For previous years' lists and commentaries, often incomplete, click 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 2024 CHECKLIST or use the menu below to jump to the
COMMENTARY for each month.
CHECKLIST
FOR THE YEAR 2024
Red admiral (Vanessa atalanta) - 1st January - Valais, Switzerland
Small tortoiseshell (Agalis urticae) - 29th January - Vaud, Switzerland
Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni) - 3rd February - Valais, Switzerland
Comma (Polygonia c-album) - 4th February - Valais, Switzerland
Large tortoiseshell (Nymphalis polychloros) - 17th February - North Italy
Peacock (Aglais io) - 17th February - North Italy
Green-veined white (Pieris napi) - 17th February - North Italy
Queen of Spain fritillary (Issoria lathonia) - 17th February - North Italy
Small white (Pieris rapae) - 24th February - Valais, Switzerland
Wood white (Leptidea sinapis) - 9th March - Valais, Switzerland
Small copper (Lycaena phlaeas) - 16th March - North Italy
Nettle tree butterfly (Libythea celtis) - 16th March - North Italy
Wall (Lasiommata megera) - 16th March - North Italy
Holly blue (Celastrina argiolus) - 16th March - North Italy
Orange tip (Anthocharis cardamines) - 25th March - Valais, Switzerland
Eastern Bath white (Pontia edusa) - 25th March - Valais, Switzerland
Speckled wood (Pararge aegeria) - 25th March - Valais, Switzerland
Small heath (Coenonympha pamphilus) - 5th April - Valais, Switzerland
Camberwell beauty (Nympahlis antiopa) - 5th April - Valais, Switzerland
Cynthia's fritillary (Euphydryas cynthia) - 25th July - Valais, Switzerland
Shepherd's fritillary (Boloria pales) - 25th July - Valais, Switzerland
Peak white (Pontia callidice) - 25th July - Valais, Switzerland
Silver-spotted skipper (Hesperia comma) - 25th July - Valais, Switzerland
Grisons fritillary (Melitaea varia) - 25th July - Valais, Switzerland
Marbled ringlet (Erebia montana) - 27th July - Vaud, Switzerland
Manto ringlet (Erebia manto) - 27th July - Vaud, Switzerland
Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus) - 29th July - Geneva, Switzerland
Mountain fritillary (Boloria napaea) - 31st July - Valais, Switzerland
Niobe fritillary (Argynnis niobe) - 31st July - Valais, Switzerland
Water ringlet (Erebia pronoe) - 4th August - Vaud, Switzerland
Damon blue (Polyommatus damon) - 5th August - Valais, Switzerland
High brown fritillary (Argynnis adippe) - 5th August - Valais, Switzerland
Common brassy ringlet (Eerebia arvernensis) - 10th August - Vaud, Switzerland
Piedmont ringlet (Erebia meolans) - 16th August - Vaud, Switzerland
Tree grayling (Hipparchia statilinus) - 22nd August - Valais, Switzerland
Grayling (Hipparchia semele) - 22nd August - Valais, Switzerland
Short-tailed blue (Cupido argiades) - 23rd August - Vaud, Switzerland
Long-tailed blue (Lampides boeticus) - 23rd August - Vaud, Switzerland
Brown hairstreak (Thecla betulae) - 24th August - Geneva, Switzerland
Purple emperor (Apatura iris) - 24th August - Geneva, Switzerland
Reverdin's blue (Plebejus argyrognomon) - 24th August - Geneva, Switzerland
Purple hairstreak (Favonius quercus) - 31st August - Valais, Switzerland
Commentary (Links in the
commentary are to pictures of the particular butterflies referred to)
January Happy New Year ! The year began cold but bright
and despite early forecasts for a cloudy day it soon seemed it might
have some butterfly promise. Minnie and I caught the 11h04 down to the
valley and hurried to our winter site, where after about 20 minutes we saw our first butterfly of the year - a red admiral.
It was in almost exactly the same place as our last butterfly of 2023 -
also a red admiral, but a different individual. That was the only
butterfly of the day, and it had actually turned rather chilly by 14h00, but it was enough to set the year off to a great start. Thank you, red admiral ! Back in Leysin, it was all sun and snow - until the cloud rolled in. Here is the night sky on the first day of the year, with Gemini above the church and Orion over the Chamossaire. 2nd: A cloudy day, with rain in the evening. Here is Minnie on her afternoon walk, with the dry ski-jump in the background. 3rd: Cloudy and cold all day, though with the odd bright spell in the morning. Evening walkies - no snow on the ground. Cloudy skies over Leysin later in the night. 4th: A grey day. Here is a crossbill at the top of a spruce on our afternoon walk. And here is a Leysin street in the evening. 5th: Cloudy and lightly snowing in the morning, though quite warm. I decided to catch the train down the hill
and head for the Papiliorama, to get some exotic butterflies! I have
been so many times now it is rare for me to see something new, but Hypolimnas monteironis (underside) was a first for me. This Idea leuconoe posed nicely next to its picture. Here is Heliconius atthis (and here) and here is Heliconius charitonius. There are always lots of Heliconids flying around here. Recently, there have also been lots of Euploea - in particular, Euploea core, which I presume must breed freely in the butterfly house. It was raining when we arrived and raining when we left. Here is a great white heron making the most of it - photographed at very great distance across the fields. 6th: Another grey day - very cloudy in the morning, then lightly snowing most of the day. Here is Minnie at the Leysin American School, where I give private lessons, and here she is on her way home. Unsettled evening weather. 7th: Cold and snowy. Here is Minnie showing she's still got it! 8th: Heavy cloud (= fog) over the town all day. Here is an evening shot, showing the lights from the sports centre reaching up into the sky, and here is Minnie by the church. 9th: Morning light (and here). Heavy fog in the afternoon. Here is Minnie beneath an icy treescape, and here some barbed wire, thick with hoar-frost seeded by the frozen cloud. 10th: Cloud filling the valley. Here is the view as evening was falling. 11th: Cloud filling the valley in the morning rose to cover much of the lower town and the wooded walks (and here). This picture shows how cold it was ... Here are the lights of Leysin through a night-time blanket of cloud, and here a foggy street view with Minnie. 12th: Again, the sea of cloud filling the valley rose up to Leysin - but it came higher today, covering all the lower town. Above the cloud it was a beautiful, warm day. Here we are, walking back home - into the cloud. 13th: A beautiful, sunny day, with only haze over the valley, leading to a clear, starry night.
I had an online meeting most of the afternoon, so we didn't go down to
the valley. We did check out the south-facing slopes around Leysin,
where the snow had melted, in the hope of a red admiral or two, but
none were forthcoming. 14th: We headed to the valley today, in the hope of a butterfly in the hot vineyards near Martigny, but in the event, hazy cloud kept temperatures too low. Here is Minnie on wooded slopes where we saw a black woodpecker (and here, calling) tantalisingly close - but on the wrong side of the tree, and obscured by canopy. By early afternoon, as predicted, clouds had built up. Even in the middle of the day, icicles were hanging from ground plants in the shade. 15th: Back to rolling cloud (and here). At the top of the spruce trees, crossbills were conspicuous (and here). Separately from them, groups of siskins were feeding on the cones, sending clouds of pollen into the air (and here). Here is the crescent moon in the evening. 16th: Mixed cloud all day: high cloud, low cloud, evening cloud. 17th: Heavy cloud, from morning to evening. Here is a bullfinch high in a tree. 18th: Cloud and rain, leading to heavy snow by the evening. 19th: A snowy day, with some brighter patches, leading to a clear evening. 20th: Sun was forecast, so I went to the usual spots in the Rhône Valley.
It turned out to be much too cold for butterflies, but I met a woman
who told me the secret history of Valais as we walked together, so I
learnt much anyway! Here's the moon over the mountains, and here Leysin in the evening. 21st: Red sky in the morning and in the evening - I don't know what the shepherds have to say about that! 22nd: A cloudy day (and here). 23rd: I had to buy Minnie a new lead, so we took a walk along the Rhône before going into Aniland, her favourite shop! Here is a buzzard in the messy, industrial part of the walk, and here is the Grand Chamossaire in the evening. 24th: A cloudy day. 25th: Sunny today, so we took a local walk to south-facing meadows where we thought small tortoiseshells or red admirals might be flying. None were. Here is a crossbill. Clouds were building up (and here) and by the full moon rose into a hazy sky. Nevertheless, when it was high I was able to get decent pictures of it through the haze. This is the first full moon of 2024. 26th: Morning and evening. 27th: A beautiful day,
but I was suffering from a heavy cold and had a lot of work to do, so I
resisted the temptation to go to the winter Queen of Spain spots in the
valley. Instead, I walked Minnie from Pont de Drapel, through the vineyards
to Vers Pousaz and then back to Aigle station. During the walk we saw
no fewer than 5 red admirals, all very flighty. In the vineyards, this was the only one I got a proof shot of, and at Aigle station I snapped a quickie of this individual on cherry blossom. By the time I had opened the flash for a better picture, it was off. 28th: My cold was worse, but I had to be in Montreux in the morning so got up early. Here is a sky shot,
showing Virgo in the top right, Serpens (and Ophiucus) to the left, and
Scorpius at the bottomw. By the evening, we were back to the winter
constellations, showing brightly through a hazy sky. Here are goosanders on the lake, with the Dents du Midi in the background. 29th: A mild day, with hazy sun. I took Minnie for a local walk, in the hope of some butterflies, and spotted my first small tortoiseshell of the year in Leysin cemetery (at about 1224m). It quickly flew off after that one, distant photo. 30th: A promising start to the day, but it quickly became overcast. It began clearing up as the sun set and was hazy-clear by night. 31st: Con-trails in the morning sky. It was a bright and often warm day locally, but no butterflies flew.
February 1st: Early morning, with the moon in a still dark sky. A little later, red skies did indeed predict a gloomy day, though it cleared up by the evening. 2nd: Heavily overcast morning, leading to a deep orange sunset (and here). 3rd:
A glorious, sunny day, with temperatures rising as high as 11°C or 12°C
in the valley. We went to our usual spots, in the hope of some winter
butterflies, and were not disappointed. Here is Minnie in the little
wine village of Branson, before climbing up to our first butterfly stop. In fact, we saw our first small tortoiseshell
before we got there, high up a sunny bank. At the site, there were
perhaps half a dozen, all vying for the best spots in the sun. This one was rather distinctive, with greately diminished yellow on the wings. Here, here and here
are others. There were no Queens of Spain here, so we continued on to
another hotspot for that species - but found none. This is unusual -
normally the Queens come out before the tortoiseshells. I did see more
small tortoiseshells on the way and on the way back, and continued to
see them for the rest of the walk. Here is one, photographed at a distance on Bulbocodium flowers (these are now out in good numbers - here is a little patch of them), and here the last one of the day,
just before we headed home (at about 14h15). I estimate we saw about 20
altogether. The one surprise of the day - apart from not seeing Queens
of Spain - was a single, male brimstone in a woody part of the walk. He
didn't stop, but I snatched this quick flight shot (and here). 4th: Another day of wall-to-wall sun. In the valley, even more small tortoiseshells were flying - not just in the vineyards but all across the valley as far as Martigny station. Here, here and here
are more individuals. Amazingly, there were no Queens. Conditions were
perfect, but none of my hotspots produced so much as a glimpse of
twisting silver in the air. My next chance to look will be Wednesday
morning, so if it is still sunny, I'll be there! I saw just one red admiral
today but two male brimstones, some distance from where I saw the
brimstone yesterday. It is possible they were two sightings of the same
one, as I saw them about 20 minutes apart, at the top and bottom of a
high, stepped terrace - but my impression is they were different
individuals. Shortly before I left, a comma flew past within touching
distance, but I lost sight of it as it flew behind a tree on a
precipitous slope. So four species on 4th Feb - and not the usual
spread for the time of year (Queen of Spain, small tortoiseshell,
clouded yellow). Here is a lizard getting bored with his diet of small tortoiseshells, and here a couple of firebugs mating. 5th:
A small tortoiseshell flew past me at Leysin Villages station at about
10h15 this morning, as the day was heating up. By the time I took
Minnie for her afternoon walk, small tortoiseshells were all over the
place and could be seen sparring in twos and threes over meadows and by
the roadside. At the cemetery, they came more to ground and could be found nectaring on most of the winter heather there (here is the context of that photo). This one, on another patch of heather, was soon courted by an incomer and they flew off together, I hope to make baby small tortoiseshells. There were no other species on the wing. Here is a black woodpecker
I snapped very quickly at a distance, before it flew off. There was
almost always the sound of a black woodpecker calling or drumming in
the background. And here is a kestrel, watching for prey from the top of a spruce. 6th: Locally, still lots of small tortoiseshells around, despite a slight cooling and haziness. Again, there were lots on the heather in the cemetery (and here, and here). This amorous couple spent a long time with each other, but as usual for this species, I didn't see them mating. Here is the evening sky, with Leo rising over the Chamossaire and Coma Berenices to the left. 7th: It might have been a butterfly day in the valley but I had too much to do at home to go looking. Around Leysin it was sunny but colder (and here) and very little was on the wing - I saw just one or two small tortoiseshells, in flight. Here is Minnie on her afternoon walk. By the evening the weather had degraded considerably. 8th: Very cloudy but dry today. Here are some deer in the afternoon, against the backdrop of the Dents du Midi, and here is an evening view above Leysin Village station, with ominous clouds in the distance. 9th:
I had intended to go looking for brown hairstreak eggs on birch today,
where I saw females apparently laying in the autumn. But rain was
forecast (and Minnie hates the rain) so I took a necessary trip to
Lausanne instead. While there, we walked down to the lake, where pochard and other wildfowl were gathered in numbers. Here is a male goosander and here his very smart wife, with a brand new hairdo (and here). There were lots of great crested grebes on the lake too. 10th:
Amostly cloudy day, but dry and warm. I set off in the morning to visit
the birch brown hairstreak site and look for eggs, but engineering
works meant that the journey would have been prohibitively long there
and back, so instead I caught the next bus up the hill to my old
stamping grounds near Huémoz. There, I looked in vain for hibernating
purple emperor and white admiral caterpillars. The rides are influenced
by forestry activities and I think all the old trees I used to look in
for purple emperors are unsuitable now. I think a visit by night in
April is necessary, to look by UV and find where the caterpillars are
now. Many of the trackside honeysuckles, where I used to see white
admiral caterpillars, had been cut down too. Here is Minnie having a drink at one of our stops, and here is a tick I found on her shortly afterwards! 11th: We woke up this morning to snow (and here), but it was warm and most of it melted by the end of the day. Here is a view along the valley in the afternoon, and here a red kite passing overhead. It snowed again in the evening. Here is the church steeple with heavy snow falling all around. 12th: A cloudy day. Here is Orion through the clouds in the evening. 13th: A beautiful but slightly chilly day (and here). Surprisingly, we saw just one small tortoiseshell on our long, afternoon walk. Here is Minnie, searching in vain. And here is Leo, rising over the Grand Chamossaire. 14th:
The day began bright and grew warmer during the morning. In the early
afternoon we went to the cemetery to look for small tortoiseshells - or
anything else that might be flying. There were more small tortoiseshells than ever, it seemed, with up to seven visible together flying around some patches of heather. There are a couple visible in this picture. This one was settled on the stones on Wynter-Blyth's grave (author of Butterflies of the Indian Region). Then high clouds started moving in swiftly, till they covered the sky, and the temperature dropped tangibly. I saw no more tortoiseshells on the walk home. Here are choughs circling on a thermal above a building in the village. 15th: The last day of the first 60 years of my life ... It was quite warm and sunny in the morning, though always with clouds threatening, so Minnie and I took a lunchtime walk down through the vineyards and wine villages
to Aigle. Surprisingly, no small tortoiseshells were flying here - nor
any red admirals, which had been common just a few weeks ago. The only
butterfly we saw was a single comma, which flew past at close range in
a wooded section of the walk, then disappeared down the hill. This was
the early evening view as I walked back from school. 16th: The first day of the second 60 years of my life ... I had to work, but found time to celebrate my birthday in the cemetery at lunchtime, where again lots of small tortoiseshells were flying. Here, here, here and here are some more shots. The day had a distinctly springlike feel to it, even though there were high clouds and the ambient temperature was never more than about 10°C. 17th:
The forecast was for wall-to-wall sunshine in Italy today, so Minnie
and I caught the early train to Domodossola, arriving at 08h13. I
didn’t take the bike, as this can cause problems in the ski season, so
we then had a 90 minutes walk up into the hills (and here),
where we hoped to see at the very least a few large tortoiseshells.
