowing the snow to melt. 19th: A bright day, but with turbulent skies and high cloud.
On our afternoon walk around the woods and meadows, we saw wood whites,
green-veined and small whites, clouded yellows, orange tips and a
single violet fritillary. 20th: A cloudy and largely wet day. 21st: Another mostly cloudy day. This is from our evening walk. 22nd: Much brighter today. On the way back from my morning job, I saw my first altitude sooty copper of the year. Also flying were various whites, including wood white, clouded yellows, orange tips and small tortoiseshells. 23rd: Another sunny morning. On my way to my morning job this male Berger's clouded yellow stopped long enough for me to photograph it with my iPhone. On the way back,
at least half a dozen Berger's were flying over the meadow, with orange
tips, wood whites, clouded yellows and a single common blue - my first
of the year. 24th: A cloudy day with some rain. Here is an evening view over Leysin. 25th: Mixed cloud and sunshine (and here) with a few butterflies venturing out in the sunny moments. A hint of a rainbow in the evening. 26th:
I had intended to visit a site at 900m in the Val d’Hérens today, but
the 07h00 train from Leysin was cancelled and I couldn’t get to Sion in
time for a reasonable connection up the valley. So I opted instead for
a site at similar altitude in the Zermatt Valley - further away but
better connected. That meant I wouldn’t see the hoped-for Dukes, but I
had a good chance of de Prünner’s ringlets. We began the walk at about 09h15 and quickly discovered that the recent snows in Valais had caused carnage. Trees were down everywhere along the track (and here) and I frequently had to pick Minnie up and carry her over or through them. There was also still snow blocking the path. Nevertheless, it was a sunny day and butterflies were flying - albeit in low numbers. First to appear were small coppers and green hairstreaks. A single turquoise blue flew by and was the only one of that species we saw, but locally there were reasonable numbers of chequered blue.
Before long, the first de Prunner’s appeared, endlessly drifting over
the meadows and rough slopes above and below the track. It was not
before the very end of this walk that one actually settled and allowed
some poor pictures. Another first for the year was Glanville fritillary, which was locally numerous. One was noticeably melanic. Maybe the recent cold shock caused this … Here he is again, wooing a normal female. Other species flying along the walk were wall, scarce swallowtail, green-veined white, wood white, Berger’s clouded yellow, brimstone, small heath, comma, painted lady, Queen of Spain, southern grizzled skipper
and dingy skipper. I had intended to cycle back down to the Visp Valley
to visit another site but I could see that my usual road (avoiding the
tunnel, as I didn’t have lights) was blocked by a landslide, and so
waited for the train. When this was delayed by another broken-down
train, I decided to cycle anyway, and walk through the tunnel, but all
the access roads to the main road were also blocked by fallen trees and
debris! There was no way to get through! SO, I cycled back to the
train, which still hadn’t come and waited almost another hour while the
accident was sorted out. I got off the train at Stalden, intending to
continue the route by bike, but then discovered that all my usual roads
from Stalden station were also blocked, either by debris or roadworks!
So I went back to the station and continued by train all the way down
to Visp, before cycling back up to where I wanted to be. Again, I found
carnage everywhere, and had to lift the bike and Minnie over fallen trees
at regular intervals. Valais has been hit very, very hard by the
weather these last couple of years. By the time I finally reached my
site, it was the heat of the afternoon and the butterflies were very
active. There were lots of Provençal short-tailed blues - another first for the year - and good numbers of Camberwell beauties (and here). This one is already looking past his prime. Here he is with Minnie, in context. Eastern Bath whites
were flying, and lots of wood whites and small and green-veined whites,
but I didn’t confirm any southern small whites. Both grizzled and dingy
skippers were about in small numbers. Apart from the Provençal
short-tailed, the only other blues were common blues (and here). Orange tips, brimstones and Berger’s clouded yellows were all common. Here is a pair of wood whites
doing that thing they do! A third then arrived and started bugging them
and eventually they split up. There were commas here but no peacocks or
small tortoiseshells, and I saw a single red admiral. In the woody
parts, speckled woods were defending their sunspots. A few Queens of Spain were zooming around too. 27th: I was on piano duty at church in Montreux in the morning, so Minnie and I had a little walk by the lake. Clouds came over later. Here is the light in the early evening. 28th:
A lovely, sunny day. On our afternoon walk in the local meadows,
butterflies were flying, if not in great numbers. I checked the kidney
vetch for little blues but found only one - which got away before I
could get a shot. A female green hairstreak was checking out birds-foot trefoil nearby. There were lots of common blues on the wing, but when I noticed a female that only wanted to visit sainfoin, I knew immediately she was my first Chapman's blue of the year. She spent a lot of time among the stems and leaves of sainfoin, where there were Formica cunicularia ants - a species known for tending Polyommatus species. Here she is oviposturing on a stem.
I didn't find any eggs. Other species flying were small white, wood
white, small heath, swallowtail, painted lady, clouded yellow, Berger's
clouded yellow, several dingy skippers and a single almost certain grizzled skipper, which buzzed away. 29th: A sunny morning.
As we walked back from the morning job, through meadows near Chesières,
we saw quite a few Chapman's blues (males), as well as Berger's clouded
yellows, various whites and a few sooty coppers. Storms brewed up later in the day and there were bizarrely coloured skies in the evening! 30th: Another gorgeous day. On our way back from the morning job, we found a Glanville fritillary (photographed here
on the iPhone) - something I rarely see in this region (near
Chesières). There were also plenty of sooty coppers, common and
Chapman's blues, Berger's clouded yellows, whites, a simgle small
tortoiseshell and lots of small heaths. At about 16h10, when I was at Leysin Village station to go up to my afternoon job, I saw my first red-underwing skipper of the year, taking minerals (and here
- both pictures taken on the iPhone, as I don't take my camera to
work). I tried to move him on, as others were arriving to catch the
train, but he wouldn't budge! When I came back down later there was no
crushed skipper on the ground, so I think he escaped intact! Between
lessons I took a little walk up the mountain. Coming back down to school I saw clouds brewing and heard thunder, but there was no big storm.
May 1st: Took a walk above Leysin, to about 1650m, early this afternoon, before going in to teach. New for the year were a single northern wall (who had clearly had an encounter with a bird) and several grizzled skippers (malvae, rather than malvoides). Little blues were about but not numerous, and the first local Glanville fritillaries were flying. Here is one on Minnie's carry-bag.
I almost certainly saw an alpine grizzled skipper, but he zoomed off
too fast to make a definite ID and I never saw him settled. Other
species on the wing were Berger's clouded yellow, dingy skipper, orange tip, Queen of Spain, small tortoiseshell and wood white. Green hairstreaks were common. Here is a female brimstone
laying on buds high above me. Lower down, near Leysin Village station,
Adonis and common blues were flying, with sooty coppers, small heaths
and dingy skippers. May has begun with fine weather, set to hold at
least until Saturday. 2nd: Another sunny day. On that short walk to work (near Chesières), red-underwing skippers, Chapman's blues and common blues
were all flying, as well as Adonis blues, various whites and both
Berger's clouded and clouded yellows. Those photos were taken with my
iPhone as I don't usually take my camera to work. Maybe I should. 3rd: The bad weather arrived earlier than anticipated! 4th: Another day of cloud (and here). Evening walkies in the rain. 5th: A mostly rainy day. Here is Minnie pretending to take a walk behind the bins. She didn't want to go anywhere today! 6th: More cloud and fog. 7th: A very wet, cloudy and foggy day. The air seemed drenched even when it wasn't raining. 8th: A foggy start but on the whole drier than yesterday, if 100% overcast. 9th: Started wet but dried up by the afternoon. A dry and partially sunny weekend is forecast. 10th:
With fine weather forecast for the morning, at least, we headed off to
a reliable mountain dappled white site today, parking the bicycle
shortly before 10h00, to continue on foot. The site is a mountain road,
leading to a col, and there is always a certain amount of traffic. But
today was exceptional. Hundreds of motorbikes were zooming up and down
continually, so it felt like walking along a main road. It turned out a
motorbike stand had been set up for a couple of days in a nearby town,
where bikers could try out different bikes. So I hadn’t chosen the
right weekend! Nevertheless, I quickly saw Adonis blues in the verges and at about 10h10 spotted the first mountain dappled white (and here).
It was a little down from the road and seemed unpeturbed by the bikes
burning past. We then continued walking up the road, seeing one or two
more dappled whites but not stopping, because it really wasn’t a very
pleasant environment! I did photograph this female blue, which I took to be Escher’s from the upperside. The underside shows a cell spot, so I presume she’s a common blue, though she really doesn’t look like one! We left the road higher up for a meadow where we hoped to see Dukes of Burgundy. Sure enough, there were a few there. Here and here are two different individuals. Also flying were lots of Glanville fritillaries (and here) and a few Queens of Spain. Near the road, a couple of absolutely fresh male mazarine blues
were taking minerals - also new for the year. Other species seen during
the day included scarce swallowtail (numerous), common blue, probably
Chapman’s blue, small heath,
small tortoiseshell, a single skipper - probably red-underwing, but it
didn’t stop - small white, wood white, brimstone, clouded yellow and
painted lady (very common now). 11th:
I was visiting a student in Villars this morning and teaching at 17h30
in Leysin in the afternoon, so we took a short trip around my old hunting grounds near Gryon
in between. In particular, I wanted to see meadow fritillaries. This
species comes onto the wing earlier than heath fritillary and fresh
males are very smart. I was also hoping to see the local Dukes of
Burgundy. The meadow fritillaries (and here)
turned up. In sheltered parts of the meadows they were quite numerous,
though they appeared to be all very active, newly emerged males. The
Dukes failed to put in a show but it may be that I was too early. The
locality seemed unchanged and there’s no reason to suppose the species
has disappeared. I was also hoping to see woodland ringlet, which used
to fly here in May but which I haven’t seen here for many years,
despite searching in both May and June. It wasn’t flying today. The
commonest species was sooty copper (here is a male)
but there were plenty of blues too - common, Chapman’s and Adonis. I
didn’t see any northern brown arguses, a common species here. Clouded
yellows were flying in good numbers, with several helice females, and
there were also Berger’s on the wing. Other species flying were
brimstone, a single swallowtail, small and wood whites, grizzled skipper,
small tortoiseshell and small heath. I left relatively early as I had
work to do before the afternoon lessons, and things were really just
hotting up as I said goodbye to the meadows. Here is Minnie waiting for her transport … 12th: A cloudy and wet day. Here is the view from the train back from work (from Aigle to Le Sépey). 13th: The day began bright, with high cloud, and developed into a remarkable day of active cloud. This cloud over the Chamossaire reflects the sunset. There were sometimes hints of rainbow. This is the Leysin train heading back down to Aigle. 14th: A bright morning leading to torrential rain later. 15th: A bright day, with lots of active, high cloud. Here is a black redstart in the morning and here a pearl-bordered fritillary from our afternoon walk. Adonis, common and Chapman's blues were conspicuous, with a few little blues and there were lots of sooty coppers about. Here is a dingy skipper. Painted ladies are common this year and many crossed our path. 16th: A bright day,
but Minnie was manifestly ill. In the evening, she spent an hour at the
vet, who diagnosed her with pancreatitis (after x-rays, ultarsounds,
blood tests and more). She spent a very uncomfortable night, despite
being doped up on morphine, and I feared I would lose her. 17th: The day revolved around Minnie, who was still very ill. I cycled her out to a local walk, where she stood and looked, but couldn't walk more than a few metres on her own. 18th: Minnie was a little better today and was able to do a walk of a little over a kilometre. Here she is trotting along a butterfly path.
Adonis, Chapman's and common blues were abundant, as well as Glanville
fritillaries and more, but my attention was all on my best friend. 19th: Minnie seems improved and the vet was pleased with her. It was a cloudy and often wet day (and here). 20th: Minnie was still manifestly sick but managed to walk the kilometre from the bus to school in the morning, and then back again. It was another cloudy and wet day. 21st: It poured with rain this morning. Minnie is still on the mend
and had a comfortable day. When the weather improves, my butterfly
jaunts will be limited as I have to take her frailty into account. She
is over 13 years old and deserves a less strenuous life now. 22nd: A cloudy day and night. Here is the Leysin church on our evening walk. 23rd: A cloudy start to the day - and a cloudy day (and here). 24th:
Sun was forecast for today, so I headed off in the morning to my usual
Iolas blue site near Martigny, in the hope of catching up with both
that species and the cardinals. It’s a fairly unforgiving, uphill cycle
ride there, with Minnie in the backpack, so I was disappointed to find
‘route barrée’ signs just at the site! I tried sneaking in round the
back, and then from another angle, but it was all cordoned off from
every side. While I was trying to get in, a single male Iolas blue
flipped over where I wasn’t allowed to go, and a single cardinal
swooped through. So I decided to look for iolas
further along the valley. I headed in the direction of Sion and checked
what seemed to be good spots but found no bladder senna - so no Iolas
blues. Then finally, I spotted some isolated bladder senna on the other
side of a river and even at a great distance could see a male Iolas
blue attending it. It seemed inaccessible but I found a way there and
discovered there were at least half a dozen bushes (and here).