I’ve only once before gone in February, and I didn’t take into account
how late the sun reaches the wooded slopes. It wasn’t until 11h10 that
we saw any butterflies at all, the first being a large tortoiseshelll,
put up by Minnie. That one eluded the camera, but a second was more
amenable, repeatedly stopping on the track ahead of us (and here). Shortly before midday, we decided to go down and look for Queens of Spain near Domodossola itself, but were stopped by a brimstone - the first of probably four seen during the day. This was followed by a peacock,
and before I could get a decent photo of that, a white flew by. I
assumed it was a small white, but the single photo I got of it shows it
to be green-veined.
By now the day was warming up, but I couldn’t make Minnie go back to
the woods (she was already quite tired) so we headed slowly downwards.
As we passed through villages, we saw many small tortoiseshells and red admirals (and here) on the flowers, as well as a few brimstones flying around. This distant shot is of the only comma we saw, flying around the long-dead fruits on some fruit tree - perhaps persimmon. Once down the hill, we headed to the open land near the river,
where we often see large tortoiseshells and where early Queens fly.
There were no large tortoiseshells - just a handful of small
tortoiseshells and a single white in flight - but the usual Queen spot
produced at least three and probably more of this species. Here and here
are two different individuals. After that, we walked back to the
station, dropping in for a swift beer on the way, and caught the 14h43
back to Switzerland (we had an appointment later in the afternoon). A
total of 8 species on 17th February: Large tortoiseshell, small
tortoiseshell, red admiral, peacock, comma, brimstone, green-veined
white and Queen of Spain. 18th: A day of hazy cloud and sun. I worked in the morning and was playing the piano for church in Villars in the evening. 19th: A very cloudy day (and here, and here). 20th: We awoke to snow but it didn't last. Here is Minnie at a Grand Chamossaire viewpoint in the afternoon, and here a giant cloud later in the day. This is Leo rising above the Chamossaire in early evening, and another view later, with Coma Berenices. On our afternoon walk I photographed this heron, high up in a spruce tree. 21st: A very grey day. 22nd: Cloudy all day, with lots of rain, leading to heavy snow in the evening. 23rd: A sunny day, clouding over in the evening. 24th:
Cold but sunny in the morning. I had yet again intended to go hunting
brown hairstreak egg-hunting on birch, but again the trains were
replaced by buses along the Rhône Valley and the journey would have
been too cumbersome. So instead, I went to the usual winter vineyards
to see if anything was flying there. As we walked through the village
of Branson, I noticed little groups of crag martin
flying around the houses. This is a summer visitor to the Alps, but an
early arrivers. On the terraced slopes of the vineyards, small tortoiseshells (and here) were out in abundance: I saw many dozen over the course of the day. This one, photographed at a great distance, was taking more than a passing interest in a female red admiral ... Queens (and here)
were flying too, in smaller numbers - I saw probably 10 in the course
of the walk. It was a strange day, as the temperature never climbed
above 6°C and there was a really chilly breeze - I was glad of my ski
jacket - but butterflies were out in numbers. There were intervals of warm sun but clouds were always threatening and for periods it was quite overcast.
Shortly before coming home, I sat at a picnic table, shivering in the
cold, with small tortoiseshells and Queens drifiting up and down the
slope below me as if it were a hot, sunny day! I saw in total about
five small whites (and here) - new for the year - and singles of brimstone and large tortoiseshell. Here is the second full moon of the year! 25th: A bitterly cold but bright morning. I had to work much of the day, but visited the cemetery at lunchtime to see if anything would brave the chilly wind and 4°C temperature. Amazingly, quite a few small tortoiseshells (and here, and here) were on the wing, despite the fact my fingers were almost too cold to press the shutter! Here is a view of the Dent Favre and Grand Muveran in the early afternoon, before cloud and even snow moved in. 26th: The morning looked OK but it developed into a very grey day (and here)! Here are rolls of cloud breaking over the Dents du Midi. 27th: Another grey day (and here), leading to a grey night. 28th: More grey (and here)! 29th: A bright but cold morning, leading to a bright, sunny day (and here). In the cemetery, small tortoiseshells abounded on the heather (and here). I also saw a single, male brimstone and a single large tortoiseshell nearby.
March
1st: The cloud was so thick today you could barely see your hands in front of your face most of the day. It partly cleared towards the evening, and by night the stars were shining over the village. 2nd: The trains were running and the weather was fine
so I headed to the birch brown hairstreak spot in Valais to see if I
could find any eggs. It wasn't easy looking, as most of the suitable
branches (in fact, most of the trees) were inaccessible. All the
searches I was able to do proved negative, but I won't give up! The
hairstreaks were diving deep into the birch stands and I was only able
to check branches on the edges. As the sun was out some of the time,
and small tortoiseshells, brimstones and a single red admiral were
flying, I went to the river to see if any Camberwell beauties would
appear. The sun promptly went in, but I was rewarded with good (if very
distant) views of dippers courting (and here, and here). I took a short video, here.
The female (I believe) is the one standing haughtily, her head in the
air, while the male dips and struts around her. Near the bus stop, a
small patch of standing water was alive with frogs and frogspawn. I hope it doesn't freeze over if winter returns. 3rd: A brightish start but an ov6mercast day and night. 4th: Overcast most of the day, clearing up by late afternoon - but then the clouds rolled back in! 5th: In the morning, we were right in the cloud and could barely see 10m in front of our faces (and here). Then in the evening, the snow returned (and here). 6th: Snowy but cloudy most of the day (and here and here). There were some wonderful evening views (and here). 7th: Still snowy, and very cold in the morning, but it was sunny and at lunchtime we set off to see if there were any butterflies flying in the cemetery. Despite the snow (and here), there were lots of small tortoiseshells on the wing. Indeed, they were readily settling on the snow (and here) as often as on the heather flowers (and here)
or stones. Nor were they restricted to the cemetery. As we walked back,
by a different route, we saw them flying over the snowy meadows and
regularly stopping on the snow by the roadside. This one is on flowers by the station. The temperature was about 4°C but the radiant heat was more than enough for them. 8th: Sometimes bright, though hazy. A couple of small tortoiseshells were on the wing during our lunchtime walk. 9th:
Mostly cloudy, with the sun occasionally breaking through in the
morning. It was mild, though, so Minnie and I took a walk along the
Rhône near Leuk. What I hadn't noticed in the forecast was that there
was a very strong wind, which meant very little flew. Before the clouds
took over completely, at about midday, I saw a single large
tortoiseshell (put up from the track ahead of me), a single small
tortoiseshell, a single male brimstone and a single wood white - this
last only in flight, and also probably put up from the vegetation ahead
of me. 10th: Cloudy and wet (sometimes snow). 11th: A brightish start but a cloudy day (and here - the evening). 12th: Cloudy (and here) and often snowing. 13th: Blue sky and heavy clouds. On our local walk we saw a few small tortoiseshells and a single red admiral. 14th: It was warm and sunny today, so we took our afternoon walk at Les Grangettes, at Villeneuve. Here is the lake, with its single tree, and here Minnie trotting along the path by the channel. Mostly, there were few butterflies around, but along one woodland path with lots of flowering cherry (and round the corner into the meadow) there were many commas (and here), brimstones (males and females), peacocks and red admirals and a single large tortoiseshell. I also saw a single white - probably small white - in flight. Lots of red-crested pochards (and here) were swimming on the lake. 15th: A cloudy day (and here). 16th:
The forecast for Domodossola was warm sunshine, so despite pouring rain
in Leysin, we set off on the 05h32, arriving in Domodossola at 08h12.
It was then a 6km walk to our site (via the village of Masera),
so we arrive there just as the day was beginning to warm up. The first
butterfly to appear was a red admiral, followed quickly by a large
tortoiseshell. As it got hotter, more flew, and before long I spotted
my first nettle tree butterfly of the day - in flight only. This is a
brilliant site for seeing nettle tree butterflies but a lousy one for
photographing them, as they usually pose far away, upsun of the viewer.
The next individual did just that, but later on I was able to get better pictures, including this one and this one.
Nettle tree butterfly was the main target of the day, but I had
expected green hairstreaks and chequered blues to be flying too. Very
surprisingly, neither was on the wing, though there were a few small coppers (and here, and here). Other species flying on the nettle tree slopes were wall (just a few), brimstone, including females, small white, green-veined white, comma,
a single peacock, a single holly blue and many more large
tortoiseshells. There were no small tortoiseshells up here, and I only
saw one during the whole day, much lower down, on the way home. I had
to carry Minnie at a few points because of all the chestnut husks on
the ground and it was while she was in my arms that we rumbled a troop
of wild boar with babies. Minnie had been very agitated before this but
I had thought it was probably just a fox. Fortunately, the wild boar
all beat a hasty retreat and Minnie was safe in my arms! Sadly, that
also meant I didn’t get any photos of them except this sorry shot of
one, after I put her down, as it fled the scene. We saw very few
butterflies as we returned to the valley. I expected to find grizzled
skippers already on the wing by the river, but there were none. We did
come across a Queen of Spain threesome in the rough ground by the river, as well as a few more walls and a red admiral. Here is a large wall lizard from the beginning of our walk (and here).
I thought at first it was an Italian wall lizard but on looking in the
books it seems to be a north Italian, green form of common wall lizard.
Here, here and here are some more scenic photos from the day, and here is Minnie wondering (like me) where this big, isolated lump of snow came from! 17th: A cloudy day. 18th: More cloud (and here), breaking a little in the evening. 19th: Bright all day. Here is Minnie lounging in the sun by the balcony. On our afternoon walk we spotted three roe deer in the meadow (and here). A few small tortoiseshells were drifting around over the grass and I spotted a brimstone too. Evening view: the bright star on the right is Sirius. 20th: Another bright day (and here),
though also a work day. There were one or two small tortoiseshells
around on our afternoon walk round the Suchet, as well as this red admiral. 21st: Broken cloud all day (and here). Despite the weather, this small tortoiseshell was on the wing. Here you can see the lights of the piste-groomers below the Grand Chamossaire. 22nd: After a cloudy start it became a warm sunny day. Sadly, we couldn't take advantage of it. Here is an evening shot, with Spica just rising. 23rd:
Very cold, raining in the morning and sometimes snowing lightly later.
Minnie wanted to go up the mountain, so we set off up the snowless road until we reached the ski slopes.
In the end, we didn't go right up to Berneuse, as one of the pistes we
had to traverse was so icy there was a risk of Minnie losing her
footing and ending up 100m lower down - and I didn't have crampons with
me. Here, here, here and here are some shots on the way back down, and here some beautifully lit cloud towards sunset. 24th: Woke up to snow.
Although it was a cold day, and snowed lightly off and on until
evening, what landed mostly melted - the ground must have been warm. 25th: Bright
but very cold in the morning (-3°C on our early walk). I was teaching
most of the morning, but was able to get away by midday and take a trip
along the valley. At Aigle station, I found myself needing to know the collective noun for lizards (and here)!
I had to keep Minnie away from them, or she would have one for
breakfast. Further along the valley, there was a strong wind blowing
and this kept the butterflies at bay a little. Nevertheless, orange
tips were common, including females as well as roding males, and eastern Bath whites were out in good numbers. A few peacocks were flying, as well as small tortoiseshells, commas and brimstones, and large tortoiseshells were quite common, though mostly now looking rather worn. Also new for the year was speckled wood. Again, I was surprised not to see any green hairstreaks, nor any skippers, though as the afternoon progressed clouds came over
and by the time I reached their best sites it was rather cold. The
absence of holly blues was also surprising - it is evidently not a
particularly early year. 26th: Cloudy most of the day (and here, and here). A working day. 27th: A very foggy, cloudy morning, turning to snow. Here is a view of snowy forests rising out of the cloud, and here a night view before the moon rose. 28th: It snowed heavily early on (and here). Here is a snowman near the station. 29th: Good Friday. I took Minnie for a very windy walk along the promenade at Montreux, before going to the Good Friday service at Territet. 30th: A cloudy day, with rain in the evening. 31st: Mostly cloudy today, though it was bright for periods of the morning. In the afternoon we took a walk near Les Mosses (and here, and here). The ponds and boggy ground were alive with frogs and frogspawn (and here, and here). April 1st: Mostly cloudy (and here), with occasional glimpses of blue sky. Here is a close-up of the communications tower on the Grand Chamossaire, viewed from Leysin. 2nd: After light snow first thing in the morning, a cold, bright and blustery day (and here).
Although temperatures in Leysin didn't get above 7°C all day, I spotted
my first altitude small white near the station in the early afternoon,
and my first altitude Queen of Spain higher up. Other than that, a couple of small tortoiseshells were sparring over the meadows and this comma
was flitting restlessly in the woods. The heather in the cemetery was
still in full flower but there were no small tortoiseshells there -
that party is over, it seems. High over the woods above me - up the
mountain - a golden eagle came briefly into sight (and here). The elm is in flower now, so white-letter hairstreak caterpillars should be out. There are very few branches at eye level - most are above my head. 3rd: Another cloudy day (and here, in the evening). 4th: Early morning. A crescent moon
was rising as I took Minnie for her first walk. I worked all morning,
then headed to Villeneuve in the afternoon. The weather hadn't looked
good, or I would have gone to more specifically butterfly spots, but
when we got there the sun came out and it warmed up considerably (and here). Brimstones were common, as were small and green-veined whites, and a few male orange tips were drifting around, never stopping. Other butterflies on the wing were red admirals (two), peacocks
(two), a single comma and a single blue. Provençal short-tailed blues
fly at this site and I suspect it was this, but a horse was passing
just as it appeared and I had to keep an eye on Minnie, not the
butterfly. Alternatively, it could have been a small holly blue. Black kites are now back for the summer. Here is one perched - very distant, over the marshes. Cormorants are resident at Villeneuve: this one is in full breeding plumage. This heron is grappling with what I thought was an Aesculapian snake, though I'm not so sure now, looking at the pictures (and here). I think it might be a grass snake. Here is Minnie trotting back along the front at Villeneuve. 5th:
For the first time in weeks, the forecast was for wall-to-wall
sunshine, so Minnie and I went to Valais - specifically, the Val
d’Hérens - to look for Camberwell Beauties (amongst other things). We
arrived at the start of our walk quite late - about 11h00 - but there
was little on the wing even by then, so nothing was lost. As we
continued to the main site, we saw whites (small, green-veined and wood), orange tips
(that female had a crinkly wing but she could fly and was enjoying
herself) and brimstones, as well as the odd peacock, small
tortoiseshell, red admiral and comma.
I had hoped for some skippers to be flying, but in the end we saw just
one - a southern grizzled skipper - which darted off as soon as I had
taken a single, proof shot.
Surprisingly, I saw three small heaths during the day, all of which
flew at the moment of my taking that perfect picture! There were no
swallowtails, no Apollos, no fritillaries, and just a handful of holly blues. Nevertheless, as expected, the Camberwell beauties were there! Minnie and I set up camp on rocks in the middle of the river (and here), knowing that they defend territories up and down the stream, and before long we had success. One male seemed to be based on a rock island (reload if the GIF doesn't charge properly) from where he darted out after any large butterflies who passed. Here he is sparring with another Camberwell beauty. Sometimes he came closer to us - so close that Minnie was aware of him!
Clouds came over while we were there, so we took the opportunity set
off up the hill back to the bus - Minnie can’t do long, hot days any
more … But after half an hour or so they cleared, and we returned home
in hot sunshine. It is forecast to continue tomorrow. 6th:
I headed further east along the Rhône Valley today, hoping for more
Camberwell beauties, but also de Prunner’s ringlet, which should be
flying by now. The former were easy and a joy to watch. It’s difficult
to count them, as each commands a large territory and the same one can
be seen quite some distances apart. Nevertheless, there were an
absolute minimum of half a dozen, and probably considerably more. Early
on, they rested with their wings open, but as the day hotted up they closed them.
At this first site, the only new species for the year was scarce
swallowtail, of which I saw just one, cruising past without stopping.
There were no de Prunner’s ringlets. In fact, it is still seeming like
a very normal year in terms of timings - certainly not advanced. A
single southern grizzled skipper was on the wing, no chequered blues, just two or three holly blues and no green-underside blues. I saw a single large tortoiseshell,
high in an ash tree. There were lots of whites - probably including
southern small, but I didn’t confirm any of these. Here is an eastern Bath white. Wood whites, orange tips and brimstones were common and there were a few peacocks, red admirals and commas. No small heaths here. Here is a lovely, orange speckled wood when I arrived, and here is the same one just before I left, when it was much hotter. Similarly, the Queens (perhaps the single commonest species flying) were showing lots of top in the morning but closing much more quickly later (and here).