I put Minnie in the shade, sat down with a beer where I could see all
the bushes and waited. My efforts were rewarded. At least two male Iolas blues (and here)
were regular visitors. They were difficult to photograph on the bladder
senna but one of them settled just off the foodplant and allowed decent pictures. Very satisfying! I also got a photograph of this beautiful, deep-coloured female cardinal. Cardinals were frequent throughout the walk. Other new species for the year were safflower skipper, mallow skipper, spotted fritillary
and green-underside blue. The site looked generally promising, with
lots of Adonis and common blues, painted ladies, speckled woods in the
shady parts, walls and whites and yellows. I probably saw my first
southern small white of the year but I didn’t get close enough to
confirm. I got back to Leysin in time for Graduation at the Leysin American School. 25th: A bright start but increasingly cloudy during the day (and here). 26th: Cloudy. 27th: Minnie is back to her normal self, thanks to a strict diet, some pills and some probiotic powder. Here she is, sleeping during lessons, and here trotting home afterwards. She even ran some of the way. 28th: A cloudy morning leading to a very wet afternoon (and here) and evening. Despite the weather, a few butterflies were flying near Chesières, including my first meadow brown of the year. 29th: A beautiful day,
with just a slight breeze. I was teaching in the afternoon, so we did a
local meadow walk. Lots of butterflies were flying, including common,
Chapman's, Adonis and little blues, my first brown argus of the year, orange tips, clouded yellows, wood whites, lots of painted ladies, small tortoiseshells, pearl-bordered fritillaries, Glanville fritillaries, walls, small heaths, grizzled skippers, red admirals and more. I'm still unsure whether this
is a common or Adonis blue female. In the field, no chequered fringe
was visible and on close inspection the fringe did seem to have a
darker interior (common blue), but in photos the inner fringe seems
pure white and there is a hint of chequering. I veer towards Adonis.
The first wild strawberries are ripening. Here, here, here and here are some more pictures from the walk. 30th:
A beautiful, sunny day was forecast, and exceptionally, I had the day
off work (extended Ascension holiday). So we set off early to a site in the Val d’Hérens,
in the hope of fresh Nickerl’s fritillary. We reached the site soon
after 09h00 and almost nothing at all was flying. I assumed it was too
early in the day, but even by 11h00 we had seen a very, very few
butterflies. There were a few safflower skippers (and here),
a few meadow browns, speckled woods and walls, my first confirmed large
walls of the year, some small tortoiseshells, a few large
tortoiseshells and a single Queen of Spain, a few scarce swallowtails and a single swallowtail, a small heath, my first Amanda’s blue
of the year and a number of painted ladies. I had expected the place to
be alive with butterflies, as is usual at this time of year, but it was
almost bare. So I decided to cycle back up to the main road and then
down to Sion. On the uphill trek I saw several marbled whites - my
first for the year - but didn’t stop for them as it is a long, hard
ride, with Minnie in the backpack! I did stop for this cardinal
(photographed with my iPhone) - a species I have now seen twice in the
Val d’Hérens. I got to Sion just in time to catch the train to Sierre,
where I went to the bladder senna ‘plantation’ (and here)
I discovered last year. At first, I saw no butterflies there either,
but suddenly a female Iolas blue bounced in, settled briefly, then went
on her way. Then I saw at least two and maybe three males, also very
active in the hot sun (it was now the heat of the day). It seemed to
confirm that if you find bladder senna, you will find the butterfly.
They disappeared as fast as they arrived. For another half hour I saw
none. So I decided to cycle on to a nearby site for lady’s slipper
orchid, as it is the right time of year for the flowers. I quickly
found this lovely plant (and here),
then tried to find more in clearings in the dense wood. This was
difficult for Minnie, and I had to carry her a lot, but I did find one
more plant - already over. The orchids are much less conspicuous when the flowers are over. Here is a single slipper of the original plant, with a lesser butterfly orchid. Other orchids flowering nearby were lesser butterfly orchid, fly orchid, bird’s nest orchid (and here) and violet bird’s nest orchid (and here). As I arrived at this site, I photographed my first Escher’s blue of the year, and as I left I photographed a black-veined white.
This wasn’t actually my first of the year but I can’t remember where I
saw the first one! Perhaps it was with the Iolas blues on Monday … By
this time, with the temperature reaching 28°C, Minnie deserved a break,
so we cycled back to Sierre and caught the train home. 31st : A cloudy day, so we stayed local. June 1st:
Caught the 07h00 from Leysin, heading for Geneva. Arriving at 08h54, we
then cycled about 15km to a site for black hairstreaks (and sometimes
large coppers). By the time we got there, at about 10h00, it was
already hot - 23°C - and I expected the hairstreaks to be bobbing over
the blackthorn as usual. But nothing. I took a tour of all the
blackthorn and privet and still nothing. There were heath fritillaries
and my first knapweed fritillary of the year, a few Adonis, common and
Chapman’s blues (a very few), some brown arguses, speckled woods, small heaths and marbled whites but no hairstreaks. I took Minnie for a bathe in the stream,
and refilled her water bottle, then went back to my main blackthorn
stand. Still nothing. At 11h00 I decided to leave, but thought I should
tap a bush before, just to make sure they weren’t lurking within. They
were! A female immediately flew out and settled deep in the blackthorn
some distance away. With the super zoom, I was able to get a good record of her.
Walking back to the bike, I saw a male brown argus chasing what
appeared to be a much larger, female blue. The chase was successful,
and it was clear the larger butterfly was in fact a female brown argus.
Here they are, in cop.
We then headed to our main large copper site, a short cycle ride away.
Here, no large coppers were to be found. Again, small heaths and a few
fritillaries - at least Glanville and heath,
and perhaps knapweed too. As we headed back to the bike we passed
through a paddock, where the horses took a great interest in Minnie.
They came and talked to us, then followed us up the hill. I’m 99% sure
a female large copper flew past but I had three large creatures on my
tail and was carrying Minnie, so I didn’t give chase! As we left the
site, I stopped Minnie drinking from a transient pool in the shade,
only to see a small grass snake (and here)
swimming around, probably hunting tadpoles (which were abounding in the
pool). I had already put my camera away, so those photos were taken
with my iPhone. The snake swam to the edge of the pool and slipped effortlessly up the bank.
On to the next site, where I hoped to find Reverdin’s blues. I cycled
further than usual, to shorten Minnie’s walk, both because by now it
was 28°C and because I wanted to be back at Geneva before the forecast
afternoon storms arrived! I left the bike near a water stop, so Minnie
could bathe and I could again refill her bottle. There were a few horse
droppings and some fox poo and a lesser purple emperor was zooming
around. We lost sight of him and carried on along the blues walk. Sure
enough, we soon saw a male Reverdin’s, though this one never settled.
Then at the ‘main’ site, several more males were flying, with Adonis blues and brown arguses. Here and here
are two different individuals. This is a nature reserve where dogs are
not allowed even on leads, so I had Minnie in the backpack. I had to do
(heavily) weighted squats to get this pictures! I also saw a western
clubtail dragonfly, but trying to chase it for photos with Minnie on my
back proved too much. Once outside the nature reserve, another male
Reverdin’s appeared, but this one wanted only to hide out of the sun.
It was very hot. Back at the water stop, where I had left the bike, the
lesser purple emperor was still flying around but he too seemed to want
to rest out of the sun. I did my best to get some pictures, then
realised that he was in fact taking minerals. So I offered my finger and he took readily to this (and here). I could then cart him around quite casually, so got a shot of him with Minnie in the background - adding another species to the 50-odd I have already photographed her with! 2nd: A cloudy day (and here). 3rd: Brighter. On the way back from work, although it was rather cloudy by then, I saw my first ringlet of the year. 4th: Warm and cloudy, sometimes bright. At lunchtime I saw my first geranium argus of the year in this meadow and caught a record shot on my iPhone. 5th: Very wet in the morning - a little drier in the afternoon. 6th:
Some bright spells were forecast on a generally overcast day, so I took
Minnie look for violet coppers at our site near Villars. The weather looked ominous
as we set off for the marshy hillside where they fly and indeed, the
sun never shone for longer than a minute the whole time we were there.
It was quite warm though, and a few dingy skippers and common blues were doing their best to enjoy the day. Little blues
were also in evidence and I saw two green hairstreaks. At one point a
fritillary flew through - presumed to be pearl-bordered - and there
were several small tortoiseshells. I also saw my first bright-eyed ringlets
of the year. Sadly, no violet coppers. I am sure they were there, but
they are sunny butterflies. I could probably have flushed them out by
wading through the dense stands of aconite-leaved buttercups but I try
not to leave tracks or to trample vegetation so I didn't do this. Minnie has fewer scruples but she didn't put any up. There were also a few Psodos quadrifaria
moths - a feature of the summer Alps. Eventually, we headed down along
tracks that also pass through violet copper territory but the sun
didn't come out until we were beyond these. Here is a chequered skipper
I spotted by the side of the track, hiding in the vegetation. We
reached the Col de la Croix road, intending to walk down to Villars and
get the bus from there, but cars were hurtling noisily up the road in
the Rallye du Chaplais and it was all cordoned off. So instead, we cut through the valley
to the Taveyanne side and followed the road down to Barboleuse. By
then, the sun was out. I spotted a fresh, female geranium argus in the
road, stunned by a car, and put it on a wood cranesbill flower, where it was very happy. Finally, rather later than intended, we headed home. 7th: A mostly cloudy and wet day (and here) with the odd sunny spell. Not a butterfly day! 8th: The local télécabine opened this weekend, so we took our first trip of the summer up the mountain to see what was flying. Right at the top, a chilly wind blew and nothing took to the air at all. I watched this snow finch in territorial flight
for a while, as it flew back and forth and around, presumably telling
other snow finches this was his patch. Still no butterflies as we came
down the mountain until about 1750m, when the first little blues, small
tortoiseshells and dingy skippers appeared. At about that altitude too I saw my first clouded Apollo of the year - the first of about half a dozen on this walk (and here, and here for different individuals). Further down, at about 1650m, Adonis blue, common blue and northern brown argus joined the Lycaenids. I think this is northern brown argus,
though in Switzerland there is considerable morphological overlap with
brown argus and it is difficult to be sure. There were lots of dingy
skippers and a single grizzled skipper. I thought I saw at least one Carcharodus
- which would have been tufted marbled here - but it zoomed off without
waiting to be examined closely. Lots of Berger’s clouded yellow were
around and orange tips were drifting through. The first alpine heaths are now flying - there were several on the wing at this site today. Also new for the year were marsh fritillaries, which are now numerous here. 9th:
Again, caught the 07h00 to Geneva, but this time to head south-east
from there to forests where in the past I have seen poplar admirals -
sometimes in good numbers. I didn’t set off with any great expectation,
though, as it is now ten years since I saw them there. And as a
spoiler, I didn’t see the species today, either. When I arrived, at
about 10h00, nothing was flying at all. At 10h20 I saw a red admiral, then a meadow brown, a speckled wood and a single white admiral dancing up to the canopy. White admirals (and here) were to prove the commonest butterfly as the day heated up, though they were only in ones and twos
at a time, not the dozens I have seen here previously, clustered on
droppings and in muddy patches. At about 11h00, while I was taking a
beer break, a friend from Lausanne passed by - entirely coincidentally.
We continued the walk together for a while, commenting on the amazing
lack of butterflies in general, let alone the poplar admirals we had
come for. During this time we saw more white admirals, a few heath fritillaries, plenty of meadow browns, no ringlets and a few whites. We parted company for a bit and I quickly saw my first Essex skipper of the year, then several marbled fritillaries,
all behaving very well! I saw an admiral/emperor in the distance that
could well have been poplar, but could equally have been one of the
emperors. As I saw lesser purple later on, that is what I have to count
this as! I bumped into my friend again, who had also failed to find any
poplar admirals, and he headed back to where he would catch the bus
while I continued round through the forest. Eventually, I came across a
woodland brown, and returning to the same spot a little later saw at
least half a dozen if not more. They were behaving rather strangely, diving right down into the undergrowth, even though it wasn’t particularly hot (about 21°C). This woodland brown, however, paused long enough in the open for a good shot. While I was watching the woodland browns, on this second pass, a black hairstreak
flew through, rather randomly. In between, I came across a single
lesser purple emperor, who like the woodland browns, insisted on lurking in and behind vegetation. I also saw a single large tortoiseshell.
So in the end, I saw most of the species I had come to see, but it was
very hard work and butterflies were very, very thin on the ground. No
large skippers, no black-veined whites, no blues of any species,
bizarrely, and of course, no poplar admirals! Dragons and damsels
included broad-bodied chaser (and here a male), brown hawker and azure damselflies, many of which were in cop (and here). 10th: A warm, sunny day, with haze in the air due to winds from the Sahara. 11th: The Sahara dust was thicker today. Here is the view of the Muveran range as I walked to work in the morning, and here and here
the view from my balcony towards the (almost invisible) Dents du Midi.
CORRECTION: I have learnt it is not Sahara dust but - incredibly, and
very sadly - dust from the wildfires in Canada. Here and here are shots of the moon rising this evening, and here and here the (just after) full moon. 12th:
A hot day forecast, so Minnie and I set off for Valais for Provençal
fritillaries, ilex hairstreaks, southern white admirals and more. We
arrived at about 10h30, when things were just beginning to warm up. On
the way, what looked like a great sooty satyr zoomed past the wheels of
the bike. It was either that or a rock grayling - both butterflies fly
here. On arriving, we immediately saw two southern white admirals seemingly courting. They often sat close together - almost touching - and frequently tumbled together in the sky. Southern white admirals were constant companions for the rest of the day. My first ilex hairstreaks of the year were also immediately to hand. In this picture, a male and female are interacting (the female has the orange blaze on the upperside). I saw plenty more in the course of the day. Marbled fritillaries were common and there were lots of heath fritillaries.