Leaving this site at about 13h30, I headed for the other end of the
Rhône Valley, near Martigny, to try again for chequered blues. Again,
none. Indeed, very little was flying at all, despite the fact it was
now over 20°C. I saw a couple of southern grizzled skippers soon after
arriving, but none after that. This lovely, absolutely fresh scarce swallowtail was flitting around Prunus
bushes but landed just the once, so I could take that photo! Apart from
this, there were a few whites, orange tips and brimstones, plenty of
walls, a few Queens of Spain, a single holly blue - and that was about
it. I was hoping the first Berger’s clouded yellows might be on the
wing, but there were none over the meadows. Nevertheless, it was a
lovely walk and the scarce swallowtail alone was worth the stop. 7th: A very full day, ending with beer in Leysin. The valley was shrouded in Sahara dust all day. 8th: Another day when Sahara dust hung over the valley like a fine haze (and here, in the evening). 9th: Snow cleared the Sahara haze! (and here, and here). 10th: Snow (and here). In lower Leysin, below the snowline, oxlips were blooming in the woods. 11th: A beautiful day (and here, and here). I saw two violet fritillaries on that walk. Both were in flight and going somewhere, but this one
stopped very briefly. Other species flying around Leysin were whites
(small, green-veined and wood), small tortoiseshells, a comma,
brimstones and this red admiral. 12th: Another beautiful day (and here) though a work day. Here is a small tortoiseshell in the grass near the station. 13th:
A hot, sunny day. I visited two sites in the Rhône Valley, both towards
the eastern end. The first was where I saw so many Camberwell beauties
last week and it was striking that for the first hour I saw none today.
In fact, it was so striking I wondered if someone had been along
capturing them (they are very easy to catch, as they readily fly around
humans). Then finally I saw one, then another, and in total saw probably four, maybe more - still a small number. This one
is very worn. Normally, they are still flying here in June, but I fear
this particular one won’t be. There were lots of brimstones, small
whites, green-veined whites, orange tips, wood whites and eastern Bath whites
flying. Probably, there were some southern small whites too, but I
didn’t formally identify any. As well as the many Queen of Spain
fritillaries, there were a couple of what I took to be Glanville
fritillaries, but they didn’t stop to be identified for certain. Small heaths are now quite common here and speckled woods too. Still no de Prunner’s ringlet, though. The only skipper I saw was a single southern grizzled skipper. For the blues, a handful of holly blues were on the wing and occasionally taking minerals on the ground - no green-underside, baton or chequered yet. This painted lady was my first for the year (and here). I saw a single clouded yellow, in flight only. Other species seen were comma, large tortoiseshell
(mostly looking rather worn), small tortoiseshell and scarce
swallowtail (quite a few around). At about 13h00 I headed to the second
site. Here, finally, I found my first green hairstreaks of the year (and here), as well as more clouded yellows, lots of Berger’s clouded yellows, the first common blues (and here)
and the first rosy grizzled skippers. These last were not common,
but I confirmed at least one (it flew off without a picture). There
were also a very few southern grizzled skippers. This one has a bit of an anvil shape, but is southern grizzled, not rosy. This is my first confirmed large white of the year. There were large tortoiseshells and a single Camberwell beauty at this second site too, as well as lots of Queens of Spain,
all the whites and brimstones, a few holly blues, some commas and small
tortoiseshells, lots of small heaths and a few walls. My first dingy skipper of the year was flying near the little river there. Here is a lizard, hoping for some tasty butterflies in a flower wall. 14th: I began the day by going down to a site near Aigle
where both short-tailed and Provençal short-tailed blues fly. It was a
beautiful day, but there were no blues at all on the wing there yet. In
fact, the only butterflies I saw were a few walls and a few whites.
After a while, we went back to Leysin and in the afternoon decided to head off up the mountain to
see what was flying at altitude. In those relatively low meadows
(1400m-1500m) there were quite a few violet fritillaries flying around,
never stopping. Probably, they were fresh males looking for females.
There were also small tortoiseshells, as there turned out to be at all
altitudes. This
is one of our favourite sites, at about 1650m, where a little later in
the year there will be glanville and heath fritillaries, Dukes of
Burgundy, grizzled and alpine grizzled skippers and much more. Today
there were a few Berger's clouded yellows, lots of small tortoiseshells
and a few orange tips. We continued higher, encountering more and more snow (and here) until we reached the little village of Berneuse. This is a meltwater field of crocuses on the way. Small tortoiseshells were flying everywhere. This female was checking out new nettle growth at about 1715m, while this one
was one of many flying and sparring over the snow at the top, and
occasionally landing. As we reached about 1900m, a swallowtail came
winging down the mountain. I grabbed a quick phone picture for proof as it passed. It must have been hilltopping up there and was now going home for the night. Here is Minnie by one of the lakes up there and here a red kite over the slopes in the background. The sun was brilliant on the snow and I wondered if I should have sunglasses for Minnie to protect her eyes up here. Finally, we headed down a ski slope (all roads lead to Leysin) and home. Here is a ring ouzel singing his heart out. It is a more scratchy song than a blackbird's. 15th: Mixed cloud and bright all day, with some heavy rain. Here is a view of the Grand Chamossaire shrouded in dark cloud while the meadow in the foreground is in warm sun, with this wood white nectaring in it. 16th: It snowed early, before a largely dry but overcast day. 17th: Heavy snow fell overnight. Here and here are Minnie on her morning walk, and here she is in the afternoon. This is the bouquetin outside Leysin American School, and this is our evening walkies. Winter has returned. 18th: Thick snow, and cold (and here). Here is an animated gif of Minnie in the snow. 19th: Another day of cold and snow. 20th: Winter is still here. Very cold and snowy (and here). This shot looks over the valley, showing no snow down there. Up here, the spring flowers are struggling. 21st: Still snowing heavily. Here is the train arriving at Leysin Village station. 22nd: More of same - no let up in this late winter. Here are shots from the morning, afternoon and evening. 23rd: Still very cold, with occasional snowfall. Here is an adult golden eagle on our afternoon walk. There were two adults flying together, being mobbed by ravens. These choughs seemed to be holding a rooftop meeting to decide what to do about all the snow. Here is the view over the village as I walked back in the evening. It was may parents' wedding anniversary, so I lit two candles for them. 24th: Very cold and snowy. Here are icicles on trees and eves and here Minnie in the evening, in fresh snow. 25th: A brighter day (and here). In the afternoon I walked Minnie above some violet fritillary meadows and then down to the cemetery. The difference in altitude was about 200m, but it was striking that at the lower altitude the south-facing meadows were largely clear of snow and dandelions were showing through abundantly. In the cemetery, Viola tricolor - foodplant of the Queens of Spain - was in full flower, as was the heather, but I saw no butterflies. A few bees
were nectaring avidly. I checked some of the elms to see if the elm
flowers had survived the snow with their load of white-letter
hairstreak caterpillars (I hope). They had. The tits were working over them, though, and I suspect they found a few cats! 26th: More snow has melted locally.
In the morning, I had business in the valley and caught the train back
up from Aigle dépôt, by the vineyards. Despite reasonable warmth, there
were no butterflies on the flowers there. I did see a couple of orange
trips from the train on the way up. In the afternoon I went a little
higher, to about 1450m. There, the snow is still thick even on south-facing slopes (and here). 27th: It felt much more springlike today, with a gentle Föhn blowing and clear skies in the morning. It was the day of the Leysin stage of the Tour de Romandie. Here is the finish at lunchtime,
before the big crowds began to build up. I decided to watch the riders
from a little lower down the hill, away from la foule. Here is the winner
(I presume he went on to win) a kilometre or so away from Leysin. He
has cycled nearly 150km at this point and this is his third big climb
of the day. Here, here, here and here are some more shots of the race. It was actually quite chilly and breezy by this time but I doubt the racers felt cold. 28th: Mild and cloudy. The snow has all but disappeared at lower altitudes in Leysin. Here is an evening shot, with cloud rolling through the village. 29th: Another mild and cloudy morning, with periods of warm sunshine
during the day. A few butterflies have reappeared, though it is
unnaturally quiet on the insect front all round, for the end of April.
Near where that last photo was taken, a few wood whites were venturing over the meadows, and when I reached the cemetery I quickly found a green hairstreak. The first one, a female, got away but not far away a male
was holding fort against all comers and he let me take a few shots. He
regularly launched into the air after challengers but always returned
to the same spot. Other species flying were red admiral, large tortoiseshell, small tortoiseshell, comma and brimstone. I hope others are waiting in the wings - I should have seen many more species today. 30th: A promising morning, descending into a cloudy day.
May 1st: Cloudy and mild in the morning, with some sun later. I think the only butterfly I saw was a female orange tip, in flight. 2nd: Cool and cloudy (and here). 3rd: Cold and very cloudy (and here). Here is a linnet in Leysin. 4th:
A mixed forecast, with some sun and lots of cloud predicted for most
places. I decided to head up the Val d’Hérens, with Oberthür’s grizzled
skipper particularly in mind, but other species as well. I had got up
very late and didn’t arrive at the walk to the site until after midday,
when it seemed as if high cloud was already gathering. But I was very
lucky. Although I could see cloud over the Rhône Valley, the Val
d’Hérens itself remained clear until mid-afternoon. The first new
species for the year was safflower skipper
- a single male seen on the walk to the site. I assumed I would see
plenty more, but despite the good weather little was on the wing and
that turned out to be the only one. Also seen on this part of the
journey were small, green-veined and wood whites (that picture might well show a wood white on the left and a cryptic wood white on the right), as well as orange tips and brimstones. The very first butterfly I saw was this wall - one of just a handful seen during the day. At the Oberthür’s site, I quickly found a few males (here is a different individual). They were difficult to photograph because they were competing with this dingy skipper and were constantly flying off. The next new species was baton blue - of which I saw maybe half a dozen during the day. This one was right at the end, as I headed home. A few green-underside blues were on the wing too (and here), as I had hoped and expected. Holly blues were also flying, as well as common blues and Chapman’s blues, and I saw my first Provençal short-tailed blues in a field where I was looking for Dukes. The final new species for the year was Glanville fritillary,
although I probably saw it a couple of week ago, without confirmation.
A few males were setting up territories in selected spots. As always at
this site, Camberwell beauties were conspicuous. When I sat by the river for my second beer stop I watched at least three different males competing for the best rocks (and here), and at another river spot (a different stream) another male was holding forth. Other species ween were Eastern Bath white, Queen of Spain, comma, speckled wood, small heath, large white, southern grizzled skipper, swallowtail and scarce swallowtail. The first ascalaphids are on the wing. 5th: Cloudy (and here). In the morning I heard two wrynecks near the village but had lessons to go to so couldn't attempt to track them down. 6th: Another cloudy and often wet day ... 7th:
It rained all day, to the extent that Minnie didn't get a decent walk
at all (she refuses to walk in the rain). Here is the village in the evening. 8th: Still cloudy (and here) but a little drier today. 9th: Finally, a properly sunny day. In the afternoon Minnie and I took a walk through local meadows
and woods. Despite the weather, little was on the wing, but a few wood
whites, small whites, green-veined whites, orange tips, brimstones, red
admirals, small tortoiseshells and commas were about. The commonest butterfly was green hairstreak, of which I saw perhaps 5. New for the year was pearl-bordered fritillary.
In total, I saw three of these, all reluctant to stop but occasionally
nectaring. Not new for the year, but new for altitude, was this fresh dingy skipper. I saw a probably little blue in flight, but it didn't hang around to be confirmed. 10th: Another sunny day.
I was working most of it, rushing home to take Minnie out at intervals.
On our lunchtime walk, almost nothing was flying, despite the warmth.
This small heath was in a meadow near the station. Apart from that, I saw the odd orange tip and white. This photo
was taken on our evening walk. As we returned, I spotted what looked
like a glowing ballon above the trees to the north-west. Quite a
bizarre sight. It was in fact the new moon setting, but the old moon in
the new moon's arms was so bright you could see the maria as if it were
a full moon. I took a couple of quick shots with the iPhone as it
disappeared. In this one (the second of the two) it almost looks like a full moon. In this one,
zoomed in beyond what the phone was capable of rendering well, the thin
crescent of the new moon can be seen. I have never seen the old moon
shine so bright. I saw several bats - probably pipistrelles - on this
walk, so must take the bat-meter out tomorrow to identify them. 11th: Another bright, sunny day (after brilliant displays of the aurora last night, which I missed completely, being asleep!). These shots of Minnie - here and here
- show how hot it was by the afternoon! In the morning, I headed off to
two sites in eastern Valais, hoping to see (amongst other things), some
de Prunner’s ringlets. Normally, this is common by April. In the event,
I saw just two all day, both in flight (presumably males). They were at
my first site, further to the east, where little was flying altogether.
The commonest blue there by far was Provençal short-tailed (and here). Other than this, I saw just a couple of common blues and a holly blue. Amazingly, I saw just one southern grizzled skipper and a handful of dingy skippers here. A couple of Camberwell beauties
were on the wing, and other Nymphalids included red admiral, comma and
a single peacock. For the whites, there were green-veined, small,
orange tip, wood white and eastern Bath white, but all in small
numbers. Brimstones were the only yellow here. The only fritillaries
flying were a couple of Queens of Spain. Both swallowtails were on the
wing. For the Satyrids, the commonest was small heath,
followed by speckled wood and a very few walls. Moving west a little,
the next site was much more productive. As soon as I arrived, I saw my
first Adonis blue of the year and here this was by far the commonest
Lycaenid. Here is a male
from later in the walk. Provençal short-tailed blues were flying here
too, as well as common blues, Chapman’s blues and holly blues. My next
year tick was spotted fritillary - out in very good numbers. Rosy grizzled skippers (and here, and here) were also flying in good numbers and there were a few safflower skippers. Here is a safflower skipper at dung with a couple of wood whites. A few Glanville fritillaries and Queen of Spain fritillaries were flying, and at least one violet fritillary. As well as Berger’s clouded yellow, which is now common here, I saw a single clouded yellow - and again, both species of swallowtail. Here are a male and a female beautiful demoiselle, and here teneral male and female azure damselflies. This adder
was resting in warm shade at my first site but scarpered for the
vegetation as soon as it saw me. The first nightingales are singing. In
the evening, there was a chance of more aurorae, so I sat beneath the Swiss flag
away from the lights, with only Minnie and the Eurovision song contest
for company, and waited. No aurorae, but lovely, eerie views of the
stars through haze - here is Scorpio above the Dents de Morcles - and a win for Switzerland. Not my scene, but quite fun to watch the scoring, at least (and I voted for Israel). 12th: Bright and cloudy at first, tending to cloudy, then to pouring rain. We headed off up the mountain (and here) to see how things were developing. I was happy to see that at least some of the violet fritillaries had survived, so the spring generation of this species is not completely wiped out! I also saw my first grizzled skipper (malvae, as opposed to malvoides) at about 1650m. Here is another shot
of the same individual. Little else was flying there - a handful of
green hairstreaks, a single dingy skipper, a couple of whites and a
Berger's clouded yellow. This rather washed-out green hairstreak was at 1750m. As the day progressed it got increasingly cloudy, and I didn't expect to see much. There were small tortoiseshells active at all altitudes, even above the snow line, but no further species. Here is a ring ouzel at the top of his tree. This slope had a small group of chamois casually grazing on it. The arrow points to the patch of snow where this male is photographed. Here and here are a couple more pictures. This is Minnie preparing for the descent, and looking at the clouds building! And this is the view a little later from my balcony. 13th:
During the day yesterday, my neck had been getting more and more stiff
and painful. Today, I couldn't move it and was in great pain all day.
It was reasonably bright today but I couldn't take advantage of it, with pain and work! 14th:
A difficult day, after no sleep last night because of my neck.
Ironically, when I took Minnie out in the morning, I heard at least two
wrynecks calling from nearby trees. I didn't have my camera, to avoid
weighing my own neck down, so went back to get it, by which time they
had stopped. The day began bright but descended into cloud and rain. 15th: Another cloudy, wet day. The neck is mending, in part thanks to wearing a brace. 16th: Yet another wet day, with sometimes torrential rain. On a brief afternoon walk (Minnie didn't want to go far) I photographed this wryneck with a grub (and here, and here, and here).
I thought at first it was a young one, as it was so scruffy and fluffy.
I'm not so sure on looking at the pictures, and considering how well it
flew. Perhaps it was an adult who had been searching in the wet grass
for food for its brood. It didn't eat the grub while I watched. It had
been out in the open in the grass when I first saw it, but my camera
was in its bag because of the rain. 17th: The day started bright but cold, becoming increasingly cloudy (and here) and eventually rainy in the afternoon. Our local walk produced few butterflies but I was glad to see a couple of violet fritillaries.
That last one looks sufficiently worn to wonder if it was one of the
'pre-snow' individuals! Other species flying were small heath, orange
tip, brimstone, Berger's clouded yellow and red admiral, all in very
low numbers. Here is a pure white early purple orchid and here a rainbow
in the early evening. After dark, I took Minnie to the nearest
white-letter hairstreak elm to look for caterpillars. It started
raining heavily, but I did get a couple of shots of this caterpillar, high in the tree (so shooting into the rain!), still feeding on the elm flowers. 18th:
A warm but mostly cloudy day. I had a little time to go butterflying,
despite teaching in the afternoon, so chose to visit the Val d’Hérens
again, in the hope of Nickerl’s fritillary. When I arrived at the site
there was 100% cloud cover and only a few whites and small heaths were
on the wing. But as soon as the sun came out, half a dozen male Nickerl’s fritillaries
started flying over the field. They only stopped when the sun went in
again, so photography was not great, but I did get a few shots - here and here
are two more. I was also hoping for Duke of Burgundy but their best
spot here was fenced off for sheep and I couldn’t go in. Other species
flying on and off included brimstone, Berger’s clouded yellow, small
white, green-veined white, orange tip, wood white, common blue, Adonis blue, a single Osiris blue (and here) - my first of the year - green-underside blue, Provençal short-tailed blue, peacock, Glanville fritillary (and here), spotted fritillary, Queen of Spain fritillary, wall,
small heath and dingy skipper. I saw a single Pyrgus skipper in flight,
which might have been olive skipper, but it didn’t stop. No Apollos
yet, though as no swallowtails were flying either and the weather was
so dull, they might just not have chosen to fly. 19th: Very mixed weather,
with lots of cloud, a very little rain and some sun. We headed up the
local mountain in the morning as far as about 1650m, then returned by a
route we hadn't walked before, just to explore. In the meadows just
above Leysin, this sooty copper was my first of the year. There were a few violet fritillaries
flying too, I'm happy to say. At my 1650m site, very little was on the
wing. The first time I visited this site was 22nd May two years ago,
when I was checking out Leysin to see if I could live here. Then,
Glanville and marsh fritillaries were flying alongside Dukes of
Burgundy and alpine grizzled skippers, and it was generally alive with
butterflies. This year things are distinctly behind. I did see a couple
of grizzled skippers and a few dingies, as well as green hairstreaks
and Berger's clouded yellows, but the season clearly has yet to start
properly here. It was graduation day at school in the afternoon, so I
couldn't spend too long out - I had to watch a different kind of
butterfly emerging into the world! 20th: A bright, sunny/cloudy day. On a local walk in the afternoon, the first little blues were flying but remarkably little else. In total, the species seen were: green-veined white, brimstone, orange tip, wood white, little blue, speckled wood, small heath, small tortoiseshell, red admiral. The local tortoiseshells are now the progeny of the hibernated brood. 21st: Cloud and rain, again (and here). On our afternoon walk, we had some more distant views of a wryneck (and here, and here). 22nd: Still more cloud and rain, with just a hint of a rainbow in the afternoon! 23rd:
With cloud and rain once again on the menu, I decided to make use of a
free day by visiting the Papiliorama. Inside the butterfly house, at
least, it was warm, if not sunny. As on all my recent visits, common crows (Euploea core) were the commonest butterfly, sitting around in the trees in groups exactly as I had seen them in India. There were both males, with prominent sex brands, and females. Many butterflies were laying. This is a female Hypolimnas bolina, though she took her time and I didn't see the resultant egg. This is a dark blue tiger (Tirumala septentrionalis) laying on a leaf, and this her egg, and this is a plain tiger (Danaus chrysippus), and this her egg. My new species for the visit were Salamis parhassus, a forest butterfly from Africa, and Heliconius numata (here with a form of Heliconius melpomene) This is Morpho achilles (and here, with a Caligo species in the background). Another species doing a lot of laying was Papilio lowi. That is a female. Here she is again, taking some refreshments between laying sessions and here is a male - maybe the happy father? This little cluster of male Heliconius hecale surrounding a female were all full of the joys of spring. Other species around the butterfly house included Myscelia cyaniris, Cethosia cyane, Idea lueconoe, Doleschallia bisaltide, Junonia atlites, Heliconius atthis, Heliconius doris
and many more that I have photographed so many times I just enjoyed
them today. Minnie was quite happy to sleep in the free kennels while
it rained outside! 24th:
It rained most of the morning and early afternoon, then suddenly, while
I was walking Minnie between about 16h00 and 17h00, the sun came out. It was too late to bring out the butterflies, but I did see this brave couple of small heaths by the track. The break didn't last - soon it was all cloud and gloom again and we wandered home as the rain began! 25th:
Mixed sun and cloud was forecast for today - with the emphasis on
cloud. I decided to go to my old hunting grounds for violet coppers and
see what the state of play was. As we approached the site,
heavy cloud was looming and it was quite chilly. We saw just a small
tortoiseshell and a green hairstreak on the way. When we arrived, the
sun tried to come out, though it only ever succeeded for a minute or
two at a time. We sat and waited in vain for a glimpse of a violet
copper (or I sat - Minnie was a little more proactive).
Normally, there would be dozens of butterflies of many species flying.
Today, for about 40 minutes, we saw just a single small tortoiseshell.
Then eventually the sun came out for more than 2 minutes and a wood white flew, closely followed by a little blue. With the sun in again, I moved to a different part of the site and finally spotted a male violet copper, warming up under the clouds (and here, with Minnie). For a moment, the sun came out again and I got a sharper picture,
but almost immediately he flew off. He sparred with another male a
moment or two, and then I lost them. We wandered back through more suitable habitat where I have seen violet coppers before, but none flew. I think they are only just on the wing. Here is a green hairstreak on forget-me-not. By now, cloud was 90% and little apart from green hairstreaks was flying. But this single northern wall brown (and here) did take briefly to the air and pause on a rock before continuing down the hill. We climbed up to a favourite lake, but there were no more butterflies to be seen. As we walked back down the hill afterwards we saw a single painted lady. 26th: Last year, for some reason, I didn’t see Swiss zephyr blue, Plebejus trappi. So today, with some sun forecast for the morning, I headed to a site rich in milk vetch
where they breed. In the past, I have always found them here in good
numbers. When I arrived, the sun was shining, and before I had even
climbed to their patch, I immediately saw a mountain dappled white
nectaring on lilac, together with a few red admirals and a swallowtail.
It flew before I could get a picture but I felt if I saw one, I would
see more. The zephyr blue site itself turned out to be cordoned off -
presumably to stop people trampling it. This is good for the
butterflies, even if it made it more difficult for me. I could see,
however, that the species was not yet flying in any numbers. I could
survey it from an edge and saw just one, male blue and no females. I
presume I am simply too early this year. I wandered the nearby lane to
see what else was about and found several other blues - though
butterflies in general were not numerous. They included common blue (and here, a female), Adonis blue and green-underside blue (a glimpse of the underside here). This little blue was actually at the trappi site. This female green hairstreak was looking for places to lay and very rarely stopping more than a second or two. Here she is flying off - not because I disturbed her but because she was forever on the move. New for the year was red-underwing skipper (and here),
of which I saw a couple. Also new for the year was a single great sooty
satyr, seen at a distance crossing a meadow. There was lots of Erucastrum nasturtiifolium growing by the road but I saw no more simplonia during my wanderings here - just lots of small whites, green-veined whites, orange tips (and here) and wood whites. There were quite a few Berger’s clouded yellows
drifting around but no clouded yellows. After nearly two hours on site,
it was time to head back for the bus, and just as I did so a male zephyr blue appeared in front of me, flitting around the rocks by the road and taking minerals. I got just one shot of his underside, confirming the species, though I was in no doubt from my first sight of it. Here is another shot
of the upperside. It is common for males to wander from the breeding
site to take minerals, especially before the females emerge, so there
were probably more in the area. Very pleased with that, we walked down
to the bus, past the lilac bush, and another - or quite possibly the
same - mountain dappled white flew past. It looked as if it would stop
but didn’t, so I pulled my phone out and took a flight shot (heavily cropped there!) - just good enough to confirm the ID! 27th: A working day, but not a butterfly day anyway! 28th: Brightish, much of the day, but little flew on our local walk. There were a couple of speckled woods in the woods, a small heath, a few whites, this single painted lady, and I am reasonably confident this crumply person is a cryptic wood white (and here).
At any rate, it will count as my year tick, as I have seen enough wood
whites this year now to be statistically sure at least one of them was juvernica! 29th: Already yesterday I was going down with a nasty cough. Today I was coughing continuously and clearly ill. It wasn't a butterfly day, so nothing was missed. 30th: It rained all day and I was sick all day. Although I had to take Minnie out for her business, I didn't take any photos. 31st: As yesterday!
June 1st: Another cloudy and often wet day. I was still too sick to do anything. 2nd: Cloud all day (and here). I'm still out of action. 3rd: More cloud. I'm still out of action. 4th: Cloud. I'm still out of action ... 5th: Although I'm still sick, it was nice weather today and I was able to catch the train higher up and walk Minnie back down the long way, through the meadows and woods (and here).
Very little was flying. The only common butterfly was little blue - of
which I saw maybe a dozen (rather than the hundreds I should have
seen). The other species were: common blue (a couple), Adonis blue (a
couple), dingy skipper (a couple), small white (maybe three), orange
tip (one), wood white (one), brimstone (one), small tortoiseshell
(one), small heath (maybe half a dozen). This season is in a critical
condition at this altitude. The evening clouds were beautiful (and here). 6th: The day started off well enough but by the afternoon was heading for rain and storms.
I took Minnie a couple of stops up the mountain on the train and walked
her down again. I still can't do anything serious myself. 7th:
I set off very late, but felt strong enough this morning to go looking
for butterflies. I decided to head for my Iolas blue site. For the last
few years, this has become more and more overgrown and although I saw a
few butterflies there last year, I had feared they might be my last. On
arriving today I saw things had been improved, and 5 or 6 good bladder
sennas were clear and thriving. Although I didn't arrive before almost
14h00, when it was hot, I quickly spotted a male Iolas blue
land on one of them and for the next next hour was never without at
least one and up to three in my view at once. They were very restless
because of the heat but equally, very conspicuous. It was a great
pleasure to be with these magnificent blues again. Here, here, here and here
are some more shots. That last male was very crumply but he could fly
well and sparred with other males. The weather was mostly overcast, so
photography in general was difficult, but it was sufficiently warm for
butterflies in general to fly. Also at the site were a few cardinals, my first mazarine blues of the year, my first turquoise blues
of the year, a few holly blues, a few whites, a wall or two and a
single grizzled skipper. As I left I spotted a further male taking
minerals near the road (or rather, I put him up, unfortunately), and
finally a female flew up into the bushes just as I set off for home. On
the way back I added common blue, Adonis blue and red-underwing skipper to the day list, and just becore I caught the bus, this chequered blue
was my first of the year. Especially considering the weather today (it
even rained on part of my walk), I was very happy indeed with my first
trip out since being ill! 8th:
A mostly overcast day with some rain and some sun. I met a friend from
England who has been on a pilgrimage from Rome and walked part of
today's journey with him - namely, from Sembrancher down along the
gorges of the Dranse to Martigny. Here he is setting out from Sembrancher and here following Minnie
up a small climb further along the route. Initially, the weather
precluded any chance of butterflies, though I saw a single probably
cryptic wood white (I examined it up close but didn't have my
camera out because of the weather at the time). Then as it warmed up, I
saw a small white, green-veined white, a single Camberwell beauty in
swooping flight along the gorge, a holly blue and this single black-veined white, my first of the year. After that, no more butterflies, though it was a lovely walk! 9th: A cloudy morning,
followed by a bright day until the early afternoon. I was walking
Minnie locally when suddenly the storms came in and continued heavily
into the night. Here and here are shots of lightning over the Grand Chamossaire. 10th:
The forecast was for bright weather near Geneva, so I decided to go to
my poplar admiral site today. In 2015, I saw 12 male poplar admirals
there on 6th June, and had seen the odd individual prior to that,
though admittedly I have seen none since 2015. I left Leysin in the
pouring rain and it was still raining as we waited for the train at
Aigle. By the time we reached Geneva it was dry, and remained so for
the 15km cycle ride out to the site. When we got there, it was briefly
sunny and white admirals and woodland browns (and here)
were on the wing - but absolutely nothing else. Clouds came over and we
did one complete circuit of the site in overcast conditions, seeing
nothing new at all apart from a couple of meadow browns. Then the sun
came out properly - at about 13h00 - and we did another circuit. It was
extraordinary how little was flying. White admirals were very common and woodland browns
quite common, but apart from that we saw a single small white, a single
green-veined white, a few wood whites, a number of fresh brimstones, a few meadow browns, a few speckled woods, a single black-veined white, a single small heath and a single red admiral.
There were no Lycaenids of any description and no skippers. Nor were
there any emperors - normally very prominent here. It was really
bizarre to walk around such a fantastic butterfly site on a hot, June
day and see almost nothing. 11th: Rain all day, leading to a cloudy evening. 12th: Set off this morning for a favourite Satyrium site
near Yverdons-les-Bains. My main hope was black hairstreak, but all the
other Satyrium species fly there as the season progresses. When I
arrived, at about 11h30, it was sunny but windy, and very little was
flying. I soon saw a few marbled whites - but very few during the whole
day - and a couple of Adonis blues. There were good numbers of pearly heaths and a few small heaths too, as well as a few meadow browns and a couple of small tortoiseshells,
but no hairstreaks dancing over the sloe. In about two hours on site, I
didn’t see a single hairstreak in flight. An hour in, though, while I
was trying to photograph a pearly heath, I did suddenly notice a white-letter hairstreak
crawling over a privet head nearby. It was very poorly placed for
photos, but I got the proof, at least. It is early for white-letter
hairstreak and I wondered if somehow I had missed the black hairstreaks
this year. For most of the next hour I continued searching the
blackthorn and privet and continue to see nothing, until I spotted a
sloe hairstreak also creeping around a privet head. This was even worse
placed than the white-letter, and I was only able to get this one,
vaguely recognisable proof shot
before my sweatshirt tripped a bramble and it flew off. I continued
searching and finally, again by complete chance, found this single black hairstreak
also climbing around a privent head. In total, three individual
hairstreaks and three species! It is very hard work this year! There
were no skippers and very few whites on the wing. In fact, I think the
only species of white I saw was black-veined,
of which there were a very few in the meadows and on the blackthorn. We
finished the day with a woodland walk, during which we saw no
butterflies at all - not even a speckled wood or green-veined white -
despite sunny weather and plenty of flowers along the track. 13th: Having found three Satyrium
species yesterday, I decided to head off today for a fourth - ilex
hairstreak. This is relatively common at a site along the Rhône Valley
to the east. We arrived there shortly after 11h00 and were immediately
surrounded by southern white admirals, all freshly emerged and excited. This was probably the commonest species of the day at both this and my next site, taking minerals on the ground, nectaring at various flowers and defending territories. Also new for the year and also common were large skippers, though I only saw males. I quickly found a couple of ilex hairstreaks but they were actually not at all common today and I probably saw just half a dozen in total. Here is one taking minerals. None were at their usual spot and I suspect it is the very beginning of their flight period. Marbled fritillaries have suddenly appeared and were cruising around everywhere, along with a few knapweed fritillaries and perhaps half a dozen Provençal fritillaries (and here).
These are usually easy to approach as they nectar on scabious, but
today all the scabious verges had been cut and I could only photograph
them when they came to the ground for minerals. Other species flying
here included green-veined white, small white, southern small white, wood white, black-veined white, orange tip (still quite a lot around), brimstone, eastern Bath white, scarce swallowtail, Adonis blue, common blue, Provençal short-tailed blue, mazarine blue, northern brown argus, green-underside blue, comma (freshly emerged hutchinsoni), small tortoiseshell, Queen of Spain, wall, speckled wood, marbled white, small heath, dingy skipper and southern grizzled skipper.