Sadly, at the spot where Provençal fritillaries nectar, they had just
cut the verges and there were no nectar plants. Maybe I saw the
species, but maybe not. Every Melitaea I checked was either heath fritillary or knapweed fritillary. Other fritillaries flying were Queen of Spain and violet. There were few blues. No Adonis, but a few common and mazarine, a few northern brown argus and one or two Provençal short-tailed. New for the year was Swiss zephyr blue. At least two were enjoying the mud
at a shady spot where I spent quite a long time so Minnie could have a
rest from the heat. It was 30°C by the afternoon and she wilts after
about 25°C. The blues weren’t showing their uppersides but I caught the
colour when this one flew off as I photographed it. New skippers for the year were olive (two or three at the same mud patch) and marbled
(also at the mud patch). [Since my original posting, Vincent Baudraz
has suggested from the pictures that these olive skippers are in fact
safflower skippers. They certainly look good for safflower and I have
enough doubt to remove olive skipper from my year list! They were,
however, very small. It was the size that persuaded me in the field -
perhaps distorting my judgment.] Here are two marbled skippers together. Apart from these, I saw a few safflower skippers, a red underwing skipper, at least one small skipper, several Essex skippers and a few large skippers
- but no grizzlies. Orange tips are still on the wing here, and other
Pierids included small white, large white, green-veined white, black-veined white (here with a marbled skipper and here with an olive skipper), wood white and brimstone.
I still haven’t confirmed a southern small white this year. Other
species seen were wall (just one), speckled wood (also just one), large
tortoiseshell (at least half a dozen - of the new, summer brood), swallowtail, scarce swallowtail, a single Apollo (in flight), clouded yellow (quite common) and a single purple hairstreak - my first of the year. 13th. A hot and sunny (but working) day until the evening, when the clouds came over and a storm struck. Here, here and here are more photos of the storm, taken from my balcony. 14th:
I had a bit of a lie-in this morning, and with rain forecast for the
afternoon, stayed local. We took the bus to some boggy land about half
an hour away, hoping for violet coppers, which I often see there in
small numbers in late June and early July. I didn't see any today, but
I did, unexpectedly, find the cranberry fritillaries were already on the wing. There were just a few, fresh males (and here)
- maybe four in total but maybe more - patrolling a part of the site.
In a couple of weeks there will be many more all over it. Our walk took
us through meadows and woods too, to a small pond where I also hoped I
might find violet coppers. There were none there but I did find a Duke of Burgundy, and then more as we walked back again afterwards. In the cranberry bogs I saw two false heath fritillaries. This
is the only one that stopped (while the sun was in) and he looks
already rather worn. There were no lesser marbled fritillaries yet - a
common butterfly here - but I did see a couple of marsh fritillaries.
By the little pond I saw but couldn't photograph my first large blue of
the year. Other blues on the wing were common and mazarine and at one
point I saw two very small but bright blue blues which were probably
Provençal short-tailed but which didn't stop to be examined. Small
tortoiseshells were present throughout the walk, as were painted
ladies, and there were small, green-veined and wood whites. Here is a four-spotted chaser.
The forecast rain didn't come, so instead of heading straight home we
took a beer and chips in the shade. Minnie had had enough walking in
the heat! 15th: Sunny with some cloud. 16th: Another day of mostly sun
with some cloud. We stayed local for our afternoon walk, heading for a
white-letter hairstreak elm to see if any had emerged. They hadn't - or
at least, we didn't see any. There great yellow gentians are in flower in the meadows, where there were also plenty of red-underwing skippers. 17th: A work day, though sunny and warm. Here are two heath fritillaries photographed with my iPhone at lunchtime. 18th:
I took my time this morning, leaving relatively late for a site in the
Jura where I hoped to see chestnut. heath. I tried at the same site too
late in the year last year and missed them. Today, it seemed, it was
too late in the day instead! I arrived at about 11h15 to find the
species abundant but flying incessantly in the heat. Individuals never
stopped more than a second, and when they did pause momently it was
always deep in vegetation. For nearly three hours I got only a few poor shots of chestnut heaths through grass and leaves.
They were flying on a grassy bank and I didn’t chase them, as I didn’t
want to crush the plants. Then finally, a little after 14h00, one
stopped in a slightly more accessible situation, soon followed by
another two who did the same. Here, here and here are some pictures, the last showing an individual of form bertolis, without spots. So in the end, I was able to return with the goods! Other species flying were small heath, meadow brown, ringlet, large skipper, black-veined white, heath fritillary, false heath fritillary, lesser marbled fritillary (just one seen, in flight), small tortoiseshell,
Adonis blue, little blue, probably baton blue (it didn’t stop, but I
don’t know what else it might have been) and one of the larger
fritillaries - probably Niobe. We then moved on to neighbouring
wetlands to look for dragons and damsels. There were quite a lot about
but as it was so hot now little stopped. Azure damselfly was the commonest, with blue-tailed damselflies (here is a teneral male) among them. I had hoped for white-legged, as I think I saw Platycnemis latipes as well as pennipes here last year, but there were none of either species. Several dragonfly species were flying, including brilliant emerald, four-spotted chaser and black-tailed skimmer, but I couldn’t identify everything I saw. As we headed back for the bus, a rather worn violet copper crossed our path. 19th:
Exceptionally, I had another day off work, though I didn't know this in
time to get up early and zoom off somewhere far away! Instead, we went
up the local mountain, coming down by a zig-zag track through the avalanche barriers.
Lots was flying, at every altitude. Right at the top were Queens of
Spain, marsh fritillaries and bright-eyed ringlets. As we descended,
all of these remained conspicuous, with many other species appearing
too. Here is a marsh fritillary and here a bright-eyed ringlet
from lower down. In addition to these, in roughly systematic order, we
saw: swallowtail (a small number), clouded Apollo (locally, a few -
looking more worn now), clouded yellow (a few), Berger's clouded yellow
(common lower down), orange tip (still quite common at mid-altitudes),
wood white, small white, mountain green-veined white, large white, large blue (a handful - and here), little blue (very common), mazarine blue (many - some of the females being very large), Adonis blue (all very worn), turquoise blue (a few lovely, fresh individuals), northern brown argus, geranium argus (that individual was exceptionally small), purple-edged copper (and here - my first of the year), Duke of Burgundy (several, between 1650m and 1600m - here is one on Minnie's water bowl), southern heath fritillary, false heath fritillary, painted lady, large wall, northern wall, alpine heath (now very common), dingy skipper, alpine grizzled skipper (a very fresh individual - here he is with a marsh fritillary,
to show his size), probably tufted marbled skipper, but he didn't stop
to confirm. If I've forgotten things, I'll ad them later! 20th: A warm, sunny day
- but also the last day of school, so a work day. In the afternoon, I
met up with former students, so we didn't do a butterfly walk. 21st: I stayed local today,
checking again on the white-letter hairstreaks to see if they were
flitting about in the master tree. They weren't. Indeed, parts of the
master tree appear to be affected by something like Dutch elm disease.
I hope it survives. The butterflies don't really depend on it, as
there's a lot of elm about, but I do for my observations! Amongst other
species, I did see my first Niobe fritillary
of the year (or at least, the first that I have been able to confirm -
I've seen the occasional large fritillary for the last couple of weeks
but they've never stopped). There are still a few first brood Adonis blues about. Here is a large blue. 22nd:
Today I went back to the site in Valais where I thought I had seen
olive skippers (on 12th June), to see if I could confirm their identity
as olive or very small safflower. Sadly, although I saw several
safflower skippers elsewhere, there were none on the mud puddle - nor
any olive skippers there either. Instead, there were large and small skippers, marbled skippers, turquoise blues,
black-veined, green-veined and small whites, wood whites, and passing
painted ladies, swallowtails and scarce swallowtails. It was a very hot
day - already 25°C by 11h30 - and I had to monitor Minnie carefully,
making sure she was always hydrated and wetted, and finding shady spots for her. We continued on the usual walk, seeing lots of southern white admirals, a few ilex hairstreaks, lots of great sooty satyrs, a couple of rock graylings, several speckled woods, lots of heath and knapweed fritillaries (but no Provençal fritillaries, bizarrely), a couple of high brown fritillaries,
a single silver-washed fritillary, a single large tortoiseshell and
most excitingly, a single poplar admiral. This last was a female and I
saw her in flight only. She flapped and glided in, flew briefly around
the base of a tree, then soared into the canopy and disappeared. There
are lots of aspens
along this track - one big cluster is about 20m away from where I saw
her, in the direction from which she flew - and I have been told poplar
admiral flies here. But in more than 20 years of visiting the site, I
have never seen one. I suspect they inhabit the forested slopes above
where I walk. I waited for her to reappear but knew she wouldn’t -
females are not like that! I even set off into the wooded areas above
the track but it was too hot to expect Minnie to follow me, so after
carrying her for a while I gave up. We then waited for some time by the
mud patch, seeing a lovely aberrant Swiss Zephyr blue (note the dearth of spots on the hind wing) and a passing Apollo, as well as a single southern small white and an Eastern Bath white. I would have had a photo of the southern small white if the Bath white hadn’t put it up! I would like to think this wood white (and here)
is cryptic wood white, which statistically I must surely have seen by
now this year. I wanted next to visit a bladder senna near Leuk where I
had seen Iolas blues last year. So we headed back to the train, got off
at Leuk, and I cycled the first 3km to give Minnie a break. But it was
so hot as we walked to the bladder senna (to the extent I carried
Minnie much of the way and was concerned for her) that I forgot to stop
as we passed! I saw my first grayling of the year as we walked but it
wasn't stopping. We carried on to a usual river spot in the shade,
where Minnie could chill out a bit! There, a single Iolas blue came
bounding through, from the direction of our bladder senna bush! On the
way back, I remembered to check the bush but there were no blues on it.
Then suddenly, a blue bounded in, with all the Iolas moves but none of
the size! Being primed for Iolas, I had no idea what it was until it
stopped on a bladder senna flower, when it proved to be a long-tailed blue - my first of the year. By this time it was 30°C and Minnie was wilting, so we headed back to the bike, then to the shade of the station, whence back to Leysin.
The day list (from memory, so I might add to it later) was:
Swallowtail, Scarce swallowtail, Apollo, Large white, Small white,
Southern small white, Green-veined white, Wood white, Eastern Bath
white, Brimstone, Clouded yellow, Berger’s clouded yellow, Common blue,
Chapman’s blue, Provençal short-tailed blue, Swiss Zephyr blue, Iolas
blue, Long-tailed blue, Ilex hairstreak, Queen of Spain, Knapweed
fritillary, Heath fritillary, Marbled fritillary, Silver-washed
fritillary, Poplar admiral, Southern white admiral, Comma, Red admiral,
Great sooty satyr, Rock grayling, Grayling, Speckled wood, Marbled
white, Large skipper, Small skipper, Safflower skipper, Marbled skipper. 23rd: A mixture of bright, sunny intervals and torrential rain! 24th: We headed up the Val d’Anniviers
this morning to look for Asian fritillary. Last year, on 18th June, I
saw very little - and no Asian fritillaries - but normally about now is
fine. It turned out to be the perfect day for them. From 11h00 onwards
I saw dozens - males and females alike. Getting photographs of the undersides was easy (and here) but today they never settled or nectared with their wings open, so all the uppersides I got were while they manoeuvred on the thyme. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such good numbers of the species. Here are two together on thyme, here, here and here different individuals, and here one of the rare individuals that nectared on something else (Hierarcium sp.). Also new for the year were alpine grayling, large ringlet, almond-eyed ringlet, cranberry blue and idas blue (and here). Other blues flying were northern brown argus, geranium argus, large blue (and here), mazarine blue and little blue (with cranberry and mazarine blues in that picture) - this last being abundant. Northern wall were common, as always, and so were alpine heaths. I saw a couple of alpine grizzled skippers, lots of dingy skippers, a few southern grizzled skippers and good numbers of chequered skippers. As well as the Asian fritillaries there were false heath, pearl-bordered and Queen of Spain fritillaries. For the whites, mountain green-veined were the commonest, followed by black-veined and then a few small and wood whites,
as well as some orange tips and brimstones. I saw scarce swallowtail
but not swallowtail. There were a few small tortoiseshells around and
the occasional painted lady. 25th: With temperatures peaking at 32°C even here in the mountains, I chose not to take Minnie anywhere today. It was sunny all day, breaking overnight to storms. 26th: Mixed sunshine and cloud. It was mostly cloudy on our local, afternoon walk, but this didn't stop the marbled whites and meadow browns flying. Here is a small skipper and here a southern heath fritillary during one of the sunny spells. This large wall stopped just long enough for me to snatch some shots of her (and here).
As we left the woodland/meadow site, a great banded grayling bounced
across the road and over the field - my first of the year. 27th: Today’s plan was to see if Erebia christi
was on the wing yet. I have only poor photos of males and usually see
females when I go later. It is early, and I didn’t have great
confidence, but I set off all the same for the Simplon first thing in
the morning. Unfortunately, as I reached the train, I realised I hadn’t
got my hat, and as I can’t possible spend a day in the sun without a
head covering, I had to go back and get the next train! That meant I
didn’t reach my destination site until after 11h30. Already on the way
I had year ticks. First of these was woodland ringlet.
Normally, I see large ringlet in huge numbers on this walk but today
they were very few and woodland ringlets were commoner. The next new
species - or taxon, at least - was Darwin’s heath (and here),
which exists in its purest form on these slopes south of the Simplon. I
saw literally hundreds of these during the day. The commonest ringlet
at my christi site was almond-eyed - as it always is - and some of these were already worn. Also flying were marbled ringlets (and here). Despite a cloudy forecast, it remained sunny the whole time I was there, and lots of species were flying: my first Titania’s fritillaries of the year (and here, with almond-eyed ringlets), false heath fritillaries, southern heath fritillaries, pearl-bordered fritillaries, Apollos, my first chalkhill blues of the year, common blues and little blues, lots of large blues, purple-edged copper (ssp. eurydame) and sooty copper (ssp. subalpinus),
small skippers and large skippers, large wall and I think northern
wall, a single alpine grayling, black-veined whites and doubtless other
things I have forgotten. For the first couple of hours, I had no
confirmed christi. I caught two male epiphron, the first of which had me going for a bit, and a single mnestra, but a single, probable male christi appeared off the track and continued up the steep hill without my being able to get near him. Then, suddenly, an unmistakable female christi landed in grass near the track. I snatched that shot before she lifted up, and then caught her to confirm. Here is a shot in the observation box, leaving no doubt as to her ID. When I released her, I expected her to open her wings and allow great pictures but instead she sat on my hand awhile before opening her wings and zooming straight into the grass. She was clearly gravid and today’s mission for her was laying eggs. Here she is just taking off by the side of the track. As she warmed up, she flew a little up the hill but still dived straight down into long grass
(tufting sheep’s fescue). I watched her from a distance, always deep in
grass, sometimes flying up and on to another patch, then down into the
grass again. I didn’t follow her as there was a non-negligible risk of
breaking my legs coming down again and there was no one around. After
this I saw another probable male, though again I couldn’t confirm as he
was flight only. So no great male pictures, but I came home very
pleased to have seen christi before the end of June. 28th: Up my local mountain this afternoon, the first Piedmont ringlets are flying (and here). I watched a female bright-eyed ringlet laying eggs and photographed what I thought were her eggs, but they can't be, (a) because they're already there in the picture with her laying, and (b) because bright-eyed ringlet eggs are not ribbed (uniquely among Swiss Erebia). I don't know what species they are! New for the year was dark green fritillary. I only photographed one - through intervening grass
- but there were several flying, from over 1800m down to about 1400m.
In general, things seem calmer today than recently and I suspect that a
lot of butterflies have flown, done their thing, and died in all the
recent wonderful weather. Also new for the year were mountain clouded
yellow, of which I saw just a couple near the top, and shepherd's
fritillary, of which I saw just one, in flight. Perhaps the commonest
butterfly at all
altitudes was marsh fritillary. Other species I photographed on our walk today included geranium argus, northern brown argus, purple-edged copper, green-veined white and a pair of orange tips. 29th: A beautiful day. I was leading a service in Villars in the evening, so didn't get out on any butterfly expeditions! 30th: The canicule
is still in force! I was teaching in the evening and it was hot during
the day, so I gave Minnie a day off! By the evening, the morning heat had turned to cloud, then a short storm, then a rainbow.
July 1st:
I did a belated hunt for sloe hairstreaks today at my usual site for
this species. Clearly, I am too late this year. Although I have found
them in July in the past, there were none there today. It was a very
hot day - up to 30°C in the heat of the afternoon, and I did just a
single circuit of the site, for Minnie's sake - but I don't think it
would have helped doing another circuit. There were lots of pearly heaths
on the wing - new for me for the season - and many great banded
graylings. The first second brood Adonis blues are out now. This female wood white
was laying in the shade on fresh, young vetch. She rejected a great
many potential plants before she finally settled on this one. Here is the egg she laid. There were beautiful skies in the evening. 2nd:
I stayed local today, to see if I could find some white-letter
hairstreaks at the top of my nearest master elm. Sadly, this elm has succumbed to Dutch elm disease but there are still many healthy branches on it and a few hairstreaks were sitting around at the top, looking down on the world from the canopy. This one is a female, I believe,
already searching within the healthy parts for places to lay eggs.
There were also white-letter hairstreaks flying in the neighbouring ash
and still more in the maple on the other side. This is a context picture. Here, here and here are hairstreaks in the maple. Also new for the year was Scotch argus. This is now out in the woods, before the Arran browns - which is unusual. I saw at least three white admirals (and here), even though I have still failed to find eggs or caterpillars on the honeysuckle here. There are plenty of great-banded graylings and it is now seemingly peak marbled white (and here, and here, and here). Here are two small skippers and here is a geranium argus nectaring on sainfoin. As we cycled home, I saw two high brown fritillaries (and here) nectaring in the verge. 3rd:
A hot day, with storms forecast. I had a lot of administrative things
to organise, including Minnie's annual vaccinations and didn't go
anywhere special today. Strangely, I took no photos, though I did take
a GIF of the storm that woke us up at 04h20 in the morning on the night of 3rd-4th, so that will count for today's picture! 4th:
I had intended to go high in the Val d’Hérens today, but as the bus was
heading up the valley, I changed my mind and got off. This was probably
my last chance to see Nickerl’s fritillary this year, as I failed to
see it on my last trip on 30th May. There are also a lot of good July
species at the Nickerl’s site, so I didn’t think I could lose. Although
it was still mostly cloudy as we began the walk to the site (there were
heavy storms last night and it was completely overcast when we left
home today), lots of Satyrids were flying, including marbled white (that one had clear blue spots around the hindwing), great sooty satyr (that one in a moment of sun), ringlet, meadow brown and small heath. As we continued, the sun started coming out and fritillaries began flying. The commonest were spotted (and here) and knapweed, which I would see continually throughout the morning. There were also a few heath (but not many), some pearl-bordered, and a few violet fritillaries, with dark green and silver-washed (and here)
joining them later in the day. And to cut a long story short - yes, I
found probably one, at most two Nickerl’s fritillaries in one of their
main meadows (the other had been scythed, so nothing was flying there).
I spotted it in flight, from a distance, and just watched as it mooched
around the meadow, never stopping. I didn’t chase it, so as not to
crush all the vegetation. The first time, on the way out, it didn’t
stop at all. When I came back, I saw it stop twice and I got a few snatched shots (and here)
from a great distance - enough to confirm what I already knew
(Nickerl's fritillary is very easy to identify in flight). Lots of
blues were flying. New for the year were Meleager’s blues (and here) - of which I saw at least half a dozen males and two females. Provençal short-tailed blues (here are a Meleager's and a Provençal short-tailed together) were common and I saw a few Escher’s blues, a single common blue, a single chalkhill blue, a few baton blues, a couple of brown arguses and a holly blue. White admiral and southern white admiral were both about. This female southern white admiral was laying. Here is one of her eggs, laid on honeysuckle deep in shade (I held the leaf in sun to get the shot). There were a few Lulworth skippers (and here) as well as Essex, dingy, mallow (and here) and large skippers. There were probably also small skippers but I didn’t confirm any. A few Apollos were drifting around and lots of scarce swallowtails. I saw a single swallowtail. For the whites, it was mostly large, small, black-veined and green-veined. There were a few clouded yellows and Berger’s clouded yellows, and a few brimstones. I saw just one or two speckled woods during the day and a single cardinal, zooming past me in flight. The single commonest butterfly today was great sooty satyr. I saw at least three mating couples (and here),
as well as countless males and females. By 13h00, with temperatures of
about 26°C, Minnie had had enough butterflying so we climbed back up to
the village and had a beer in the shade. Sadly, I got the bus time
wrong, though, so when we headed back out at 13h55 to catch the 13h58
bus, we saw it go past - it was in fact the 13h54. So I decided to walk
an hour down the road - though along a mountain/meadow track much of
the way - and catch the next bus further along. We saw nothing new
along this walk, but did see another (fresher) Nickerl’s fritillary (here is her underside) and a female Lulworth skipper, as well as a mating pair of common blues.
I’ve seen dusky meadow brown along this track in the past but didn’t
confirm any today. We then waited five minutes in the shade and made
sure not to miss the next bus! 5th: The day has begun beautiful. On
our (rather late) morning walk, we found a female southern small white
flitting around garden lavendar. I had my camera, but as it was never
settling, I took some shots on my iPhone, just to secure the record. Here and here are two of them. 6th:
It was sunny this morning, but I was playing the piano for church in
Villars so missed good weather. By the time we came out, shortly after
11h00, it was cloudy. I walked Minnie through the woods to catch the
bus lower down the hill, and despite the overcast skies found a courting pair of wood whites. The female is the one on the left and I am confident she is cryptic wood white (Leptidea juvernica). The Swiss AI identification app
confirmed my first impression, giving a very high percentage for
cryptic wood white (when I cropped the picture down to just the
female). It gave a strong vote for wood white (L. sinapis)
for the male, however! The female did not respond at all to the male
and it is indeed possible that they are different species. Here is a
video of the pair. By the evening there was heavy cloud, rain and even a little thunder. 7th: A mostly cloudy day, with some rain and some sun. Here is a shot of the Grand Chamossaire
from our afternoon walk. Because of the weather I saw few butterflies -
mostly Satyrids like ringlets and meadow browns - but a silver-washed fritillary put down in front of me in the woods on the Suchet, and this high brown fritillary was nectaring in a meadowsweet meadow (there were no lesser marbled fritillaries there). 8th: Rain and rainbows. 9th:
On this day last year, I visited my Thor’s fritillary site and saw
none. I wasn’t sure what the reason was, as I have always visited this
site in the first two weeks of July and until 2023 - when I also failed
- had always found plenty. Today, again, I saw none. I have to conclude
9th July is now too late. I walked all their usual haunts, from about
11h00 until 15h00 (with a beer pause in the middle) and had not a sniff
of thore. In fact, there were rather few fritillaries altogether. I saw
maybe half a dozen Titania’s fritillaries (mostly females), a similar number of false heath fritillaries - or maybe slightly more - a few lesser marbled fritillaries, a single pearl-bordered fritillary and locally, lots of silver-washed fritillaries (and here).
An indicator that things have accelerated this year was the absence of
orange tips - a species I have always seen on Thor days! The most
conspicuous butterflies were various Erebia species, notably ligea(Arran brown), euryale(large ringlet), oeme(bright-eyed ringlet) and, new for the year, pharte(blind ringlet - and here). At my beer stop, a large ringlet first seemed to want to share my beer, then chose to sup at nutrients on my arm. Earlier in the day, an Arran brown also took a liking to my personal chemistry! There were also a lot of large walls too, and I saw a single grayling (semele). There were surprisingly few blues. Here is an Idas blue and here a large blue (and here).
I normally see alpine argus on this walk but there were none at their
usual patch of mud. And instead of the usual alpine grizzled skippers
there were several large grizzled skippers (and here)
- another sign I was too late (alpine grizzled skipper is an early
mountain species). Large skippers were quite common. Interestingly,
both green-veined white and mountain green-veined white (and here)
were flying together. Temperatures were low - 9°C when I arrived,
rising to 11°C for much of the day and about 14°C when I left, at about
15h00. 10th: I went up my local mountain this afternoon, in mixed sunny/cloudy weather. Right at the top, I quickly saw my first common brassy ringlet (Erebia arvernensis) of the year and got my first (quick) snap of a mountain clouded yellow before it zoomed off.
Twice, we put up shepherd's fritillaries from the path ahead of us
(Minnie put up the first, and I the second) but neither of them settled
again. This blind ringlet was near the top too. A little lower down, both manto ringlets (Erebia manto) and lesser mountain ringlets (Erebia melampus and here) were flying, though I didn't spend long at my usual Erebia site because a young family was havinag a picnic there! At one of my favourite sites lower down still, at about 1650m, this aberrant heath fritillary (and here) was the star of the show. Here is a normal heath fritillary a few flowers away. The large blues here seem to be on their last legs ... Other species seen included large wall, northern brown argus, mazarine blue, chalkhill blue, red underwing skipper, sooty copper (and here), false heath fritillary, mountain green-veined white and great banded grayling. 11th:
We visited our regular dusky and scarce large blue site in the Bernese
Oberland today, fearing that if we left it too late they would be over.
As we arrived, we quickly saw a male scarce large blue in flight and
then what I took to be a dusky large blue with its wings open - a rare sight. Even when I photographed the underside,
I thought it was dusky large blue. Only when I looked at the pictures
afterwards did I realise it was in fact a very worn female scarce large
blue. Later, I saw fresher individuals, but I think the species is
coming to the end of its flight period. Here is another scarce large blue female that I took at first for a female dusky large blue with its wings open. This one is fresher, though it has some wing damage (here is a poor glimpse of the upperside), as is this one.