Right at the end, I put up a Camberwell beauty. It didn’t return, so
might well have been a female. Surprisingly, there were no Apollos yet.
I then moved to a site a little further west. Again, southern white
admirals were everywhere. New for the year at this site was ringlet,
of which a very few, very fresh specimens were on the wing, and a
single silver-washed fritillary, seen in flight. Berger’s clouded
yellows were flying over the meadows and I added Glanville fritillary to the day list. Marbled whites were very common at this site. As we walked along a dirt track, I noticed a lovely bladder senna bush growing a little up the bank. I waited, and sure enough, a male Iolas blue (and here)
soon appeared and spent the next half hour nectaring avidly all over
the bush. I left him and moved on, returning past the bush about an
hour later. By then, he was gone, but in his place was a female Iolas blue, intent upon laying.
I watched her discreetly for ten minutes or so, then left her, as
shadow descended over the bush. Another day tick for this site was safflower skipper. Lots of damselflies were on the wing, including banded demoiselle, beautiful demoiselle, white-legged damselfly, azure damselfly and large red damselfly. 14th: Cloudy all day, with some rain. 15th: Another cloudy day, from morning to evening. 16th: A sunny day, so Minnie and I took the télécabine up the local mountain. At 2000m there were no butterflies except a few small tortoiseshells but as we came down they began: first dingy skippers and an overwintered comma,
then a few pearl-bordered fritillaries and whites, including wood
whites. Finally, at about 1650m we visited a favourite meadow and found
plenty more on the wing (though still less than in a normal year). Glanville and marsh fritillaries (this marsh fritillary lacks hindwing spots) were flying in good numbers, with the odd Queen of Spain popping in. There are no heath fritillaries yet. For the skippers, there were lots of dingies and a few grizzled, including this lovely taras-
a form I find every year at this site. I thought I saw an alpine
grizzled skipper, but when it settled it turned out - I believe - to be
carline.
I can't absolutely rule out large grizzled skipper but it is very
different from local large grizzlies I saw last year. There were plenty
of little blues and Adonis blues
and a few common blues too. Berger's clouded yellows were constantly
drifting through, as were various whites and orange tips. I saw a
single small heath and no alpine heaths. Continuing our walk down to
Leysin, we watched this female little blue lay this egg deep in a young head of kidney vetch. Here is a wood white also from this part of the walk and here a rather bright dingy skipper. By now it was cooler and a little cloudy and not much was flying. 17th: Mostly sunny today, though there was always cloud in the sky and it clouded over especially while I was taking Minnie for her afternoon walk. Despite that, I found my first geranium argus of the year (and here)
in that flowery track and saw a few pearl-bordered fritillaries
drifting around - never stopping. Other butterflies there included wood white/cryptic wood white (I'm really not sure with these), red admiral, comma (I think a female of the hibernated brood), orange tip and dingy skipper. 18th:
I headed up the Val d’Anniviers today, to see how the season was
progressing there. Normally, I would expect to see Asian fritillary
from about now, as well as lots of blues, skippers and browns. As I
should probably have expected, very little was on the wing at all. As
soon as I arrived, at the lower end of the walk, I did see an alpine grayling, which was promising - but that was the only one of that species I saw. It was still there when I returned a couple of hours later. The commonest butterfly by far was northern wall (and here, and here a male) closely followed by dingy skipper: everything else was flying in ones and twos. New for the year were chequered skipper (and here), of which I saw a very few, mountain green-veined white (and here, and here a male), and of course the alpine grayling. The only blue flying was little blue and the only fritillaries were a few pearl-bordered and a single Glanville.
There were no Asian fritillaries, nor any false heath fritillaries -
normally common here. I think I need to come back in a couple of weeks!
Normally, alpine grizzled skippers also fly here in good numbers - one
of the earliest of the high skippers. But the only Pyrgus I saw was southern grizzled. Orange tips were still on the wing and I saw a couple of green hairstreaks.
Just before coming home, I found a common blue flying by the bus stop -
the only blue of the day apart from the little blues. As I had time to
wait in Sierre on the way out, Minnie and I took a little walk and
found a couple of very fine bladder senna bushes. There were no Iolas
blues flying on them but I decided to revisit at the end of the day. So
at about 15h00 I was back there, when I discovered there were in fact
lots of bladder senna bushes, planted on a perfect bank for Iolas blue.
Sadly, there was a gale blowing by this time and nothing was flying at
all. It was even virtually impossible to search the bushes for roosting
butterflies, so much were they blowing about. I will return another
sunny day soon and do a thorough Iolas blue search. 19th:
I decided to go up the Val d’Hérens today. It turned out to be the
wrong decision, not because of the weather or the season, but because
today was the day they had decided to cut all the verges along the
tracks I intended to walk - to within an inch of their lives. The
consequence was that no butterflies stopped : there were no nectar
flowers. The meadows above and below the cut were fine, but I never
walk in meadodws, so as not to crush the plants. At some points I could
stand and observe, and I saw some useful year ticks in flight. But all
in all, it was a very poor day for butterflies. On top of the
verge-cutting, there were diggers and ground works just where I
normally see emperors and the river was in spate, preventing me
crossing it to another of my favourite sites! I returned to the bus by
a different, uncut route, but one outside the real butterfly zone. New
for the year today were large wall,
Amandas blue (seen in flight only, apart from one very brief stop and
glimpse of the underside) and large blue, of which a number were flying
over the meadow without stopping. Nickerl’s fritillary was still flying, along with knapweed, spotted
(that is a female) and marbled. I probably saw heath fritillary, but
because of the naked verges, none stopped to be formally identified. As
well as meadow browns and ringlets there were a few great sooty satyrs;
other Satyrids on the wing were small heath, speckled wood, wall and
marbled white. The most interesting sightings of the day were two
cardinals. The first was at the beginning of my walk, on the bank above the cut verge, and the second
right at the end, high in a tree. At this time of year the cardinals
leave their breeding sites in the valley and head into the mountains.
The Martigny population flies up the valley to Sembrancher and also
over the Massif du Muveran to the Villars region. These ones must have
come up from Sion, implying that the butterflies have extended their
range along the Rhône Valley. There were very few skippers flying
today. Most were safflower, though there were a few dingies and on my return route a few chequered skippers.
Other than the Amanda’s and large blues I saw just a few Adonis and
common blues. When I got back down to Sion I nipped along to Sierre, to
see if I could spot any Iolas blues but again a gale was blowing there!
No butterflies at all were flying. 20th: Back to rain and cloud for the solstice. 21st: Cloud for most of the day, with a little blue sky and sun
in the afternoon. Minnie and I tried to take advantage of it, but by
the time we reached the local butterfly meadow we were heading for, the
clouds had come over again. A few small heaths were roosting in the grass, as well as this sooty copper and this little blue. 22nd: A cloudy morning,
with some rain later. Minnie and I spent most of the day in
Geneva, at the airport, waiting for my sister's delayed plane to arrive! 23rd: Mostly cloudy but dry, so we were able to take a pleasant walk along the Riviera at Vevey. 24th: Unexpectedly, it was a brilliant, sunny day most of today, only clouding over in the evening. We took a boat trip on the lake from Vevey to Villeneuve (and here)
and back via St. Gingolphe, with a very short walk at Villeneuve. There
were no butterflies to speak of, but I was mostly playing host to my
sister and her husbamd. 25th: A hot sunny day until about 14h00, when clouds came over, leading to rain and thunderstorms. We took a local walk,
to Prafandaz, during which I saw a few geranium arguses, plenty of
whites, including wood whites, my first heath fritillaries of the year
(in flight only), a few Queens of Spain and various browns, and my
first purple-edged copper of the year. I was playing the host and
couldn't photograph but I did try for a shot of the purple-edged copper
when it posed rather beautifully. Sadly, if flew off just as I pressed the shutter! 26th:
A sunny morning, so Minnie and I left my sister and her husband to take
things easy while we zoomed up the mountain (and here) to see what was flying. At
2000m, on small tortoiseshells and green hairstreaks were on the wing.
As we came down, we soon encounted marsh fritillaries - some very dark
(and here) and some brighter. All are clearly the form/species Leraut
calls merope, though. Other species at altitude included little blues -
some very big - orange tips and a single grizzled skipper. There are no
Erebia about yet. Lower down,
at about 1650m, I photographed my first tufted marbled skipper of the
year. Adonis and common blues were flying here, as well as this very
bright large blue (and here) - most unusual for the mountains. In flight, I had
assumed it was mountain alcon blue, as it looked so blue. Here is a
glimpse of the underside for confirmation. A few pearl-bordered
fritillaries were flying and I saw a single false heath fritillary -
again my first of the year. By now, clouds were coming in and I headed
down. It began raining before I reached the bottom! 27th: The day we scattered the last of my father's ashes at Bretaye and on the Grand Chamossaire (that was the view looking towards Les Mosses, and here,
the view looking across to Leysin). I didn't spend time looking for
butterflies (it was rather mixed weather anyway) but did see my first
bright-eyed ringlet of the year. There was little flying up there today. 28th: I wanted to show my sister some different mountains so we took a bus journey today to where the cranberry fritillaries
fly. Again, I didn't go butterfly-watching but did note that the
fritillaries are out in good numbers. We took a little walk, had a
drink and came home again. 29th: The day my sister and her husband
were supposed to fly home. I left them at Geneva Airport but while I
was travelling home again their plane was cancelled. They will have to
stay in Geneva until Monday! This was the view over Leysin as the bad weather rolled in in the evening. 30th: A cloudy day.
July 1st: Another cloudy day, with hints of sun. 2nd: The day began bright but became cloudy by the time we took our main walk. 3rd: Yet another cloudy day - and cool. Interesting skies in the evening (and here). 4th: A bright morning.
I was going to go up the local mountain today but Minnie had her rabies
vaccination this morning and the vet said she couldn't do a long walk.
So instead, I cycled her to local woods in the afternoon and she had a
gentle wander. We first visited my white-letter hairstreak tree. There
were no hairstreaks flying, although it was lovely weather, so I
presume they are not on the wing yet. Last year they were flying over
the tree in good numbers and I am sure they will soon emerge. Lots of large walls were on the wing, as well as whites, speckled woods, a single heath fritillary
and a single holly blue. Two red admirals were sparring in the canopy
of the white-letter hairstreak tree. We moved on, seeing more blues
(probably Adonis and common) as I cycled. I stopped to confirm an Essex
skipper but my camera was in the bag and Minnie in the backpack so no
photo. At our next set of rides, large walls were again very common and black-veined whites too. There were also lots of Queens of Spain.
I had hoped to see white admiral here but there were none. The verges
had been cut very recently, so nectar plants were quite scarce, but in
places there were still some. This large blue posed nicely for me - and here, and here. I was very happy to come across a woodland brown
- my first for Leysin since I arrived two years ago. It wasn't keen on
posing and that was the only photo I got. This is one of several swallowtails we saw. As we returned to the bike and the clouds gathered, I found this false heath fritillary. This is a good set of rides and I will be back. 5th:
I set off early today, hoping to spend a couple of hours at 2450m, in
the mountains above Saas Grund and Saas Fee. It was a beautiful, sunny
day, and forecast to remain so. There were to be obstacles, though! The
first was that the torrential rains, landslips and flooding in that
area meant that the bus stopped about 5km short of my intended bus
stop, and 500m in altitude lower down. The roads were impassable higher
up. I decided I would keep to the original plan, so began walking. When
it became clear Minnie couldn’t keep up, I popped her in the backpack
and upped the pace, letting her down occasionally to drink at streams
and have a sniff. We arrived at the intended bus stop after an hour and
a half, and there I let Minnie out so we could do our normal walk. The
bus stop is at about 2200m, so she still had to do some work to climb
to 2450m! During the walk up to that point (the bus stop), we had seen
little - amazingly little considering what a lovely day it was. New for
the year were alpine heath and large ringle. Other species flying were pearl-bordered fritillary,
various whites (but not peak white or mountain dappled white), a couple
of dingy skippers, a couple of orange skippers, lots of northern walls,
a couple of alpine graylings
- and that was about it. No blues, no Apollos, no almond-eyed ringlets
(at least none stopped - I might have seen a couple at the beginning of
the walk). Above 2200m there was even less. The normal, flowery banks
beside the track were devastated by water and rocks and the track
itself was destroyed in places. On 29th June last year, these were covered in blues, fritillaries and skippers. Today, nothing. I saw perhaps 3 grizzled skippers
in total, a couple of small tortoiseshells and a couple of little blues
higher up. At 2450m there was absolutely nothing - no butterflies at
all. The gullies where last year dewy ringlets and dusky heaths flew
were filled with snow. So I sat down with Minnie, had a beer, then headed back down again! We did see lots of marmots, as well as water pipits and wheatears, and back down at 2200m we watched a troop of linnets. We also saw this single large blue on our descent.Then began the trek down to the lower bus stop, through glacial, boulder territory (and here, with Minnie on the lead to stop her nipping into a marmot hole!). At one point I spotted a lot of Philloscopus
warblers calling and jumping around in a tree. I think it was a family.
My birdsong app said they were ‘amost certainly’ Bonelli’s warblers and
I got a few photos of one of them (and here, and here)
- I think a juvenile Bonelli’s warbler. I thought there might be more
butterflies flying by now but there weren’t. Not new for the year, but
my first photo of the species for the year, was this single de Prunner's ringlet, which I saw for a few seconds only, and not the upperside. This is a female mountain green-veined white and this is another large ringlet.
In all, it was an extraordinary day. There must be millions of francs
of work to be done on the roads and tracks and above 2200m this will
surely do its own, additional damage to the butterflies. More rain,
storms and flooding is expected this coming weekend in the region. 6th: A brightish morning descended into dense cloud and rain. 7th: Cloud and rain. 8th:
Local walk in afternoon, through meadows and woods. As usual this year,
amazingly little on the wing. Lots of meadow browns and marbled whites
in the meadows and a single fritillary that might have been a second
brood violet fritillary - I only saw it in flight. Small (first confirmed of the year) and large skippers were flying, and a
few whites. This is a northern brown argus. In the woods, Queens of
Spain and large walls predominated, with a few whites. I don’t think I
saw any blues (apart from the argus) on the entire walk. I had thought
this would be a good site for white admirals and - if they flew in
Leysin at all - purple emperors, because of the abundance of suitable
foodplant, but there were none. On the way home, walking on the road, I
saw two Arran browns, my first of the year. 9th: On 9th July last
year I visited my Thor’s fritillary site in good weather - and saw
none. Today, I repeated the exercise (here is Minnie at the site) and also saw none. In previous
years they have been common at this site at this time of year and I
don’t know what is happening. As this is a late season, I don’t think
it possible they are over. Just maybe they are not on the wing yet - I
may have to come again in a week or so. As always this year,
butterflies were generally think on the ground altogether. I saw a
couple of Titania’s fritillaries on arrival, and one or two later on in
the walk, but the only common fritillary was false heath (only common, whereas it is usually abundant). There were no larger fritillaries - no dark green, high
brown, silver-washed or niobe - and just a few pearl-bordered around. I
saw two Camberwell beauties - presumably freshly emerged, but I only
saw them in flight. They didn’t display the territorial behaviour of
spring males and looked relatively fresh (though the fringes were
white). For the whites, mountain green-veined (here is a male) was the
commonest, closely followed by wood white. There were still plenty of
orange tips around and a fair number of summer brimstones. I checked
for alpine grizzled skipper at a place I always see them, and duly saw
one (just one). It is a little anomalous, lacking the ‘triple point’,
but I am confident of the identity. Other skippers were dingy, my first
mallow of the year, large and small. Very few blues were flying. I saw
perhaps half a dozen little blues, a single large blue, a single common
blue and a single mazarine blue. This is normally an excellent site for
blues, with alpine argus a regular at one of the mineral spots. A few
swallowtails were drifting backwards and forwards but no scarce
swallowtails (no Prunus, so not surprising) and no Apollos. For the
browns, large wall was the commonest, with Arran brown close behind.
Another species of ringlet was flying in some of the meadows - smaller,
and probably bright-eyed - but none stopped to be identified formally.