There were some dusky large blues flying too, but I didn't focus on
them as I thought I'd already taken pictures of the uppersides! Here is
one, and here another,
both from this first site. Later in the day, and much lower down the
mountain, where I usually see lots of dusky large blues, I found just
one - a laying female. This is the same individual. In in-flight view of a purple emperor was my first of that species this year. Here is a cluster of blues
at a dropping. The picture shows a turquoise blue near the front, with
little blues in the foreground, two Eros blues in the middle, flanked
by northern brown arguses, and two little blues behind. There is,
sadly, a little blue lying dead on the ground. In this picture
there are three Eros blues, one mazarine blue, two northern brown
arguses and two little blues, as well as the dead little blue. The
butterflies were soon joined by a couple of Damon blues. The commonest butterflies of the day were ringlets, with Scotch argus coming a close second in the woody parts. There were plenty of large walls, and in the marshy bits a lot of lesser marbled fritillaries. Here is a silver-washed fritillary, photographed in the forest as we walked down to the lower marshes. 12th: We stayed local today, taking a walk around the Leysin woods and meadows in the afternoon. Great banded graylings are now abundant here, though many of them look very worn. Meadow browns
are also abundant, with smaller numbers of ringlets mixed in. For the
first time, I saw one of the local white-letter hairstreaks nectaring. This picture was taken with flash as the butterfly was darkside-on to me. This shot, taken in natural light, shows the relief of the sex brand, revealing that he is a male. Here is one of the rather few holly blues I have seen this year. She is a female. Here is a male common blue on bird's foot trefoil, and not far away, here is a Chapman's blue
on sainfoin. The androconia are clearly visible. Walking back along the
road, I spotted two white admirals and then was delighted to see my
first ever Leysin purple emperor zoom into a maple right next to a
sallow. I got a few proof shots (and here)
but she (for I suspect it is a female) didn't move, so in the end I
carried on home. I will check that sallow for eggs and caterpillars as
the summer progresses. 13th: Storms were brewing
in the morning, and although it cleared up later, I didn't go anywhere
today. We did a shortish, local walk in the afternoon, in mostly
overcast conditions. 14th: There was very heavy rain overnight which
continued in the morning as we got up, but when we took a late morning
walk (about 09h30) it was already sunny. Later in the morning, as I went to the shops, I photographed two southern small whites on lavender with my iPhone. This is a male and this is a female (and here). In the afternoon we walked over the meadows
to the forest and headed up to about 1450m to look for purple emperor
eggs (having seen a female near the station a couple of days ago). I
was delighted to find two eggs (here and here)
on a sallow at 1433m. I didn't find any more on the way down, but it is
still relatively early for eggs. Other species flying were ringlet,
meadow brown, marbled white, large wall, southern heath fritillary, Queen of Spain fritillary, silver-washed fritillary,
various golden skippers and a few blues - though my focus was on
egg-hunting. I think these eggs are about three or four days old, so
they should hatch in about ten days. 15th:
We headed to Aosta this morning, to see Piedmont anomalous blues. I
normally go in the second half of July but chose today partly because
it is such an early year and partly because the weather looked partly
cloudy, and it is normally much too hot for Minnie. In the event, it
was 27°C when we arrived at Aosta and was sunny almost all the time! As we walked through wooded meadows to the main site, we immediately saw woodland graylings
- instantly recognizable in flight by their size. They were as big as
great banded graylings and almost as contrasting black and white. They
were very common throughout the day. Great sooty satyrs
were very common too, here and throughout the day. These access meadows
had recently been cut and little else was flying here - a few chalkhill
blues and meadow browns, for example, but not much. When we reached the
main walk where most of the anomalous blues fly, it also seemed at
first very quiet. We quickly saw chalkhill and Meleager’s blues, but no anomalous. Here is a blue-spot hairstreak - my first of the year (and here another, from later on). Then the first of probably 10 Piedmont anomalous blues
appeared. To put this in context, I noted in 2016, on 20th July, that
this species was abundant and the commonest Lycaenid. That certainly
wasn’t true today. Here is another, from the main site, and here and here
two different individuals from the walk home afterwards, well off the
main site. All the anomalous blues seemed fresh and I think they were
all males, so it seems this is the beginning of the season. There were
a fair few Escher’s blues around, including this female. Another species that is normally very common here is dusky meadow brown. I saw a few - this is a female and this (I think) a male - but numbers were low compared to the usual. Silver-washed fritillaries were common, and were accompanied by spotted (and here), southern heath, Queen of Spain and false heath fritillaries, as well as marbled, rather more locally. Here is a particularly small female common blue
that I initially took for a brown argus. Here size is apparent even in
the photo, from the density of the spots. I saw both small heaths and pearly heaths,
as well as ringlets, speckled woods and lots of marbled whites. On the
way back, a male pale clouded yellow flew past over a clover field. He
homed straight in on a female, sitting there among the clover, and
without so much as a cheery ‘hello’, let alone any kind of courtship,
he mated her! Here they are,
in exactly the same place she was when he flew in! Further along the
track I saw what I thought was an idas blue, though I didn't get a
glimpse of the underside. Here is a turquoise blue, supping with a couple of common blues, and here a pair of chalkhill blues. 16th: We stayed in Leysin today, on a mostly cloudy day. Here is a silver-washed fritillary and here a wood white. 17th:
After a cloudy morning, it was sunny in the afternoon and we went
looking for purple emperor eggs, finding three new ones. Here, here and here are the new eggs, and here
a shot showing that first one in context. This egg looks to be 10 or 11
days old, so should hatch within a few days. As we set out, we saw a
flock of griffon vultures high in the sky, beyond Leysin Village Staion. Here and here are slightly closer shots of the vultures, though they were a very long way away. Here is a great banded grayling in a tree. I noticed how incredible the underside camouflage was, visible in this close-up of the butterfly and bark. 18th: A hot day was forecast, so we headed up to the high mountains
for the first time this year. On the bus, we met a friend who had
intended to do a lower walk, but when I told him we were going up to
look for Cynthia's fritillary he gladly joined us! The only one he had
seen previously was the one I rescued from a mountain pond (at the same
site) two years ago. From the moment we began the climb, new species
for the year appeared. The first was scarce copper (here is another shot from later in the day). For the first time this year I was able to get photos of a shepherd's fritillary, though it wasn't a new species. Mountain fritillary was, however. Here and here are two more males, and here and here two females. Even though the day hadn't really hotted up yet, there were little clusters of blues, including chalkhill blue, Eros blue, glandon blue (new for the year), cranberry blue (here is one on juniper), northern brown argus, little blue, idas blue and mazarine blue. Niobe fritillaries were common all along the way. As we climbed, Grisons fritilllaries (and here) became more and more common - here is a female - though they flew right from the start of the walk. Swiss brassy ringlets were also common everywhere, as well as Mnestra's ringlets but the commonest Satyrid by far was alpine heath. The first silver-spotted skippers are now on the wing - and quite commonly. Our destination was a little pond
at about 2550m. Many species take minerals at the mud on its edges and
Cynthia's fritillary flies in nearby gullies. Sadly, there are always
dead and dying butterflies stranded on its surface, too, though there
were rather few today. I rescued this mountain clouded yellow, whose raised abomen told me it was still alive, and my friend rescued this dusky grizzled skipper
(on my hand, there). There were no Cynthia's fritillaries in their
usual haunts, and for a long time we thought the mission would be
unsuccessful. Then one flew through - though didn't stop for the usual
lekking - and finally I spotted another one on the mud (and here). I let my friend approach for some pictures, before the butterfly zoomed off. Here is a female glandon blue from nearby and here an idas blue.
Before leaving, I wandered up to a nearby summet where I've seen peak
white hilltopping in the past. There were a few people there but I did
see one peak white in flight only - my first of the year. When we got
back down there was still an hour and a half to wait for the bus, so
Minnie and I wandered off to another site. By this time, however,
things were beginning to settle down for the night and we saw nothing
new. Here is a pair of little blues taking advantage of the last of the sun's warmth and here an idas blue. 19th: A bright start, degrading by the afternoon. 20th: I had to be in Villars in the afternoon so took a morning walk across the meadows
to the woods and up to the purple emperor rides to see if the egg I had
expected to hatch had indeed hatched. Sadly, I fear he did - and was
immediately taken by an insect predator. I say this because his empty shell
was visible on the leaf and he wasn't - nor was he on any nearby leaf.
Normally, the newly hatched larva eats the egg and so to see it still
erect like this is always a warning sign. It was some compensation,
therefore, that I found two new eggs, bringing the total so far to 7.
One of the eggs I had previously found was now looking close to
hatching, with the larva clearly visible within. This egg is in full morning sunlight and has undoubtedly been accelerated in its development. Other species I photographed included silver-washed fritillary (and here), a little cluster of marbled whites and great banded graylings, a female chalkhill blue, green-veined white (and here), a red admiral and a Queen of Spain. 21st:
I felt sure the nearly hatched egg from yesterday would have hatched by
today, so I zoomed off on my bike without Minnie in the morning to see
the newborn caterpillar. I can be there and back with pictures in half
an hour if I don't take Minnie! However, when I arrived, the little
emperor was still inside.
I thought he might emerge soon and decided to look for more eggs and
come back to him. The egg hunt was successful. I found four more,
including two freshly laid, pale green eggs (and here
- the other one), with no trace of the brown band. The band develops
within a day or so of laying, so this means Mme. Iris was here very
recently! The second of these eggs was laid very close to an older egg (also new to me, but laid over a week ago). While searching the sallows, I came across this very conspicuous alder moth caterpillar.
When I got back to the morning's target egg, I found it still
unhatched, so cycled home. In the afternoon, I couldn't resist taking
Minnie on her walk to the same place but the egg was still intact! I have known eggs to reach this stage and never hatch - I hope this doesn't happen to this one. 22nd:
Leaving the purple emperor eggs for a day, Minnie and I went up into
the mountains above Haute Nendaz to look for silvery arguses. After a
disturbed night, when Minnie got me up at 01h30 because she needed the
loo (!), we set off a bit later than usual, arriving at the beginning
of our walk up to the site at a little after 10h00 and at the site
itself at about 11h30. It was sunny but cool when we arrived - about
11°C - with a bit of wind. Few butterflies were flying when we set off
on our circular walk but those that were on the wing settled
frequently. This is the first of many carline skippers we saw, and this one of many lesser mountain ringlets. But quality soon made up for quantity. As we continued the walk, silvery arguses began appearing on the path, often in the company of chalkhill blues. Here is the best shot I could get of an underside, as the butterflies all wanted to sun while they fed in the cool weather. Here, here (there are two in that picture, with a chalkhill blue) and here are some more pictures. Another treat was a mountain dappled
white that stopped to nectar while I was photographing silvery arguses.
The only downside was the number of people walking along the same path
- and even a 4x4 - and the dappled white was disturbed by them before I
could get that perfect shot! Other species flying included
silver-spotted skipper, false heath fritillary, little blue, mazarine blue, geranium argus, purple-edged copper, mnestra ringlet, marbled ringlet
and alpine heath. Because of the low temperatures, the usual mud spots
had few butterflies at them. I stopped a short white at my small Apollo
spot, but apart from a distant white butterfly that could quite easily
have been one, I saw none. On the second half of our walk there were
plenty of Swiss brassy ringlets,
some more carline skippers and a good number of mazarine and little
blues, but nothing like the usual swarms of blues, skippers and browns.
So we headed back down the long walk to the bus, intending to return a
little later in the year, on a really hot day, for the things we missed
today. The buses leave at two-hour intervals and the next one would
have got us home late, for little gain. Nevertheless, it was a very
enjoyable day, and the silvery arguses and dappled white were a big
plus. 23rd: The egg I last photographed on 21st July, all ready to hatch, has hatched.
I have named the caterpillar Stewie (this year's emperor cats will be
named after the cast of Family Guy!). He probably hatched yesterday, or
even on 21st after I had gone, as he had moved to a neighbouring leaf tip where there was a little more shade, and alreay eaten a big chunk out of it. Here is what remains of his egg,
eaten right down to the base. I didn't go up to check on the other eggs
- I don't think any were close to hatching and this one is the nearest
to my house. Here are a Scotch argus and a meadow brown, and here a Scotch argus.
I saw the first dryad of the year drifting across a meadow as I walked
home - there will be many more of these soon. And finally, a green woodpecker on an electricity pole. 24th: A cloudy day, with rain at times. 25th: Another cloudy day, with sometimes heavy rain. In the afternoon, I took advantage of a dry spell to walk out to the woods where the purple emperors breed. The most recently laid eggs had coloured up with dark bases (and here) and the older eggs had caterpillars visible inside (and here - I tried to use flash for that one, but it missed!). Stewie had survived another couple of days (!) though he had moved to a new leaf. Not far away, I found an older caterpillar (and here), whose egg I hadn't found. I have christened him Quagmire.I also found a sallow kitten moth caterpillar on one of the sallows (and here). It began raining again as we walked home and became torrential later on. 26th:
It rained pretty well all day today, though we managed a short
afternoon walk in the dry. By the evening, the rain was torrential and
there were electrical storms. Not a butterfly day! 27th: I was playing the piano for church in Montreux this morning. It was surprisingly dry and mild when we got there (and here), so we took a walk by the lake before the service. In the afternoon it became progressively cloudier and was raining by the evening. 28th:
A rainy day. In the late afternoon I went alone to the forest (Minnie
hates the rain!) to check on the eggs and caterpillars. Quagmire
was still first instar, and feeding despite the rain. Stewie was
nowhere to be seen, but I suspect he has simply relocated himself as
his birth leaf - and the entire sprig - was far too exposed to the sun.
Another egg had hatched, giving birth to Meg.
As she hasn't eaten any of her leaf yet, I think she has only just
emerged. By the time I walked past her a second time she was exploring the leaf tip. There is an egg on the leaf next to hers, so I hope she stays on her present leaf! I found this egg for the first time today, and this recently laid egg
near Quagmire. Despite the poor weather, Mme. Iris has been out and
about, depositing her precious load on the leaves! One of the eggs that
was ready to hatch last time I visited was empty but intact - meaning
it had been predated I was able to relocate the sallow kitten caterpillar (and here). What wonderful cryptic colouring! As I headed home, I heard distant bird sounds I couldn't quite place. It was three magpie fledglings (and here) on a wire, waiting to be fed. 29th:
On what was forecast to be the only nice day this week, we headed to
Martigny, to the cardinal site where I first found them breeding (in
the nearby vineyards) in 2013. The species has now spread throughout
the Rhône Valley and I have seen it as far afield as Leuk, but this is
still where they are most numerous. Even as I approached, I started
seeing them and they were even watching me from the canopy. Here, here, here and here are some males, and here a female. They were not the only butterflies enjoying the Buddleia. There were also silver-washed fritillaries (and here), Queen of Spain fritillaries, high brown fritillaries, marbled fritillaries and heath fritillaries, as well as browns (here is a Scotch argus), skippers, whites, swallowtails and scarce swallowtails. This scarce swallowtail
was in the vineyards on the way, but there were many on the Buddleia. A
nearby area of scree, avalanche rubble and thick bushes has been shored up and protected by some considerable groundwork.
Last year I couldn't access the site and feared there was something
more sinister going on, but I think it is simply reinforcement of
potentially unstable ground. Although much of the area had been cleared
(there used to be a forest of Buddleia here), and I didn't see evidence
of the colony of idas blue that used to fly there, it was rapidly
growing back and there were already lots of flowers and butterflies. I
saw a single Camberwell beauty fly through, watched several southern white admirals defending territories (and here), found chalkhill and common blues
and generally had the sense this would be good in the future. A female
purple emperor flew over as I was leaving. Walking back to Martigny in
the woods and fields above the vineyards, I saw my first brown
hairstreak - in flight only. He flew close enough to me to discern that
he was a male. Other species seen during the day included red
admiral, comma, a single large tortoisehell, wall, Provençal short-tailed blue,
clouded yellow, berger's clouded yellow, large white, small white,
green-veined white, wood white, mallow skipper and large skipper. 30th: A bright morning, leading to a mixed afternoon. Here is a hummingbird hawk moth in the morning, near my apartment, and here a common blue on our afternoon walk. We stayed local, to check on the purple emperor caterpillars and eggs. I found several more eggs (and here), including on two new bushes, but couldn't find Quagmire and still couldn't find Stewie. Meg was on her leaf but there was still no real evidence of feeding. This egg is colouring up rather oddly. 31st: Another day when rain was forecast but which turned out to be mostly sunny. This is a large wall, near my apartment in the morning. In the afternoon we went up the mountain (I don't know what that fuzzy sphere
is in the sky - perhaps an optical artefact), though up there it was
locally cloudy much of the time and also a little chilly. Four species
of Erebia were flying, including arvernensis, melampus, aethiops and manto. That last manto ringlet spent a long time on my bag and then on my telephone (and here, and here).
My regular flowery site lower down (1650m) had been extensively grazed
and trampled by cattle so little was flying there, but I did see some
fresh chalkhill blues. Here is a wood white
from lower down still. In the evening I went to the woods to see if 1st
(and/or 2nd) instar purple emperor caterpillars glowed under UV - in
the hope of relocating my lost cats. ChatGPT said they did. I searched
Quagmire's and Stewie's trees in vain, concluding that they had both
been predated, but then discovered that Meg didn't show up at all. If
anything, she was darker and less visible under UV. So I can draw no
conclusions about the others! I used flash to photograph Meg (and here)
and it is clear that although there's still no significant evidence of
feeding, she has grown. There is more evidence of feeding on a
neighbouring leaf, so it is possible she is wandering to feed and
merely resting up in her birth leaf. I saw five glowworms on the walk,
including this mating pair. Here is a lone female, on a grass stem, and here another, contorting her body on a vertical rock surface! It is only the underside of the tip of her abdomen that glows, so she has to cling onto the rock while exposing this. This picture, taken with flash, shows the context, and this one, without flash, the night view. Here is another night view
of a different female. I was glad to see these shy creatures and a
little sorry I had brought light along the tracks - I always use a
light to walk in the woods at night, to avoid treading on snails, slugs
and amphibians.
August 1st: A rather cloudy day for the Fête Nationale (and here).
With rain threatening, festivities in the evening seemed more subdued
than usual but there were fireworks to be seen and heard in the distance.. 2nd: A partly cloudy, partly sunny
day. In the afternoon, I checked on the purple emperor eggs and the one
caterpillar I can still locate, Meg. She has moved to a neighbouring leaf where there is another egg, raising the possibilty of conflict if she stays on that leaf until it hatches. Here is a different egg, in close-up. No eggs look set to hatch any day soon and the one in deep shade is developing very slowly indeed! Here is a female silver-washed fritillary and here a male. There are still lots of great banded graylings about. 3rd: In the morning I was preaching in Villars-sur-Ollon, so we were up and out early. Here and here
are two shots of Minnie in church (taken by a member of the
congretation), after I had walked down the aisle at the end. Once upon
a time she would follow me out, but now she stays put and listens to
the closing music! 4th: A mostly sunny day. In the afternoon, we checked on the purple emperor eggs and cats. Meg
has moved again, and is now two leaves away from the other egg. After a
cool period recently, most eggs are still quite undeveloped. This
is one of the most advanced. Here is a green-veined white in the woods.
Walking back home past some meadows, I saw good numbers of dryads (and here, and here)
nectaring and flying around. One, that I only saw skulking around
behind flowers and eventually lost track of, was aberrant, showing blind ocelli on the underside. I wish I had seen the upperside. 5th:
After a bright morning, it was a mostly cloudy day. We caught the
télécabine up to the top of the mountain (photographing a male southern small white with my iPhone on the way to the télécabine - and here). Up the mountain, in the cloud, there were almost no butterflies, the only prominent one being Scotch argus (and here), which seemed to take no notice of the weather. In any case, we came down a fairly rocky route and had to watch our feet! I believe this is a sawfly larva - possibly Zonuledo amoena.
When I moved the leaf to get a better picture, it promptly rolled up
and dropped off into the vegetation, never to be seen again! 6th: Against the odds, I was able to relocate the blind dryad of 4th August today. At first, he only showed his underside, and for a long time I thought I wouldn't glimpse the upperside. Then, despite the cloud at the time, he briefly revealed the upperside (and here). This was equally blind. This nearby female had an excess of blue! I also checked on the purple emperor caterpillars and eggs. Another egg has failed - predated by something. Others are very slowly maturing. Meg is still alive and has moved back to the leaf with another egg on.
I need to keep a careful check on what happens here! The loss at this
early stage is considerably greater than in Huémoz, where I last
followed purple emperor eggs and caterpillars. Lots of browns were on
the wing today, including marbled whites, meadow browns, large walls and great banded graylings, and there were a few blues and sooty coppers, but the weather was mixed and cloudy much of the time. Here is a female silver-washed fritillary - they have had an amazing summer - and here a male. 7th:
We got up early and headed to the Jura for hermits today, arriving on
site at about 10h30. For the entirety of our usual hermit walk, we saw
none at all. In previous years they have been common over the whole
area, but today, nothing. Only meadow browns occupied their usual haunts. A few great banded graylings were bouncing around and there were plenty of blues - principally Adonis but also common, turquoise and brown argus. New for the year was gatekeeper (and here) - something that doesn’t fly in my part of Vaud - and I also saw a few Oberthür’s grizzled skippers (and here). Red underwing skippers were also common and frequently to be found with Oberthürs grizzled skippers. There is a lot of clover on this site and as usual I saw a few pale clouded yellows. This female appeared to be laying but then settled to nectar. A male clouded yellows showed a great interest in her, making me wonder a moment if she was really a helice female clouded yellows showed, but no - she is definitely pale clouded. Here and here are some more pictures. Before heading back to the bus, I decided to explore up a hill. Minnie stayed in the shadow of a tree about half a kilometre away (and here, with zoom!), because it was getting hot, and I searched alone. Very soon, I saw a hermit and got a single, distant proof shot.
Then it settled on a knapweed and at that moment- or so I thought - my
camera began misbehaving. The screen went blank and the viewfinder too
- so I could see nothing. Normal function resumed later, but although I
saw a few more hermits, none stopped. On
reflection, I wonder if I had left the lens cap on when I thought the
camera was malfunctioning. Oh well - I learnt that the species is much
scarcer this year but still there, and I have taken good photos in the
past! I had the option of staying for two more hours or catching the
next bus home, and chose for Minnie's sake to go home. It was already
28°C and this is above her comfort zone. 8th: A hot day,
so after yesterday I kept Minnie to local walks, in the shade. This
turned out to be good, as I discovered a new purple emperor
caterpillar, Cleveland,
in a quite different part of Leysin from the other eggs and cats.
Cleveland is 1st instar but the yellow swelling behind the head means
he is close to graduating to 2nd instar. I look forward to that! On the
way, in town, a Niobe fritillary (and here)
was nectaring with southern small whites and small whites. I took those
pictures with the iPhone - the butterfly never stopped moving. Here is
the evening sky shortly before moonrise, and here, here, here and here
are four shots of the rising moon. Full moon is technically tomorrow
morning, after the moon has set, so this is the closest moonrise to
full moon. 9th: Another very hot day, reaching 27°C by the early afternoon, even in Leysin, at 1300m. We went up the local mountain,
and set off early, while we thought it would still be cool - but even
so it was already warm and the butterflies were highly active. At the
top, lesser mountain and manto ringlets were common, and this marbled ringlet settled briefly not far from us. The commonest Erebia throughout the walk was Scotch argus, however. Mazarine blues, little blues and chalkhill blues were flying and there were quite a lot of aging fritillaries on the wing, including dark green, lesser marbled and Queen of Spain. On the way down we found this huge toad
sitting right out in the sun, on a path dozens of people were going up
and down. We moved him or her to the shade of a great yellow gentian,
off the main track, from where he or she could easily move back to the
sun or stay in the shade. Other butterflies flying were clouded yellow,
Berger's clouded yellow, marbled white - still surprisingly common - carline skipper, small skipper,
Apollo (a single female, apparently looking for places to lay, but
never stopping) and meadow brown. We left our next walk till late
afternoon, and chose to check on Cleveland. I am delighted to say that
since yesterday he has graduated into 2nd instar! 10th:
The heatwave reasserted itself today. I decided to cycle Minnie to a
'tails' site near Aigle, where she could lie in the shade with water
while I looked for long-tailed, short-tailed and Provençal short-tailed
blues. It was hot when we got there and blues were zooming around and
interacting madly. Easiest to identify were the long-tailed blues, as
whenever males encounter each other they spiral into the heavens. They
also have a zig-zag flight and dull appearance, which are quite
distinctive. It is also easy to spot Cupido
species, though today there were several very small common blues on the
wing - perhaps children of the last heatwave - which looked rather
similar in flight. But I had to wait for them to stop to separate the
short-tailed from Provence short-tailed. There were rather few of each.
Here is a long-tailed blue, here a short-tailed and here a Provence short-tailed.
I cycled to a nearby quarry for brown hairstreaks on the way back but
it was far too hot for Minnie by that time so I didn't stay. I doused
her in water and cycled home! 11th: I spent much oftoday in
Montreux, meeting a friend visiting from Australia. It was again a very
hot, sunny day. I think I saw just one cloud all day - it was this one,
pretending to be the rising moon, in the evening! 12th:
With temperatures for Leysin forecast to reach the 30s today, I decided
to take Minnie higher and escape the heat. We left home before dawn, caught the trains and bus to the Simplon and then climbed to the Staldhorn, where at midday it was a comfortable 21°C. Here and here are a couple of pictures from the walk up and here a panorama from the top, looking down to the Simplon Pass. This is Minnie
looking down over the Rhône Valley. Although there were lots of
butterflies, from the moment we set off from the Simplon Blick, it felt
as if the real season was over and for many species these were just the
oldies. I didn’t see any Boloria until we passed 2400m, and even then they were mostly quite worn. All those I identified were pales - shepherd’s fritillary. Niobe fritillaries were flying from lower altitudes, right up to the top, as were Queens of Spain, but the only Grisons fritillary I saw was a single female (and here)
on the Staldhorn itself, at 2460m. In the past, I’ve seen Cynthia’s
fritillaries here in August, but today there were none. Both Berger’s
clouded yellows and mountain clouded yellows were common and there were
a few blues about - some glandon lower down, lots of chalkhill everywhere, a few Eros (on the right in that picture - lacking a cell spot), a few idas - mostly very worn - and a few cranberry blues. Swiss brassy ringlets were abundant, from the Simplon right up to the top, as were water ringlets. This is a female water ringlet. As well as these there were lesser mountain ringlets
and a very few small mountain ringlets (I think - I didn't confirm as I
didn't have my net with me). Ringlets are always attracted to my
rucksack. At one point I had a water ringlet (and here), a Swiss brassy ringlet and a lesser mountain ringlet supping at it at the same time. Here are all three together.
On the way back down, we crossed the path of a female marbled ringlet.
I didn't notice at the time, because I was using super-zoom and it was
very bright (so difficult to see the LCD screen) that she was ovipositing (or oviposturing) on sedum (and here).
This, of course, is not her foodplant, so if she is really ovipositing
she must hope fresh grass will grow there when the rains come. Essex skippers were quite common, as were small skippers - though all on their last legs - and there were a few carline skippers about. This is a female carline skipper.