This ringlet (and here), which I found near the end of the walk, I take to be bright-eyed, form caeca. It has no markings at all on the upperside. I tried to
get a better shot of the underside but a couple of mountain bikers came past
and that was that. No speckled woods! I did see a couple of alpine
heaths in flight but no other heaths. The only other species seen were
red admiral and a couple of small tortoiseshells. I arrived on site at
10h00 and left at 15h30, with probably an hour’s beer break at hostelry
in the middle of the day. And in all that time, in some of the best
butterfly country I know, I saw almost nothing … 10th: Mostly cloudy and sometimes rainy, with some long, warm, bright spells. Here is Minnie in the village on her evening walk. 11th:
Visited a site high in the Val d’Hérens today (about 2000m). Normally,
I set off from here and head up to 2500m for Cynthia's fritillary and
others, but since this is such a late year I spent the day at about
2000m. One of my hopes was to see silvery argus, which a friend says he
saw regularly last year - but there were none. Nor have I ever seen one
here! At one point, this very oversized and very blue little blue
had me hopeful, but when it landed it became apparent what it was. As
always this year, there were actually rather few butterflies at all,
though some species were out in reasonably good numbers. Alpine heath was probably the commonest altogether. Large ringlet, form adyte, was also common, and by far the commonest Erebia. I also saw one Swiss brassy ringlet (this is literally a proof shot before it disappeared) and one confirmed almond-eyed ringlet,
though I suspect there were in fact more of these. Other Satyrids
included meadow browns and northern walls. Often at this site there are
loads of blues at minerals. Even when the day hotted up today there
were rather few. New for the year were Idas blue and silver-studded blue. Idas blues were quite numerous, as were little blues and mazarine blues (here
are a mazarine blue and little blue with a dingy skipper).
Silver-studded were much less common and I saw just a single Amanda's
blue. I also saw a single turquoise blue
shortly before coming home and a single large blue earlier. I think the
site is yet to come alive. Early on, a male small Apollo flew past me,
and some ten minutes later another - or the same one - passed again.
After that, no Apollos. A couple of swallowtails were the only other
represtentatives of that family. Early on, too, I saw an Asian
fritillary on the sand. I lined up a photo but it was buzzed by a dingy
skipper and disappeared. I had a brief view of another later. I knew
they flew at this site - or in the general region - but have never
before seen one here. Other fritillaries included southern heath (just a few), false heath (the commonest fritillary) and pearl-bordered
(just a few). Right at the end I thought I had a Grisons fritillary,
from the small size and general appearance of the butterfly. This
species is extremely common - abundant - on the higher walks here so it
was no surprise to see one at 2000m. However, looking at the photo, I see it is a small, dark southern heath fritillary. For the Pieridae
it was mostly mountain green-veined white, with a few orange tips and a
single Berger’s clouded yellow. Right at the end I saw a single
mountain clouded yellow but couldn’t get a photo. Skippers are normally
common here. Today the most conspicuous was dingy, though I saw a couple of grizzlies and a single chequered skipper near the end. There were also a few large skippers, though no Thymelicus
skippers. The day had clouded up by 14h30 and by the time I reached
Leysin, at about 18h00, it was pouring with the heaviest and loudest
rain I have ever experienced - like endless buckets of water being
thrown over the world. 12th: A bright morning, leading to a grim day with torrential rain in the afternoon. 13th:
A coolish day with plenty of cloud but sunny for most of the afternoon.
We went up the local mountain at about 13h00 to see how the season was
progressing up there. At 2000m, the only thing on the wing was a single
geranium argus but by the time we got down to 1850m more was flying.
Notably, bright-eyed ringlet (and here, and here for a flash underside) was now flying - the only Erebia today. At the same altitude, this brown argus
was interesting. I can only see it as brown argus, not northern brown
argus - and yet it was too high in theory. I couldn't get a glimpse of
the underside because like most things at this stage of a cool day, it
was holding its wings flat to get as much sun as possible. Here is a northern brown argus from lower down the mountain at the end of the day, for comparison. Mazarine blue, little blue and marsh fritillary were all flying here too and just a little lower was this large blue. We headed down, finding this large grizzled skipper (and here) at about 1700m. There was another, much smaller individual,
which I took to be carline, but am actually less sure. That was the
only photo I could get of it as it was behind a barbed wire fence.
Black-veined whites, wood whites and pearl-bordered fritillaries were
flying by the roadside around this altitude. By the time we reached one
of my favourite spots, at 1650m, the day was distinctly cooler.
Nevertheless, this alpine grizzled skipper put in an appearance, as did a few marsh fritillaries and a single, very worn Adonis blue. Other species seen today were false heath fritillary (now quite common), swallowtail, large wall and large skipper. 14th: A hot, sunny day was forecast, at least until mid-afternoon, so I set off to the Bernese Oberland
for dusky and scarce large blues. Unfortunately, a great many other
people had the same idea (though not the bit about the large blues!)
and the site - which is also a popular leisure spot - was full of
walkers, bikers and dogs. I quickly saw both species (here is a dusky large blue and here a scarce large blue) - as well as my first dark green fritillary
of the year (just the one) and my first lesser marbled fritillaries (a
few) - but it was difficult to watch, wait and photograph with so many
people going past. So we decided to try a route we’ve never taken
before, leading through woods and wetlands, in the hope of finding
other sites. There was very little flying in the woods but when we
reached the wetlands we found both large blues again. Dusky was by far
the commonest, being present wherever there was greater burnet. Indeed,
it was pretty much the commonest roadside butterfly! Here is a female,
laying her eggs against a typical backdrop of the Bernese Oberland.
While I was watching a female laying at a small patch of wetland, a
male joined her and appeared to couple. I think he never really made
it, and after some time he flew off and she continued laying. Here is a
video
of this encounter. Scarce large blue was distinctly less common and it
was mostly males I saw, endlessly searching for females. This individual
did pause briefly to check out some greater burnet. The scarce large
blues were also more restricted to wet places, while the dusky large
blues were at home in dry meadows. As forecast, clouds came over during
the afternoon and we got the bus back to Gstaad from a different
village. Other species flying at the original site included small
heath, mazarine blue, silver-studded blue,
little blue, swallowtail, meadow brown, Arran brown, small
tortoiseshell and various whites. As I walked back, between the woods
and the marshes, two Camberwell beauties flew past. 15th: I taught
in the morning so couldn’t go very far today. For our afternoon walk,
we took the train a little up the hill and then did a large circuit back home, taking in woods and meadows. Here is a view towards Tanay from the walk. In some of the flowery woodland rides there were plenty of Queen of Spain fritillaries, false heath fritillaries and southern heath fritillaries.
I also saw a single silver-washed fritillary but he flew before I could
get a shot. Other than that, large walls were common and there were a
few meadow browns and ringlets. This helice clouded yellow was, I think, my first clouded yellow of the year here. Arran browns are becoming more numerous. Very few blues were on the wing - just a handful of mazarine and little blues. 16th:
I was teaching again in the morning so once more stayed local today,
visiting some of the meadowsweet meadows in the afternoon, where I
found lesser marbled fritillaries last year. Today, although the
weather was mostly good, there were none. In fact, there were hardly
any butterflies at all - a familiar refrain this year. Meadow browns
and marbled whites were conspcious and I saw a single mazarine blue,
but little else. Here is a red kite. 17th:
I got out relatively early this morning, heading for a wetland site in
the Jura I have never visited before, just to have a look around. I
believe chestnut heaths fly there in June but didn’t hold out high
hopes for these today (and didn’t see any). In the marshy parts there
were plenty of dragonflies and damselflies, including blue-tailed (and here), azure, white-legged and large red damselflies. There was lots of meadowsweet and a few lesser marbled fritillaries
were cruising around - though not many. In the grassy and scrubby
areas, meadow browns, ringlets and marbled whites were very common,
with southern heath fritillaries and false heath fritillaries both common. I saw two fresh dark green fritillaries too - so this species is finally emerging! No high brown or Niobe. The only skippers were large, small and Essex.
Small tortoiseshells were occasional and at least one red admiral flew
by. Although butterfly numbers were low, as they are everywhere, it did
seem a good place to go, perhaps earlier in the year. 18th: I was
busy in the morning with meetings and other stuff so headed off in the
afternoon to my nearest cranberry fritillary site. On 28th June,
cranberry fritillaries had been numerous, though mostly males. Today
they were even more numerous but now the females were out in equal
numbers. It was warm and the males were flying without stopping but
females were taking a few breaks. This one stopped on vegetation near the bog while this one is on the foodplant in one of the boggy patches. A very few moorland clouded yellows
were flying but there were no cranberry blues - another species that
shares the same foodplant and which I have found here in the past.
There were small numbers of lesser marbled fritillaries in the larger
region as well as a few southern heath fritillaries, false heath
fritillaries and pearl-bordered fritillaries. I saw two dark green fritillaries.
For the skippers, large and small were common - I didn't consciously
identify any Essex but that doesn't mean there weren't any there. Very
locally, I saw a couple of red underwing skippers. Blues seem to have
suffered more than most other groups this year and there were very few
on the wing today. Here is a northern brown argus and here a turquoise blue. Other than these, I saw a few common blues, a single large blue, a sinlge silver-studded blue and a very few little blues. This is the first purple-edged copper I have been able to photograph at rest this year! 19th: With good weather forecast, I headed early to the Simplon, for my annual hunt for Erebia christi.
I packed all the essentials, including my net for confirming identity,
but realised when I reached Aigle that I had forgotten to pack my
little observation box. So I bought a clear tub of hummus and some
bread, ate the hummus with the bread, cleaned the tub and continued my
journey! So far, so good. But unlike my usual pot, the bulky hummus tub
fell out of my pocket as I was climbing to the christi
site, and I didn’t realise this until I was nearly there. So I went
back down again, found the tub and climbed back up (with Minnie in the
backpack). In the end, I arrived on site at about 11h20. Between then
and midday I saw three christi in total, one of which I caught and photographed (badly). Here, here and here are some shots. Other Erebia on the wing were large ringlet (euryale - very common), almond-eyed ringlet (alberganus - also very common, but not so common as usual here), woodland ringlet (medusa - much commoner than usual - and here), de Prunner’s ringlet (triaria - quite a lot around, which is unusual for late July! - and here) and probably Arran brown (ligea)
on the climb, though I didn’t formally identify any of these. Very
surprisingly, there were no lesser mountain ringlets or mountain
ringlets. Lots of swallowtails were on the wing and one Apollo flew
through. For the whites, I saw just mountain green-veined and
black-veined, and there were no yellows. Large and small/Essex skippers
were flying, together with a very few dingies. Other browns included Darwin’s heath (very common), northern wall, large wall and alpine grayling, which was very common. On the climb I saw several Titania’s fritillaries and at the site there were southern heath, false heath and pearl-bordered fritillaries. Large blues
were quite numerous - all looking much more like typical alpine large
blues than those I have been seeing in Leysin - and there were a few
sooty coppers and purple-edged coppers (ssp. eurydame). This was my first chalkhill blue of the year. I was quite surprised to see this southern white admiral,
something I don't think I've seen at this site before. Other than that,
no Lycaenids. It clouded over in the middle of the day and I was going
to head back but then the sun came out again and I waited on site until
14h00. No more christi
appeared. I headed back down and caught the bus to a site lower down in
the hope of some more year ticks. It turned out to be windy and little
was flying, but I found a fair few butterflies all the same. This male dusky meadow brown (and here) was one of the species I had hoped to find, as was this rock grayling, lurking, as so often, in the shadows. I also saw a single grayling (semele). I hadn’t expected to see fresh Swiss Zephyr blue (and here), but there were a few of these around, as well as my first Escher’s blues of the year and another chalkhill blue. Another Apollo flew through - only my second of the year. 20th:
I visited Villars this morning, on social and other business, so walked
Minnie back through our old haunts in the afternoon to see what was
happening in the woods. Woodland browns are still flying - and still quite fresh. I saw just two white admirals,
very surprisingly - this is (or used to be) a strong area for them.
Both seemed to be females wandering in search of places to lay. This
female marbled fritillary
was similarly looking for young bramble to lay on - and she was the
only marbled fritillary I saw. I also saw a single male silver-washed
fritillary in flight. Other species flying were meadow brown, ringlet,
swallowtail, a single great banded grayling (my first of the year) and marbled white. I saw no purple emperors, nor was able
to find any eggs in the usual places. 21st: A cloudy day. 22nd: Cloud and rain most of the day (and here).
In the late morning, despite the rain, I disturbed my first dryad of
the year. It quickly dived down into the wet grass and I got just this
record shot (I didn't want to disturb it again). 23rd: Unexpectedly, it was a sunny day today. I headed up my local mountain with Minnie at about midday, to see how the Erebia
were doing. When we got to the top (of the télécabine), the first thing
we noticed was a geranium argus flying around the wood cranesbill -
exactly where we saw one last time we came up. The next thing was a golden eagle with rather mottled plumage (and here). Then in the distance, over la tour d'Aï, I spotted a large group of griffon vultures circling. There are 11 in that picture but there were more altogether. Here is a more zoomed-in shot of one of them, and here a group of three. In answer to my Erebia question - only bright-eyed ringlets (oeme) were flying at altitude and at the Erebia spot I found last year. By this time last year, lesser mountain ringlet (melampus - 14th July), manto ringlet (manto - 17th July), Piedmont ringlet (meolans - 15th July) and common brassy ringlet (arvernensis - 17th July) were all on the wing at this site. Today, just bright-eyed. A few large walls were around and plenty of alpine heaths. Other than that, I saw false heath fritillaries, a single mazarine blue, a single marsh fritillary, a small number of Titania's fritillaries and a few black-veined whites. As we walked down to lower altitudes, a few Scotch argus (my first for the year) were around and at my next stopping point I saw chalkhill blues, Adonis blues (that one had no cell spot), turquoise blues and a couple of little blues. A single carline skipper put in an appearance, as well as a single grizzled skipper and a red-underwing skipper. Glanville fritillary was still on the wing here. Lower still, I saw a single great banded grayling and a few wood whites, as well as other whites and a brimstone. 24th:
I took Minnie to the woods in the afternoon to see if there were any
white-letter hairstreaks at the top of their master tree. There were -
about a dozen, at a guess. Most of the time they were just sitting in
the canopy, out of sight, but every so often there was activity and
several of them would fly up, twist about, and then land again. Then
never came down below the canopy. Here, here and here
are three individuals that settled in places visible from where I was
standing, that I could get the zoom camera onto. There were also great banded graylings in the tree tops, sometimes putting up the hairstreaks. There are now Scotch arguses flying along the woodland rides. 25th:
We headed up high today, to photograph Cynthia’s fritillaries. The bus
dropped us at about 10h00, at 2000m, from where we walked to 2550m (and here)
At the beginning of the walk, little was flying. We saw a few Swiss
brassy ringlets, some almond-eyed ringlets and lots of large ringlets
but very few blues or skippers. As we climbed higher, more appeared. Cranberry blues (with an idas blue in that photo) were quite common, and glandon blues increasingly so as we went higher (and here, and here, and here a female, skulking around looking for a place to lay eggs). A few Eros blues were around, lots of little blues and some chalkhill blues and idas blues. I saw a single northern brown argus. There were very few fritillaries - just the odd dark green
and southern heath fritillaries at lower altitudes, false heath
fritillaries pretty much everywhere, and what looked like mountain
fritillaries higher up: bright orange Boloria fritillaries, and relatively large. But all the Boloria that actually stopped during the day were shepherd’s fritillaries (and noticeably smaller and more straw coloured). Here is a female shepherd's fritillary. As we went up, Mnestra’s ringlets becgan to fly and right at the top there were a very few dewy ringlets
too. We saw a couple of Swiss brassy ringlets, but although this
species is very common here, it was almost absent today. Alpine heaths
were common at all altitudes. Around the little pond that I call ‘le
lac de la mort’ because it is normally filled with drowned butterflies,
small groups of blues
were gathered - nothing like the normal vast hordes of butterflies. No
Grisons fritillaries up there, for example. There were no butterflies
in the lake - just a few moths, which I tried to save but they were
already dead. I then sat at the top of the little gulley where I hoped
to see Cynthia’s fritillary and was not disappointed. A handful of
males were defending territories just where I expected, and
occasionally let me get photos. Here, here and here
are some more piccies. When I had had my fill for the moment, I climbed
a little higher up and found what I thought was a female Cynthia’s
fritillary but I now think was a particularly large marsh fritillary.
At the local high point, peak whites and swallowtails were hilltopping.
I walked back down by a longer route, hoping to see Niobe fritillary
and various other species. I probably did see Niobe, but I only
actually confirmed dark green. Still no Grisons here - where last year
there were thousands, and caterpillars too. I photographed more blues
and more Mnestra and large ringlets and started seeing a few lesser mountain ringlets
too. During the day I saw a few moorland clouded yellows and a few
mountain clouded yellows too. I probably saw a distant small Apollo but
couldn’t confirm it. Very locally, the first silver-spotted skippers were flying and eventually, shortly before I got back to the bus, I found a Grisons’ fritillary.