Apart from these species, a single red admiral greeted us half way up
and small tortoiseshells were around at all altitudes. There were lots
of wheatears around, many of which were looking very ragged (and here) in their post-breeding moults. Here and here
are a couple of distant pictures of what I believe (was advised) is a
female linnet feeding her fledgling. I headed for an early bus home
because of the heat (earlier buses are emptier, while people are still
eating and drinking at the Simplon!). It was 26°C at the Simplon and
33°C by the time we reached Brig. Normally I stop at a site halfway
down, but I knew this would be too much for Minnie. 13th:
I had much to prepare today for the arrival of my sister tomorrow, so
we stayed local. In the morning, as I walked back from the shops, I saw
a female purple emperor in my street, in the centre of Leysin. She
glided across the road in front of me, turned round and then
effortlessly glided back up between houses towards upper Leysin. There
is a lot of sallow in gardens in Leysin. Clearly, eggs are still being
laid. In the afternoon we visited the woods to check on the first batch
of eggs and caterpillars. The good news: the egg laid deep in shade has
hatched successfully and the caterpillar (Bonnie) has moved to the tip of a neighbouring leaf.
Other news not so good! Another egg has failed (predated before
hatching properly) and Meg has disappeared. The egg that was near Meg
clearly hatched successfully
but no caterpillar was visible either. I will continue looking for them
both. It may be that Meg ate the newborn and then moved. 14th: A warm, sunny day, breaking down to a wild and stormy evening, when my sister and friend finally arrived, having driven across France all day. 15th: My sister and her friend are here, so I played the host on some gentle walks around Leysin. Here is a fox cub we saw on our way back into town. 16th: We have a big day tomorrow, so my sister took it easy today while I took her friend up to the top of the local mountain. I didn't stop to photograph butterflies but did snatch a poor picture of one of the many water ringlets that are suddenly common up there, and a mating pair of Scotch arguses
as we came down. I also saw common brassy ringlets at the top and a few
manto ringlets a little lower. Chalkhill was the commonest blue, with
common and Adonis on the wing too. 17th: As I was playing the
piano for church in Villars in the evening, we set off early and spent
the day at and around Bretaye, climbing up to the Grand Chamossaire (and here) and down to the Lac des Chavonnes. Again, I wasn't able to spend time on butterflies, but there was a swallowtail hilltopping on the Chamossaire (as there always is) and a few small tortoiseshells up there too. 18th: Another gentle day for my guests, after a lot of walking yesterday! I took them to see Cleveland, who was still alive - and still on his original leaf. 19th: The weather has broken! It rained much of today, so Minnie had a lot of wet walks. 20th: The poor weather has continued. More wet walks for Minnie! 21st: Still cloudy.
We took our afternoon walk to the woods where we first found purple
emperor eggs. Almost all the eggs and caterpillars in this part of
Leysin have perished but Bonnie
is still alive. She is a mature 1st instar larva and will moult into
2nd instar very soon. In the evening we went to a Soirée in Bex,
introducing a project to encourage butterfly gardens throughout Vaud. 22nd: With a mixed forecast, including morning rain, I set off for the Rhône Valley
rather late this morning, hoping for at least a little sun. As it
turned out, it was hot and sunny from the moment I arrived and remained
so all day. Nevertheless, the walk had an end-of-season feel to it,
partly because of the generally dried up vegetation and partly because
there were really rather few species flying. There were plenty of chalkhill and Adonis blues (and here) - as always at this time of year - and a few common and turquoise blues
too. Brown arguses generally looked on their last legs, though I
normally see them here (northern brown, at least) into November.
Perhaps this is merely the end of the second brood. Bizarrely, I saw no
Queens of Spain, though admittedly I didn’t visit the field where they
are generally the most common. Instead, I saw a single larger
fritillary (probably dark green) and a few spotted fritillaries (and here). New for the year was tree grayling (and here), which was very common, and I saw a single grayling (semele). Locally, there were still plenty of dryads flying (and here). Other than that, the browns were represented by speckled woods in the shady parts (that one has had a big bite taken out of his wings by a bird or lizard), a few walls
and good numbers of small heath. I saw no skippers at all. Clouded
yellows and Berger’s clouded yellows were out in good numbers, as well
as small white, southern small white,
green-veined white and wood white - and a single brimstone. I also saw
a single eastern Bath white. Apart from the brimstone, no hibernators
were on the wing - no commas, small tortoiseshells or peacocks. Two large red underwing moths crossed my path, as did several praying mantises. Here is a green morph and here a brown morph. The other conspicuous moth was Jersey tiger. Here is a female pied flycatcher who watched us from above, waiting to catch our butterflies. 23rd: A mostly sunny day,
but as it was a Saturday at the end of the holidays I decided not to go
far. I checked on Bonnie, the purple emperor caterpillar who was all
set to graduate to 2nd instar, and found she had indeed moulted. She has a slightly wonky right horn, but this should not make any difference as the horns are purely cosmetic. Here is a comma not far away and here and here
a female pied flycatcher. As I got back home, this huge bush cricket
(Tettigonia viridissima) flew across the path and landed in a young
cypress tree. 24th: Another beautifully sunny day (and here), but also a weekend - and I had a lot of work to do - so I didn't go far. I checked on Cleveland and found him doing well, 15 days into his second instar. 25th: With good weather forecast all day, we headed up the Saastal to 2500m
today, to see what was flying. A friend saw small Apollo at this site
in September some years ago, so this was a notional target (I have
frequently seen small Apollo there earlier in the year) but I didn’t
have great hopes of this. It is a strong site for Cynthia’s
fritillaries, and I have seen females in late August, but again, this
wasn’t a prime consideration. Mainly, I wanted to see how the site was
recovering after the extreme weather events of 2024, which devastated
it (see my notes on 5th July 2024). Our walk began at about 2200m,
where the only butterflies flying were marbled ringlet, chalkhill blue (common), northern brown argus, scarce copper (locally numerous - here is a female), large white, clouded yellow, Niobe fritillary, dark green fritillary and red admiral. As we climbed, Swiss brassy ringlet replaced the marbled ringlets, but other than that, butterflies generally diminished. At 2500m there were only Swiss brassy ringlets,
plus a few passing small tortoiseshells. The tracks had been repaired
and the whole site felt generally as it did before 2024. So long as
enough individuals survived the 2024 events, I’m sure things will
return to normal. I will visit early in 2026 for sooty ringlets, which
are a speciality of this site, in late May and June, before the
Cynthia’s fritillaries fly. The marmots
(there is a black redstart in that picture too) are fattening up for
their long winter sleep but are still around. One or two were calling
and I saw probably three in total. Crag martins were conspicuous,
feeding up for their departure, and there were lots of wheatears, black redstarts and water pipits in evidence. These too will soon fly away. I think this is a pied flycatcher, though it has much less white on the wings than most of the females I see. 26th: Another beautiful day, though things are forecast to deteriorate tonight and for the next few days. In the afternoon, Minnie and I went up the local mountain.. At the very top, water ringlets were flying and I saw a single Boloria species zoom past - almost certainly pales. The only other species up there was Berger's clouded yellow. As we came down, we saw increasingly more, beginning with marbled ringlet and chalkhill blue (here is one from about 1600m), lots more Berger's clouded yellows, plenty of clouded yellows, lots of water ringlets, a few common blues, Scotch argus
from about 1600m and below, wood whites, walls, large walls and
silver-spotted skippers. At one point a swallowtail flew past but I was
only able to get iPhone shots (and here) as it never stopped. 27th: Cloud returned today, though it was dry (and here). In the afternoon I checked on Cleveland.
He is still 2nd instar but fully grown and ready to moult into 3rd
instar soon. Although I spent some time searching, I didn't find any
more caterpillars in his woods. Here is the evening view over Leysin. 28th: Rain returned last night and continued much of the day, sometimes very heavily. 29th:
We visited the Lac de l'Hongrin today. Last October I had found lots of
sallow there, as well as on the road leading to the lake, and wanted to
check again for purple emperor caterpillars. I found none, though the
sheer quantity of sallow meant I only checked a small proportion. Some
of the most promising plants were not accessible. What I did find,
though, was at least one Camberwell beauty (I don't know if a second
sighting was the same individual). I first spotted it flying around an
ash tree, regularly diving into the tree and checking out the shady
branches. I imagine it was looking for a place to hibernate. I think it
might have settled deep inside a couple of times but in the bright
light I couldn't see. It certainly never stopped anywhere visible so I
was forced to take iPhone shots in flight (and here)
as it cruised around. Then while I was watching, a flycatcher zoomed at
it and it fled the tree, setting off along the lake shore. I was going
in the same direction and about 700m further along briefly had the
second sighting. The commonest butterfly of the day was brimstone (and
here, and here), which was out in force, fattening up for hibernation.
Other species included small, green-veined and wood whites, clouded and
Berger's clouded yellows (presumed - and now I think about it, there
were no Adonis blues and lots of clover, so pale clouded is also
possible), common blues, silver-washed fritillaries and a single dryad.
On the way to the site, buzzards and red kites were flying overhead, many very obviously in mid-moult. Here is a buzzard and here a red kite, both moulting This red kite was not moulting. 30th: A wet morning (and here) leading to a dry afternoon and a
lovely evening. We checked on Cleveland in the afternoon. He hasn't
graduated to 3rd instar yet and was returning to his leaf seat when we
found him. A few butterflies were flying - mainly whites. I am fairly
sure a purple emperor glided above us in the canopy but the sighting
was too brief to be 100%. The flight and overall impression were
perfect. 31st: I had things to do in the morning so didn't get out
until the afternoon, when we went to a brown hairstreak site near
Martigny. Brown hairstreaks are widely distibuted in the region and can
be seen anywhere near Martigny, but there is one particular set of
bushes where I always see them. Sure enough, at least three females were busy laying eggs there. Here, here and here are some more photos of females - I took many! Few butterflies were on the wing: a single violet fritillary, a single Queen of Spain, a number of walls, plenty of tree graylings, a few great banded graylings, a few common blues, clouded and Berger's clouded yellows and small, green-veined and southern small whites.
September 1st: A cloudy day, with heavy rain at times. 2nd: A cloudy day as we set off for our afternoon walk, but sunny by the time we were heading home. In the forest, we checked on Bonnie (and here) who is still thriving, despite her wonky horn. She is second instar. This is a lacewing larva
- quite possibly one of the creatures that has been eating the other
purple emperor eggs and larvae! When the sun came out, a few
butterflies followed, including various whites (here is a green-veined white), clouded and Berger's clouded yellows, great banded grayling and a red admiral. 3rd: Another day that began cloudy and got sunnier. Few butterflies were on the wing but I saw a comma near Cleveland's woods. Here is Cleveland himself (and here)
- laid up for his next moult, his neck skin full to bursting with his
new horms! I actually walked past his place twice, once on the way
home, in case he had decided to go for it, but no! I'll have to wait! 4th:
Exceptionally, I didn't take any photos today! In the morning, I went
to Lausanne to be biometrised for a new passport and in the afternoon I
worked. 5th: A wet morning (and here).
As we walked back along the same track after our morning's work, we saw
clouded yellows, the odd common blue and a single great banded grayling. 6th:
A lovely day, so after working in the morning I took Minnie to
Villeneuve in the afternoon. We walked through the woods to a favourite
riverside spot where we can sit and watch dragonflies. This is looking
one way along the stream and this the other. In the second picture you
can see a fallen willow in the water. This proved a great attractant to
many psecies of dragonfly, including migrant hawker, southern hawker, common darter, marshland darter, ruddy darter, blue-tailed damselfly and willow emerald damselfly.
The willow damselflies were the most interesting. The couple in the
last photo had landed on willow, just above the water, and then the
female curled her abdomen to the bark and (presumably) pressed an egg into a scar. This is how willow damselflies lay - not into the water. Here is another couple
doing the same thing. The female looks as if her abdomen is broken off,
but it is simply folded back on itself. As we walked back, we briefly
watched a juvenile marsh harrier quartering over the marsh (and here, and here). 7th: Another beautiful day
but I decided not to do a long walk as I intended to take Minnie up the
mountain in the evening to watch the eclipse (totality would be hidden
by the Grand Chamossaire at my altitude). Instead, I checked on Cleveland, who is now 3rd instar.
You can see that his horns are no longer bifurcate, a feature of 2nd
instar caterpillars. A few butterflies were on the wing, including
clouded yellows, Berger's clouded yellows, a red admiral and a few
speckled woods, but most interesting was this geranium bronze (and here, and here), my first ever for Leysin. It was on geraniums in the middle of town! In the evening we set off up the mountain to watch the eclipse of the moon. We set up camp at about 1850m and pointed the camera at the hills, then waited. Because the sky was still bright, I didn't see the moon rise - she was so very faint. Then I spotted her, just above the Scex rouge (and here) and as the night darkened and the moon rose, the scene became more dramatic. After totality finished, we walked back down the mountain, watching the Earth's shadow recede (and here, and here) until the moon was full again. 8th: A cloudy day. Just for a while, at around moonrise (and here), there were clearer skies, but they clouded up again afterwards. 9th: Off to work in the rain. 10th: Cloudy with bright spells. 11th: Mostly cloudy. When we set off on our afternoon walk it was heavily overcast and nothing flew, but by the time we returned there were some sunny spells. A handful of whites, a wall and several common blues were flying along this stretch of track.
Bonnie, the purple emperor caterpillar with the wonky horn, was nowhere
to be seen. Her sallow in the shade is a bit manky and it may be that
now she is 2nd instar she has wandered off to look for something better
but I couldn't find her on her original sapling. 12th: Overcast. This is the vew from the station in the morning and this the walk to work. In the evening, the last rays of the sun briefly lit up the Grand Chamossaire in vibrant red. 13th: For our afternoon walk, we checked on Cleveland. There were forest workers nearby so I didn't try to get better photos, but he is still alive, so that is good! It was largely cloudy weather but quite warm, so a few butterflies flew. Here is a clouded yellow and here a small heath. There were also some Berger's clouded yellows, but none stopped. This is a young whinchat fattening up for the long flight to come. 14th: I was playing the piano for the church in Territet, Montreux, today, so we spent the morning on the lake (and here). 15th: A work day. Mixed cloud and sun (and here). 16th:
A cloudy (and here), even rainy, morning, but sunny as I walked back from work
after lunch. A clouded yellow, a meadow brown and a great banded
grayling flew. From the train back to Leysin I saw Berger's
clouded yellows, various whites and a single, male brimstone. 17th: It was a beautiful day and I had the morning off, so we went up the local mountain. Nothing at all was flying at the top but as we came down, a few butterflies came onto the wing. Chalkhill blues, clouded yellows and Berger's clouded yellows were common. Lower down still, there were Adonis blues with the chalkhills, a single red admiral, a few very tatty large grizzled skippers (and here, and here) and even a couple of Scotch arguses. The only fritillaries I saw were Queen of Spain (and here) - a few at about 1650m. 18th: Another work day. It was sunny, but I had no chance to search for butterflies. There were blues and yellows flying along the track to work. 19th:
The thin, crescent moon was near Venus and Regulus when I got up this
morning. Walking to work, saw a single great banded grayling, as well
as clouded and Berger's clouded yellows. As I walked back at lunchtime,
common blues were also flying. 20th: We went along the Rhône Valley
to a site near Leuk today, to see how the season was winding down
there. No sooner had we begun the walk, than chalkhill blues, common blues, Adonis blues, clouded yellows and pale clouded yellows put in an appearance. Before long, we had added small white, green-veined white and eastern Bath white, and then a little further along still, the tree graylings appeared in huge numbers, accompanied by graylings.
It was already hot - after midday - so in general, things weren’t
stopping. At one point, there were several male spotted fritillaries
but these were in continual flight. Here is a female from later in the walk. Other species along the way were wall, speckled wood
and northern brown argus. At the site itself, largely the same species
were flying, with Queens of Spain and small heath too; but most
interestingly, there were several rather fresh rosy grizzled skippers. I hadn’t expected to see these, thinking it was between the second and third broods. Here is a female, ovipositing on rock rose, and here is one of the eggs
she laid. We spent a little time just sitting on the hillside, enjoying
the butterflies, then headed a little further along to a heavily
overgrown path where we usually take a second break. No new butterflies
appeared but we did see a magnificent, immature golden eagle fly over the crest. As we walked back to the train, I spotted a mating pair of preying mantises on the path (and here). A bicycle was coming, so I picked them up carefully
to move them to a safer place and they had no objection at all - I
imagine that unlike butterflies, they don’t fly while mating. The
female was calmly eating some unidentified insect - perhaps a sawfly. If she is well fed, there is less chance of her later guzzling the head off the male! 21st: A sunny morning gave way, as forecast, to a very wet early evening. There were lovely skies later, though. 22nd: A cloudy, wet day (and here). 23rd: Another grim and rainy day. 24th: We woke to snow on the Dents de Morcles (the peaks there are about 3000m) and on the Pic Chaussy. There was even a sprinkling on and below the Grand Chamossaire (about 2100m - so the snow had come lower than that). In the afternoon it was dry, so Minnie and I checked on Cleveland. He is still thriving, and still sitting at the end of the same leaf! Here is Minnie playing with a dog-friend. There are still lots of black redstarts around, fattening up. 25th: On the way out to work it was miserable weather but by the time we came back at lunchtime it was sunny and almost warm. No butterflies flew, though. 26th: As I remember, it was a wet day, though I'm writing in retrospect and all I have is one evening photo of Minnie in her raincoat! 27th: Snow had fallen overnight
and though this was obviously not going to be a butterfly day, we went
up the local mountain in the afternoon to see what conditions were
like. It was snowy at the top but clear just a little below. As we came down the mountain, it was even sunny, but nothing flew. 28th: With wall-to-wall sun forecast, we visited a site in the Val d'Hérens today, arriving at the beginning of our walk at about 11h15. Immediately, we started seeing graylings - not just one or two, but lots, and throughout the day. There were tree graylings too, but in lower numbers. Small and southern small whites were both flying, with southern small
perhaps commoner, and there were reasonable numbers of clouded yellow
and Berger’s clouded yellow on the wing too. I saw a few brimstones in
the afternoon, as we walked back through a more wooded area to catch
the bus. Initially, blues seemed scarce - just a few female Chapman’s blues (and here) at the beginning of the walk. Later on, though, both common and Adonis were added to the mix, and I saw a single chalkhill too, as well as a single Provençal short-tailed and a single turquoise. Small coppers were quite common and at least two, perhaps three brown hairstreaks crossed our path in flight. For the Nymphalids, commas
were the commonest, with a few red admirals, a single painted lady and
a few Queens of Spain. Walls were frequent and locally there were a few
speckled woods. The only skippers we saw were Oberthür’s grizzled
skipper - one at the beginning of the walk and one in meadows later on. Both were reasonably worn! A few mantises were flying around. This one stopped upside down near me (and here). Altogether, 22 species were on the wing. 29th: A beautiful day
but a work day. I don't think I saw any butterflies on my sunny walk to
and from work in the morning. I did see a few whites and yellows as I
took the train back up to Leysin for my afternoon's work. 30th: Dry but generally hazy or cloudy. This was first thing in the morning, as I headed for the train to work, and this is the setting moon in Leysin in the evening.
October 1st:
I spent my morning in Geneva, at the Apple Store, getting my iPhone
sorted out (it refused to charge after updating the OS to iOS 26).
While they worked on the phone, I had time to wander around the lake,
passing the Jet d'eau, sandy/shingly beaches and rather nice reed beds.
The long and short of the phone saga - they replaced it with a brand
new one, all for free. So when I got home I had several hours' worth of
reinstalling stuff before my afternoon/evening's work. 2nd: A clear pre-dawn turned into a beautifully hazy/cloudy day (and here, and here, and here). 3rd: The sky was increasingly beautiful before dawn (from this to this to this glorious display shortly before sunrise) but as the shepherds would have predicted, all this beauty lead to a grim day. It did clear up in the evening. These are not butterfly times in the mountains. 4th:
Generally cloudy today, but as it was suddenly warm and sunny around
midday, we set off on the local meadow/woodland walk to see what was
still flying. Sadly, the weather turned back to cloud (and here) and there were no butterflies, but I did discover that Bonnie, a purple emperor caterpillar I thought was lost, was still thriving - now in third instar. By late afternoon it was raining heavily (and here). 5th:
A generally cloudy and sometimes rainy day. I was playing the piano for
church in Montreux in the morning and teaching in the afternoon, so no
time for butterflies. Here is the lake at Montreux (and here) and here Leysin in the evening. 6th: A beautiful day - and a work day. Tonight was full moon (strictly, full moon was 7th, but at about 04h30, so tonight was the closest I could get!). 7th: An auspicious early morning, a beautiful walk to work and a bright afternoon with hazy clouds. 8th: Mackerel skies in the evening promised a change in the weather to come. 9th: Cloud hung over the valley in the morning (and here) and rose to fill Leysin in the evening. 10th: Cloudy with bright spells. Not a butterfly day. 11th: A beautifully sunny day was forecast so despite heavy cloud over the valley in the morning we headed into Valais
to see what was still flying. I had got up late so we didn’t begin our
walk until about 11h45, by which time it was already 18°C. Immediately,
we saw whites - eastern Bath white and small white - and within minutes had clocked up clouded yellow, Berger’s clouded yellow and common blue. This is an icarinus male common blue (here is the upperside, confirming it is not Chapman's). As we headed along the Rhône, graylings (and here) and tree graylings became common and there were walls and Queens of Spain too. At our main site, all these species were flying as well as lots of other blues: turquoise (and here), Adonis, chalkhill, Chapman’s and northern brown argus. We saw just a single small copper. The only confirmed skipper was a single Oberthür’s grizzled skipper, though I saw another Pyrgus
in flight only at a strong rosy grizzled skipper site. A single
brimstone had been roused by the sudden increase in temperatures and as
we walked back to the train, a single red admiral appeared. There were
lots of small passerines - finches, warblers and flycatchers - in the
bushes at one point, but both times I passed the sun was against me and
I couldn’t discern which species they were. They flew a lot but only
settled deep in the foliage of trees. Several buzzards were cresting, hanging in the air, presumably on a strong breeze, and a much larger raptor flew through fast (here's a lousy picture of it!), which I presume was a moulting, adult golden eagle. Southern hawkers were common and there were several Sympetrum species around. This is a ruddy darter, Sympetrum sanguineum and this is a red-veined darter, Sympetrum fonscolombii. I jumped off the bus early to check on Cleveland. He is still sitting on his seat leaf but is now beginning to colour up for hibernation. By now it was very foggy and the day was drawing on. 12th:
A bright, sunny day, but I had a lot to do so stayed local. In the
afternoon I took we took our walk to the cemetery, coming back via
Bonnie, the other third instar purple emperor caterpillar. She was still there
and seemingly fit and healthy! I saw just three butterflies on the
walk: a small white, a red admiral and a Queen of Spain near the
cemetery. 13th: Cloud filled the valley in the morning and to go to work we had to go down into it before coming up again on the other side. Here is the sun rising behind mountains, photographed through the cloud. We did get out of it - just - and enjoyed an autumnal walk to work (and here). 14th: Another morning when we had to go down through the cloud. I thought we'd escaped it on the other side but it caught up with us! 15th: Another of those days when I didn't take any pictures. We stayed local and I got on with work most of the day. 16th:
We took advantage of the mild but cloudy weather to go to the
Papiliorama and enjoy some tropical butterflies. Well, I enjoyed the
butterflies. I left Minnie in the dog hotel just outside. There were
rather few people in the butterfly house so it was possible to
appreciate the butterflies properly. Many of the usual species were
there, including lots of Consul fabius (there with Heliconius hecale at the bottom of the picture), sometimes clustering in large numbers on the feeders. Here are a few more random species: Parthenos sylvia (blue form), Parthenos sylvia (brown form), Heliconius hecale, Heliconius sapho,Caligo eurilochus (and here), Caligo atreus (and here), Idea leuconoe, Euploea core, Euxanthe eurinome, Catopsilia scylla, Catonephele numilia, Cethosia cyane, Graphium agamemnon, Papilio dardanus, Archeoprepona amphimachus and many more. Here is a ringed teal. 17th: A cloudy in Leysin, though apparently it was beautiful in Valais. In the afternoon we went to the woods to check on Cleveland. He is still there but has now progressed much more towards his winter colouring. I expect he will move off to hibernate soon. 18th: A beautiful autumn day in Leysin
and sunshine forecast again for Valais today - before cloud moving in
tomorrow and rain for next week. So we went to the same site as we
visited last week to enjoy a butterfly-filled day (here is Minnie on the walk and here
at the site). The first part of the walk was less productive than last
week because they had cut the verges and there were few nectar flowers.
Nevertheless, Berger’s clouded yellows and clouded yellows were flying, as well as walls and one or two common blues. Soon, however, we got past the cut areas and all the usual species were on the wing: Queen of Spain (here and here more Queens from later in the day), Adonis blue (and here, and here - here is a female), chalkhill blue (here is a female), turquoise blue, common blue, small copper (and here), grayling, tree grayling, wall, speckled wood,
both the clouded yellows and a few small whites. There were no eastern
Bath whites, which were present last week and I didn’t consciously
identify any Chapman’s blues, though these were doubtless still around.
At the skipper site, several rather old Pyrgus skippers were flying (and here), which I first took to be rosy grizzled (onopordi).
But I wasn't able to get any views of undersides as they were all
holding their wings flat in the sun. I now think they might be
Oberthür's grizzled skippers (armoricanus) - after entering them into the Swiss AI identification tool. I also saw one or two very fresh Oberthür's.
There is no doubt about the identity here! A couple of northern brown
arguses were flying at the skipper site in addition to many of the
species already mentioned, and a single comma flew through. Queens of
Spain were particularly common, as were walls and the clouded yellows.
A few brimstones were flying along an overgrown river bank, doubtless
looking for somewhere to hibernate. When I got back to Aigle, a single
red admiral flew through, completing the day's species. 19th: A cloudy, no-butterfly day! 20th: Wet and cloudy (and here). 21st: Another grim day! I took this photo on our evening walk. 22nd: Cold and cloudy again. We took our afternoon walk across the meadows to Bonnie's place. She was still there but has now changed colour, like Cleveland, and will soon head off to hibernate. 23rd: More of the same - no butterflies today! 24th: Snow down to Leysin rooves this morning, though it didn't settle below about 1500m. Cleveland has left his seat leaf.
I didn't spend too long searching for him as there were people around
but will try and find where he is hibernating as soon as I can.