At lower altitudes, and locally, purple-edged coppers were numerous,
and there were a few higher up. I saw at least one Asian fritillary,
that flew just as I was about to click the shutter, and possible a
second later but it didn’t stop. 26th: I thought Minnie deserved a
more restful day, so we took a walk on the flat (more or less) in the
Jura. I don't know the Jura well, so this was exploring. There were
actually very few butterflies where we went, despite hot weather and
some good habitats - woodland, marsh and meadow. Here and here are some chamois, grazing peacefully. This is a brilliant emerald dragonfly (Somatochlora metallica). 27th: Up my local mountain, the first shepherd's fritillaries were flying. I came down via my favourite Erebia spot, where I immediately saw a larger Erebia. I took it to be meolans (Piedmont ringlet) but when it eventually stopped at a distance and I could get my camera on it, I saw that it was actually montana (marbled ringlet). I was hoping for manto, but initially all the appropriately sized ringlets turned out to be oeme (bright-eyed). Then finally, a single manto, moving restlessly over a flowery bank. At the same site were lots of alpine heaths, a few mazarine blues and this northern brown argus (and here). I might have seen a lesser mountain ringlet or two, but none stopped. As we came back down, the weather began to turn and it was raining before we got home. Here is a wood white along the way, and here a small tortoiseshell. 28th:
It's very hot at the moment, so to give Minnie another break I cycled
her to local woodland spots. There's rather little flying - mostly
meadow browns, marbled whites and Queen of Spain fritillaries (and here),
with some southern heath and false heath fritillaries too. I have my
eyes open for woodland brown but today I saw only large walls - which
are also quite common at the moment. There are a few golden skippers
but almost no blues. My final stop was at mymain white-letter
hairstreak tree. It was quite late by then - about 16h30 - but a few
hairstreaks were still active at the top of the tree and this one kindly stopped in the sun! This context picture
shows where it was. I've still never seen a hairstreak come down from
the canopy here! There were also great banded graylings flying about at
the tops of the trees. 29th: I cycled Minnie out to a forest on
the border with France, near Geneva today. It was hot, but I went there
early and kept her well supplied with water. As it turned out, almost
nothing was flying. I had hoped for purple emperors but not a glimpse!
New for the year were gatekeepers (and here) - a butterfly that doesn't fly in my part of Switzerland. A very few white admirals
were still on the wing, all on their last legs, but apart from that it
was all gatekeepers, meadow browns, ringlets, a single speckled
wood, marbled whites, one or two black-veined whites and wood whites, a
swallowtail, a few golden skippers - and that was about it! Not even
any purple hairstreaks. There were lots of ruddy darters around (and here). Here is a teneral male. There were also hawkers, including migrant hawker, southern hawker and emperor dragonfly. This is a spotted flycatcher. 30th:
As it was very got again - 32°C even up in Leysin in the afternoon - I
caught the train to Villeneuve and cycled back with Minnie in the
backpack, suitably wetted so the breeze cooled her. We stopped for a
short walk at a pale clouded yellow site on the way home. This is a
clover field, that always has pale clouded yellows when the clover is
in flower. Today was evidently too early - a few flowers were opening
but the plants were small and it wasn't the usual Colias trap. A couple of clouded yellows were flying but no pale clouded. I'll go back. However, I did find a good population of marshland darter dragonflies, Sympetrum depressiusculum. This is a very local species but reasonably common in this part of Switzerland. Here and here are more shots, and here one with Minnie in the background. 31st:
We were up very early this morning (up at 05h15) and out to a high lake
where I know small Apollos fly. We got off the bus at about 09h00, with
a long climb up to the lake, but it was all in shade at this hour so
Minnie handled it with no problem. This is also a site where a friend
says he sees silvery argus commonly, so I had my eyes peeled for that.
But I've still never seen it there and didn't today. Here is a geranium argus
instead - exceptionally, not on a wood cranesbill! In fact, one of the
first treats we saw here was not a butterfly but a bird - this male snowfinch, strutting around with a bill full of crickets or grasshoppers! Even early in the day, blues were beginning to gather at mud, though not in the huge numbers seen most years. This picture shows glandon blue, northern brown argus and idas blue - I'm not sure about the brown one showing only its upperside. Cranberry blues were common. Here is one sitting on my backpack with a silver-studded blue. This is a northern brown argus at mud. The commonest Erebia was euryale, the large ringlet (that one was sitting on my net, by choice not by being netted!), with reasonable numbers of melampus, the lesser mountain ringlet, too. Here are both these species together on my backpack. Mnestra ringlet were also quite common and there were locally a few marbled ringlets. False heath fritillaries were very common and spent a lot of time on me and Minnie. At one point she had two on her! I saw my first confirmed Niobe fritillaries
of the year too, though dark green were commoner here. There are still
very few Boloria fritillaries around. This, I believe, is mountain fritillary, Boloria napaea. Mazarine blues and little blues were also coming to my backpack. Here is a large blue, showing quite a lot of suffusion over the wings. For the skippers, there were small and Essex at lower levels and silver-spotted higher up. I also saw a single, unidentified skipper - a large, pale Pyrgus
- in flight higher up, and an alpine grizzled skipper lower down.
Finally - to the small Apollos! I went to my favourite spot for these
and sat down and waited. A single male soon appeared, flying over the
flowers on the other side of a little river. It didn't come to the side
I was sitting on, so eventually I went over there and waited. It
reappeared once, then never again. Looking at the only picture I got - in flight
- I'm now thinking he might have been a clouded Apollo, though in the
field I was convinced he was small Apollo. I think I might come back
here in a week or so to try again. I later saw a single, female Apollo
rather lower down, by the road. I can't say whether she was Apollo or
small Apollo - they look rather similar in flight. She settled on some
flowers just once and a car came past at that point!
August 1st: Swiss National Day. There were storms in the morning, interspersed with bright periods, and then storms again in the evening. Here is Minnie trying to get home on her evening walk before the storm arrives! 2nd: A gentle day with sun and cloud. Here is Minnie on our afternoon walk, taking a drink in the woods. 3rd: A cloudy start leading to a bright afternoon.
We took a local walk. In the meadows, meadow browns were by far the
commonest butterflies, along with marbled whites. I take this to be a female small skipper. In the woods and along the roads, Scotch arguses have no replaced Arran browns. Suddenly, silver-washed fritillaries are not just present but common. Here is a southern heath fritillary. 4th: Up the local mountain today, to look for more Erebia. Lesser mountain ringlets are now common, as are Manto ringlets.
It was a bit cloudy while we were at my favourite site and little was
flying. Nevertheless I was surprised not to see any common brassy
ringlets. I did start seeing water ringlets, though. This rather poor shot is of a male, while this is a female. There were several completely blind Arran browns (and here) - indeed, all the Arran browns I saw were blind. Other species seen at altitude were large wall, large grizzled skipper, turquoise blue, mazarine blue, alpine heath, good numbers of mountain clouded yellow
and Berger's pale clouded yellows. There were red admirals too - I see
these whenever I go out - but no small tortoiseshells, I think. 5th:
We headed off rather late to Martigny this morning, to see the
cardinals at their breeding peak. The first one - a female - appeared
near the vineyards at the lower end of my habitual site. Higher up
there were many more - predominantly males (and here) - always in the vicinity of Buddleia and zooming around - often flying directly at me but rarely settling
nearby. With them were silver-washed and marbled fritillaries (one of each in that picture), a very few high brown
fritillaries, spotted fritillaries and a knapweed fritillary. Before I
reached the site I found this aberrant marbled fritillary but it didn't
hang around for better photos. Here is a male silver-washed fritillary trying to break up a happy couple (and here)! On a clay patch, chalkhill, turquoise,
idas and little blues were taking minerals, with this damon blue among
them - my first of the year. Clouded and Berger's clouded yellows were
around and there were several southern white admirals on the Buddleia
too. Other species on the Buddleia were large white, scarce swallowtail
and great sooty satyr. Here is a male great sooty satyr from his good
side - the wings on the other were very damaged. He was able to fly,
though, and seemed to be enjoying himself. There were also a few dryads
here. For the skippers, it was mostly large and orange skippers but I
saw this single Pyrgus, which I take to be carlinae although I didn't see its upperside, too.
A single Apollo flew over a couple of times. All in all, a good day,
with one of the highest concentrations of butterflies I've seen this
year. 6th: Minnie woke me at 01h30 to say she needed to go out. It
turned out she had diarrhoea! So I had a little walk under the stars
with her. Here is the scene towards the south, with Fomalhaut and the Southern Fish above the horizon (and here with a key to some of the constellations). Here is the Milky Way
overhead, with Cygnus flying along it. I had intended to do a high walk
today but because I thought Minnie might not be feeling well we stayed
at home in the morning. In the afternoon we went to Villars, so I could
play the piano in the church, then took the bus back to Panex and
walked from there to Aigle Dépôt. It was a warm but shady, woodland
walk, with lots of buddleia along the way. Silver-washed fritillaries (and here)
and large skippers were very common, even though it was relatively
late, and I saw a single white admiral towards the lower end of the
walk. Higher up, I was surpised to see this rock grayling.
At first I took it for a great banded grayling, but as soon as I took
that poor picture (after which it flew) I realised what it was. I
have never previously seen one in Vaud, I think. Several commas were defending territories near Aigle, battling it out with silver-washed fritillaries. 7th: A brightish morning quickly turned to black cloud and heavy rain. 8th: Although it was another brightish morning, I couldn't go far today because I was waiting for a DHL pickup (which never happened, so I waited all day ...). Here's Minnie waiting for the train in the early evening, when I knew they weren't coming and took her up the mountain a little. The view over the valley from our walk. 9th: A bright morning
and a hot day, but I couldn't leave early in case that DHL pickup
happened! It turns out it is rearranged for Monday, so when I learnt
that I took Minnie on a cycle ride to see if the pale clouded yellows
had arrived yet. It was much too hot for her to go on a walk in the
valley and too late to go up high. The clover field was in full flower
but there were no pale clouded yellows. A few clouded yellows were
drifting around and settling on the clover, and a greater number of
large whites were doing the same - but no pale clouded. Mature, male marshland darters (Sympetrum depressiusculum) were now flying where before there had been teneral males and females. There were also a few black darters on the wing - being less amenable than the marshland darters! 10th:
A very hot day was forecast so I cancelled my plans to go to Geneva and
look for large coppers. I knew Minnie would not enjoy it. Instead, I headed up the local mountain, intending to come back to Leysin via La Riondaz (the foreground peak here,
in front of the Dents du Midi). In the event, the final climb up to La
Riondaz would have been too much for little Minnie in the heat, so I
continued on the contour path below it. We got one year tick on the
walk - common brassy ringlet, of which a small number were now flying - and saw plenty of water ringlets. This is a female water ringlet. Manto ringlets were common, as were Scotch arguses, the latter increasing as we descended towards Leysin. Second brood Adonis blues are now flying alongside the chalkhill blues. Here is a northern brown argus and here a purple-edged copper (at about 1650m). 11th:
Another hot day. I took Minnie to church in Montreux in the morning,
then cycled her to Les Grangettes, thinking more of dragonflies than
butterflies. There were surprisingly few flying in the heat. Here is a
mature, male marshland darter, and here a common darter, caught in flight. I then cycled back to Aigle, via the pale clouded yellow site. Still no pale clouded yellows but lots of marshland darters (that was a male - here is a female) and a very few black darters. There was also a dark Somatachlora species - not metallica
- but I couldn't get any photos of it. One did stop, but just at that
moment a woman asked me for directions and when I had finished
explaining it had flown again! I may go back earlier in the day soon to
find out what species it is - I saw quite a few in flight. 12th: A bright morning, turning to storm and rain
in the late afternoon. Before the weather deteriorated, I checked out
my white-letter hairstreak patch. A handful of hairstreaks were still
there, though mostly sitting on leaves
and rarely flying or sparring. As usual, there were a few great banded
graylings up there too. By late evening it was clear again and I
spotted several bright Perseids from my bedroom window and balcony. I
couldn't get any photos though - they didn't show up on any
exposures. 13th: Another bright morning, this time leading to even more violent storms by the evening (and here). Here is a red kite from our local walk in the afternoon. 14th: Mostly broken cloud today (and here, in the evening). Here is Minnie with one of her friends on her morning walk. In the afternoon we took a local walk past the deer park (and here). 15th: A brightish day with mixed cloud. 16th:
Minnie woke me at 03h30 this morning, and thinking she needed to do
something I got dressed and took her for a little walk. I was very glad
I did. Mars and Jupiter were in conjunction in Taurus, visible as soon as I walked through the door. Here is a key to that last picture, with Uranus marked too. Here is a wider view
from later in the walk, with the Grand Chamossaire (with the red light)
visible on the right. After that enjoyable stroll I went back to bed!
Although storms were forecast for later (and duly arrived), it was a bright morning.
Minnie and I headed off to Villars, so we could climb to the Grand
Chamossaire and I could do some piano practise in the church while my
piano is in repair. Very little was flying on the way up to the Grand
Chamossaire. There were a few presumed Scotch argus on the lower parts
and some manto ringlets as we got higher. I don't think there were any
Lycaenids at all and the only fritillary flying was Queen of Spain
(which turned out to be quite common most of the day - this one was
from higher up). Here is the view across to Leysin from the Grand Chamossaire, and here the view down to the Lac de Bretaye
from further along the ridge. During this stage of the walk - from the
Grand Chamossaire to the Petit Chamossaire - there were more
butterflies, though almost all Erebia species. Here is a common brassy ringlet and here a lesser mountain ringlet. This, I believe, is a woodland ringlet with a Piedmont ringlet.
It's the woodland ringlet I'm not sure about: I've never seen one here
before, and it doesn't look quite right, but I can't think what else it
might be. I saw several Piedmont ringlets. At a small, stagnant pond,
at least two common hawkers were zooming around, never stopping. This flight picture just captures the yellow leading edge to the forewing, which was not at all conspicuous to the naked eye. This black darter spent more time posing and readily landed on my backpack (and here). At the same time, a rather worn lesser mountain ringlet used Minnie's water bowl as a perch. Cloud came over, so we headed back down to Bretaye, seeing little on the way apart from Erebia and this very worn carline skipper. From Bretaye I cycled down to Villars, and to the English church,
where I practised for an hour before cycling down to Aigle - just in
time to escape the inevitable storm, which was clearly on its way! 17th: Cloud all day and rain much of it. It was La Nuit des Fées in Leysin. We took our walk through the village during a period when it wasn't raining. 18th: Another cloudy and often wet day. Here is Minnie coming home in the evening - late, as we had been in Villars until 21h00. 19th: A cloudy day but a clear evening, so I was able to photograph the supermoon rising (and here, and here, and here, risen!). 20th: Mixed cloud and bright spells,
and generally cool. In the late afternoon, we took a local walk. Meadow
browns were common in the meadows but surprisingly little else was
flying - probably because it was late in the day. Here is a fresh sooty copper and here a common blue. This is a Scotch argus - the only Erebia on our woodland/meadow walk today. 21st: We went up my local mountain today, to see what Erebia
were flying. It was sunny when I left home but actually largely cloudy
while I was up the mountain, so rather little was on the wing. Scotch argus was the commonest ringlet, but there were also some lesser mountain ringlets, a few Piedmont ringlets and locally some water ringlets. This water ringlet (and here)
was relatively low down on my walk, at about 1650m. At the same site
there were still some purple-edged coppers flying, as well as a few
chalkhill and Adonis blues - though by this time I had largely lost the
sun. This very worn chalkhill blue was remarkable for its small size and also for its aberrant underside. I saw just one large grizzled skipper, also nearing the end of its flying time. By the time I walked home it was mostly overcast but in a moment of sun this great banded grayling came and sat in front of me. By evening, it was clear again. Here is the moon rising - I think behind the Petit Chamossaire chair lift, but I need to check! 22nd:
A trip along the Rhône Valley, towards its eastern end. It was a warm,
sunny day and plenty of butterflies were flying. On the walk to my main
site, clouded yellows, Queens of Spain, Provençal short-tailed blues and the first tree graylings were all flying, as well as a few graylings.
I thought I'd seen graylings already this year but I have no record of
it, so this counts as my year tick! There were also a few spotted fritillaries. Arriving at the site I was greeted by this lovely swallowtail
- freshly minted, I think! There were lots of Berger's clouded yellows
and various small fritillaries - spotted, heath and perhaps violet - as
well as common, turquoise and Adonis blues. Southern white admirals are still common, though showing their age now! Even the dryads, usually a late species, were looking rather tatty. Here is a female with a meadow brown and here a female deep in the shade with a southern white admiral. Along a little stream I found more marshland darters - the dragonfly I have only discovered this year! As I walked back to the train, I spotted this female swallowtail laying eggs - never stopping but seemingly laying them in unbroken flight. Here and here are two of the eggs she laid. I also saw several eastern Bath whites, many looking very fresh. On the way home, I had to change trains at Sierre, where this canary was enjoying freedom on and near the rails (and here). I was the only person who noticed him ... 23rd:
It was a sunny day but I worked in the morning and didn't get out until
about 15h00. We therefore stayed quite local, visiting a local hill in
the valley where short-tailed blues are resident and long-tailed blues
arrive every year, attracted by the bladder senna. As soon as I
arrived, I spotted a rather tatty short-tailed blue and continued to see these throughout the stay. Here is a female, laying in a clover flower, and here she is relaxing afterwards.
There were about a dozen long-tailed blues there too, zooming around
incessantly in the hot afternoon. I never saw a male stop, even once.
Females tried to stop but were immediately chased off by males and it
was quite by chance that I spotted this single female drop down into the grass and take a break. Here is a male black darter,
perched nearby. A few common and Adonis blues were in the same field.
We then dropped down to a quarry at the bottom of the hill, where brown
hairstreaks fly. It was late by this time and I saw no hairstreaks, but
I did complete the tails with a Provençal short-tailed blue, as well as more short-tailed blues and common blues. 24th:
I did a round trip of 3 sites west of Geneva, today - approximately
40km of cycling Minnie around! - hoping in particular for large coppers
and Reverdin’s blues. I’ve seen large copper at all three sites in the
past, and at the best site, at almost exactly this date (23rd August
year). Nevertheless, today I didn’t get a sniff! Indeed, at the first
site, I saw very little at all, and the corner where I have seen
Reverdin’s blues was barren of any butterflies. Perhaps I was simply
too early in the day (I reached it shortly before 10h00). At another
part of the site I expected to see map butterflies but again there were
none. The commonest butterfly was small heath but there were a few spotted fritillaries, violet fritillaries, heath fritillaries
and Adonis blues. I cycled on to the second site - usually the most
reliable for large coppers - and quickly saw a brown hairstreak
skipping into the trees. No large coppers though. There were a few
small coppers, some common blues, Provençal short-tailed blues and brown arguses, plenty of heath fritillaries and lots of small heaths. Here is a juvenile spotted flycatcher. During the day I saw lots of spotted flycatchers. Here is an adult.
Then another cycle ride to the third site. Here, a purple emperor
greeted me in the car park - my first of the year! He swooped around
and never stopped - and there were a lot of other people around so I
didn’t stalk! Instead, Minnie and I walked to the nature reserve where
we see Reverdin’s blue quite reliably. Dogs aren’t allowed in,
so I popped her in the backpack and headed for Reverdin corner.
Nothing! There were a couple of brown arguses and one Adonis blue, but
no other Lycaenids. The area looked very dry and seedy (in the sense
that everything had gone to seed). Then suddenly, as we walked back
from the reserve, a fresh(ish) male Reverdin’s blue appeared at my
feet, flew round a couple of times and landed on the ground. I got a
couple of shots as he headed for a piece of dung,
but then he changed his mind and that was the last I saw of him. We
stopped at a large pond on the way back, where another male purple
emperor came and taunted us. Here, 20 or 30 common blues
had gathered on the wet sand. I checked, and there were no Reverdin’s
among them. Finally, when we got back to the bike and I had packed
everything for the trip home, a third purple emperor (or quite
probably, the same one as the first) came to say goodbye. 25th: A cloudy, foggy day. In the afternoon we went to Barboleuse to meet a friend. Here is Minnie at Aigle station on the way home. 26th: More cloud (and here). Here are some red deer in the Leysin deer partk. 27th: A bright day. We did a local walk,
seeing very few butterflies. There are still Adonis and chalkhill
blues, as well as a few satyrids, like meadow browns, great banded
graylings and marbled whites, but overall numbers were low. 28th: A bright day (and here). Those pictures were taken on my old mountain, near Les Écovets, where I had a meeting today. 29th: Went up my local mountain in the afternoon. At my regular altitude site, Piedmont ringlets and Scotch arguses were flying, along with mazarine blue, northern brown argus, a single silver-spotted skipper, mountain clouded yellows and Berger’s clouded yellows. This is a very dark female common blue damselfly. Coming down, the commonest blue was chalkhill, with a few Adonis and common still about. At about 1650m, I photographed this water ringlet (and here), though I saw a few on the way down too. There were a few orange skippers around but the only Pyrgus I saw was this carline skipper,
at 1650m. Lower down still, great banded graylings and silver-washed
fritillaries became apparent. The only fritillary at altitude was Queen of Spain - of which there were quite a few. Here is Minnie, enjoying her walk! 30th: A hazy day (and here). 31st: A trip along the Rhône Valley near Visp. I hadn’t expected much to be flying but was pleased to see purple hairstreaks, not least because I hadn’t seen them yet in 2024! I saw three in total. While cycling to the site I saw several tree graylings, but once there graylings were actually much commoner. Walls were also still flying - unsurprisingly. Southern white admirals (and here) - at least three - were holding territories along my walk and Queens of Spain were common. A few silver-washed fritillaries were flying - this is a very worn individual - and I saw at least one spotted fritillary.
I think second brood violet fritillaries were also on the wing but none
stopped for confirmation. Large, small, southern small and green-veined whites were all flying, as well as wood whites, but I saw no yellows today. Chalkhill and Adonis blues were common, with quite a lot of diminutive common blues too, a very few Provençal short-tailed blues and a few Chapman’s blues. Here are a Chapman's, chalkhill and Adonis blue
puddling together. I also saw at least one northern brown argus. For
the Vanessids and their allies, I only saw red admirals. No
tortoiseshells or peacocks and no commas. It clouded over later in the day.
September 1st: Dawn today (a work day!). 2nd: A bright morning leading to a cloudy day. 3rd: On our way to work near Chesières. This is the view looking back towards Villars. 4th: A cloudy day and misty evening. This is downtown Leysin by night. 5th: Thick cloud. 6th: A bright morning and day, clouding over and even raining later. 7th: It was a beautiful day, so Minnie and I to the télécabine up the local mountain. This is a 360° view from Berneuse. Immediately, we saw this Pyrgus skipper, which I take to be alveus but cannot say, as I never got a glimpse of the underside. Also at the top was a small tortoiseshell. Moving down a little, I thought at first this aging Erebia was a Piedmont ringlet but then revised it to a female Scotch argus. At my favourite Erebia spot very little was flying so we watched kestrels and buzzards over the distant cliffs. By the time we reached about 1650m, more was on the wing, including Adonis blues, chalkhill blues, northern brown argus, Berger's clouded yellows, a single water ringlet, plenty of Queens of Spain, a couple of female high brown fritillaries and quite a few skippers. There were several silver-spotted skippers, a few rather old small skippers and some tricky Pyrgus skippers - tricky because they never closed their wings in the autumn cool. This and this I take to be carline skippers. This one I am not sure about. Continuing down, a few marbled whites were drifting around and more surprisingly, this fresh, male meadow brown was flying near the télésiège lower station. Back in Leysin itself, I spotted this mating pair of Adonis blues on a bank. 8th: A cloudy day, with rain later. Here is Minnie for once agreeing (reluctantly) to wear her raincoat ... 9th - 26th September:
I'm filling these days in retrospectively, so for many days there is
just a picture of the weather. I can't necessarily remember how the
weather changed during the day! Term has begun and I'm working. 9th: Evening in Leysin. 10th: Dawn from Leysin Village station. It turned out to be quite sunny later and I was happy to meet this dryad
near Chesières in the afternoon. It flopped across the track in front
of me and nectared on a crocus. I didn't have my camera, so that photo
was taken with the iPhone. 11th: Before dawn. A hazy day. On the way to work in Chesières, I photographed this common blue with my iPhone. 12th: Snow fell on the Dents du Midi last night (and here). 13th: View along the Rhône Valley. 14th: Quite a cloudy day in the Rhône Valley. Nevertheless, as soon as the sun did come out, tree graylings (here is another, from later in the walk) and walls took the opportunity and emerged from hiding, closely followed by Adonis blues and whites. During the walk I also saw a few speckled woods, common blues, small heaths, clouded yellows
and Berger's clouded yellows. As always, there were some red admirals
on the wing - I see these every time I go out, almost regardless of the
weather. Here is an amenable emperor dragonfly and here a spotted flycatcher. Red kites are always somewhere in view in this part of the Rhône Valley. 15th: Hazy view from the train on the way to Villars in the morning. Here is a common darter in Leysin in the afternoon. 16th: A cloudy day in Leysin (and here in the evening). Here and here
are a charm of goldfinches on our afternoon walk. In periods of sun
there were a few butterflies around. This is probably the last silver-washed fritillary I will see up here this year. Other species were small whites, a very few blues and a northern brown argus. Here is Leysin church in the evening. 17th: Minnie on her way to work in the morning, and here a lonely cloud. It was full moon this evening. 18th: Les Dents du Midi in the morning, and Minnie trotting to work. Evening in the streets of Leysin. 19th: Some hazy, cool sunshine in the afternoon. Here is a northern brown argus on our afternoon walk, and here a brimstone. Here and here are distant shots of a black woodpecker, silhouetted against the bright sky. 20th: Hazy sun on a work day. 21st:
We visited a favourite spring and summer site at about 950m, near Visp,
today. The journey was long, as the direct train was replaced with a
bus service for part of the way, but we were on the trail and finding
butterflies by 13h00. The dominant species were satyrids, with
graylings and walls common and large walls and marbled whites
occasional. I didn’t see any small heaths. Common blues, Chapman’s
blues, Adonis blues and chalkhill blues were all present wherever there
were nectar flowers. The only fritillary seen was a single violet
fritillary, which didn’t pause long enough for a photo, and the only
aristocrats were a few red admirals. Green-veined whites were the only
white until an eastern Bath white towards the end of our walk - but at
that point I was carrying Minnie and the terrain was dangerous, so I
didn’t put her down for a photo. We had followed an upper track we have
always taken in the past, but it had been damaged by the weather this
summer and in places I had to carry Minnie while jumping across 45°
landslips! Since no one else had gone that way, we also had to clamber
under overgrown rose bushes. At the far end of this military obstacle
course was a barrier indicating the track was closed, but they had
forgotten to put the same at the end I started at! We saw no skippers
or swallowtails today. Here is a praying mantis that took a great
liking to me and really didn’t want me to put it down. I had a few fruits from this Berberis bush. They were delicious but very tart! 22nd: A little blue sky but mostly cloud. This Ariciais surely agestis (brown argus). 23rd: Cloud. Here is Minnie on her evening walkies through downtown Leysin. 24th: Cloud and rain. 25th: A sunny day. Here is Minnie on her way to school in the morning. A few red admirals and this clouded yellow put in an appearance on our way home. 26th: Very wet weather has set in. 27th: A cloudy day. 28th: A wet morning. In the afternoon I went to Geneva to pick up a laptop. 29th: It was sunny in the morning
but cold. Snow had fallen on the mountains. I went up my local mountain
to see what was still flying - to which the answer was, very little! At
the top it was cold and snowy (and here) and I didn't even see a small tortoiseshell. Even at my usual Erebia site
nothing was flying. As I came lower I did see the odd Adonis blue,
small tortoiseshell, red admiral and Berger's clouded yellow, but cloud was moving in (and here) and it felt as if the mountain had gone to sleep. 30th: Cloud and some rain.
October 1st: A rainy day. 2nd: Another day of heavy cloud and rain (and here). 3rd: Morning walkies. 4th: Another grey day with some rain. 5th: Today was forecast to be sunny in Valais so we headed off to walk along the Rhône near Leuk, arriving at the beginning of the walk some time before 11h00. Already, a few Adonis blues, walls and tree graylings
were flying. As the day warmed up (though it never got really warm -
probably a maximum of about 14°C) more came onto the wing and during
the day we saw hundreds of tree graylings, a few graylings (semele) - this is the other side of the same individual - lots of walls, several small heaths, plenty of Queens of Spain, a single spotted fritillary, lots of Adonis blues (and here, in context), a few common blues and Chapman’s blues (here is a glimpse of the underside of that butterfly), a single Aricia sp. (should be artaxerxes here but looked like agestis), half a dozen small coppers, several Berger’s clouded yellows, rather more clouded yellows, small whites and at the end a couple of Eastern Bath whites. A few dragonflies were still cruising around, including southern hawker, migrant hawker and common darter. This is the brown morph of praying mantis. I see far more green mantises than brown. Here, here and here are some scenic shots from the day. It stayed sunny for the whole of our walk but clouds moved in after we got back to Leysin (and here). 6th: A cloudy day. 7th: Mostly cloudy (and here) but with some bright spells. Here is a common blue from our afternoon walk. 8th: A wet day. Here is an evening view, when it had begun to clear. 9th: Another grim day! Here is a robin putting a brave face on it. 10th: Cloud with some bright spells, but the only butterflies I saw were a single small white and a red admiral. Here is a helicopter taking a snow machine up to the ski slopes. 11th: We took a trip to the Lac de l'Hongrin
- a relatively local lake but one we haven't visited before. It wasn't
a warm day and we saw no butterflies. The lake itself looked rather
barren but it must have had fish, as there were a few cormorants around the edges. Here is a gorge along the Hongrin. 12th: Mostly cloudy today but with occasional almost sunny spells In the vineyards of the Rhône Valley little was flying: a couple of walls, plus singles of red admiral, Queen of Spain and Berger's clouded yellow. Hummingbird hawk moths (and here) were out in force and there were a few lizards scuttling around. Here are a raven and sparrowhawk against a grey sky (and here) and here is a kestrel hiding in the vines. This is the view over the vineyards towards Martigny. 13th: It was mostly cloudy all day today but the forecast was for it to clear up in the evening and I had hopes of glimpsing the comet. At about 19h00 Minnie and I were all ready on the Leysin hill that I thought gave us the best chance of a clear view of the west. The setting sun had lit up banks of clouds
and it looked as if our comet quest was doomed. We waited and the
clouds shifted but I really didn't have much hope until suddenly I
caught sight of the comet through the edge of the cloud bank. At that stage, the tail was barely visible, but as it set even this became easy to see through the clouds. What a sight it would have been against a clear sky! 14th: First cloud, then some bright spells, then cloud again. It didn't look promising for the comet. Nevertheless, we tried, and in the end got this very pleasing shot of our celestial visitor. Here is Minnie pretending she can see it, and here again, asking to go home. 15th:
It was a very grim and cloudy day, so we took a trip to the
Papiliorama. All the usual species were flying, as well as some I only
occasionally see and some new for me. I've only once before seen Hypolimnas monteironis (and here) and only rarely seen Athyma perius (and here). This is Ideopsis juventa, and this is Salamis parhassus. Of those I hadn't seen before - at least, not in the Papiliorama - this Catopsilia pomona was very nice to photograph (and here
- a different individual), not least because I've seen it in the wild
in India (albeit, a different form of the species). Another new one was
Pareronia boebera.
I did also see the beautiful, pale blue male, but although he stopped
for a few brief seconds every so often, I was unable to get a
photograph. He always moved on swiftly! I haven't had a chance to
identify this Charaxesspecies yet. Among the birds wandering around were quite a few crested partridges, as well as Nicobar pigeons - both very distinctive birds. Here is Hypolimnas bolina
high up near the roof, watching over a sleeping fruit bat. Although it
was a lousy day weather-wise, it cleared up a little in the evening and
I decided to photograph the comet from a few other vantage points, at
the station and along the road towards and beyond Veyges. This was the best shot I got. It was visible from the station but the lights there were too bright for a great shot. 16th: Most of today was very cloudy and even raining but it cleared up later and I was even able to get some shots of the near full moon and the comet
in the evening - before cloud set in again. On 14th, 15th and today,
16th, two stars from Serpens Caput have been visible in my shots of the
comet. I was therefore able to align three shots to these (rotating and
resizing for the perfect match) and plot the path of the comet against the background stars. It is moving in the direction of the tail, setting later each day. Here is Minnie, looking at her new home town of Leysin by night, and here she is standing proudly by the Swiss flag.
