Padfield

[Andrew555]

Some very beautiful and interesting images recently Guy.
The Alpine Accentor is fantastic.

[Padfield]

Thank you Buzzard, Goldie, David and Andrew. I think you're right, Goldie, that the small tortoiseshells on average have smaller spots here, but it's very variable. Accentors drop down to the valley for the winter but I don't think they breed there. It's just that there aren't many insects up in their usual haunts of 2000m or so at the moment!

The snow's been coming and going of late. It fell very heavily the other day, then we had a couple of days of high sunshine. Today was sunny but it was still only 2°C when I walked Minnie at lunchtime, with a stiff breeze making it feel colder. Two or three small tortoiseshells were flying on this bank, where the snow was melting:







Unfortunately (for the tortoiseshells), heavy snow is forecast until Sunday, but there is good weather coming after that. It's still winter - but a few things up out of bed for good now.

Guy

[bugboy]

Only weeks to go before we start seeing similar sights (minus the snow) round here

[Wurzel]

Cracking Small Torts again Guy - we just need the arctic blast that's forecast to disappear and we might stand a chance of finding our own UK ones Absolutely brill shot of the Alpine Accentor - do they behave like Dunnocks?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[essexbuzzard]

That picture of a small tort basking on a sunny but snowy slope is extraordinary By British standards but, as we now know, not so unusual for you there. We are now 6 7 weeks since the solstice, and the sun is getting higher and stronger as each week passes. Keep ‘em coming!

[Goldie M]

Hi! Guy, Thanks for the info, I saw my earliest Small Tort on March 5th one year but the Winter here at the time had been quite mild, it's always the first butterfly we see here in the North, so not long to go now. Goldie

[Padfield]

Thanks Buggy, Wurzel, Buzzard and Goldie!

First sunny day for a while today, and lots of small tortoiseshells in the valley. I saw them not just in hotspots in the vineyards but generally throughout my walk. Just one Queen of Spain, chased to the edges of a hotspot by the bully tortoiseshells. But it was cold: 2°C when I arrived and 7°C when I left, with a wind making it feel colder.

Some tortoiseshells were in reasonably good nick:







Others were very tatty - much more so than usual at this time of year:





I wonder if storm Eleanor had something to do with this.

Here is a plump female, ready to lay soon, I imagine:



Lizards were everywhere:



Minnie has never successfully caught one (I'm glad to say) - not for want of trying:



I didn't have time to check the bulbocodium fields or the pasque flower banks but did find this pasque flower already in bloom at one of the Queen hotspots:



Guy

[bugboy]

It's been tantalizingly close to seeing such sights down in the south east of the UK in recent days, well it was until today. I think I have a few weeks to go before I can stop relying on the likes of you to get my butterfly fix though

[Padfield]

In my day, back in Suffolk, February wasn't a butterfly month, Buggy!!

It's not really a butterfly month out here either. Today I got up early and headed off to Italy, in case a few early large tortoiseshells might be tempted out to play. It was a glorious day, and very warm by February standards (10°C when I headed back home) but in the end I saw just three small tortoiseshells and a roding brimstone.


(a little village on the outskirts of Domodossola)


(under the bridge in Domodossola)


(I couldn't sneak round him to get a view from the sunny side because there was a 200ft drop on my right ...)


(made in Italy but just like small tortoiseshells everywhere!)

Minnie made friends with some Italian dogs while I chatted to their owners. The dogs communicated with each other perfectly, apparently understanding every gesture and yelp. We didn't! I don't speak Italian and they didn't speak French, so we got little further than identifying which of our dogs were male and female and that I was Swiss. It made everyone happy, though.

Guy

[Wurzel]

Great shots of the Small Torts and Brimstone Guy, things will be put on hold over here for another week or three as a polar vortex takes hold

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Lovely stuff, Guy, and well-timed, because I fear you'll need to go to southern Italy if you want to see any more butterflies over the next week or so.

It's forecast to be barely above freezing during the day in the UK, so I dread to think how cold it'll be round your way!

[Padfield]

As Wurzel and David predicted, the big cold hit and I have seen exactly one butterfly - a small tortoiseshell - since my last post. That was on 4th March.

These pictures of the view through my window pretty much sum up life during the Blast from the Past. It didn't snow much - it very rarely snows when the temperatures drop so low (it never got above -12°C for a few days and was -15°C to-18°C in the mornings).





I haven't got central heating, so we had a ritual each morning, first thawing out Minnie's drinking water, then bringing the olive oil to a liquid state so she could have her breakfast (she has organic vegan dog food but won't eat it until I've put a little olive oil on ...)!!

Here's a snowdrop, marking the beginning of the thaw:



Grey skies today. I photographed this golden eagle on my lunchtime Minnie walk:



And here's another disconsolate buzzard, yesterday:



Bring on the spring!!

Guy

[Goldie M]

Our Spring seems to have disappeared Guy We a woke to Snow and now sleet UGH! Goldie

[Wurzel]

Hopefully that late blast will be the last of it Guy I was interested to read of the vegan dogfood , I recently made the change myself but to encourage your animal companion to follow suit is dedication, I don't suppose it would work with my cat as they're obligate carnivores

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Padfield]

Keep hanging in there, Goldie!! I don't think we're out of the woods here yet either ...

You're right, Wurzel (obviously, as a science teacher!) - cats, unlike dogs, are obligatory carnivores. They will suffer and be malnourished on a plant-based diet. In case you're interested, however, the same company that makes organic dog food makes cat foods too - none vegan but all sourced from humanely farmed animals. Check out: https://www.yarrah.com/en/

A couple of small tortoiseshells took to the wing on our lunchtime walk today:



Guy

[Padfield]

Cloudy today, but with temperatures as high as 10°C in the valley a few large tortoiseshells were flying. That was the only species I saw, apart from a few orange underwing moths flying up from the path. Here are a couple of shots of one of them, who spent some time on the ground:





I think that one is female. From what can be seen, the abdomen looks right, and she didn't do any of the usual male posturing.

Guy

[bugboy]

Large Torts really are impressive looking butterflies aren't they . I wonder if any have managed to make it through the winter down Sussex way again, its getting very close to the 1 year anniversary to one of my highlights from last year, I reckon it's been suitably cold enough for them.

[trevor]

A few mrgreens for you Guy ! .

I have regularly driven past the Sussex site where Large Tortoiseshells were found last year,
totally ignorant of their presence there.
This year I shall pop in !.

All the best,
Trevor.

[Padfield]

Thanks Buggy and Trevor. I don't imagine getting through the winter is the problem for UK large torts, though I might be quite wrong. Certainly, big freezes don't bother them - nor rain, by all accounts. They're much easier to find in spring than in summer, so if you know where they might be, get out there when the sun comes!!

I saw my one and only UK large tortoiseshell in 1985 and have searched the region in vain every spring since, on my Easter returns to Suffolk ...

Guy

[David M]

Those Large Tortoiseshells are to die for, Guy! How I wish they could re-establish themselves in the UK. One day, hopefully.

Meantime, it looks like we all might have to endure one final cold snap before winter waves the white flag. With any luck, this will be the last of the adverse weather over the next few days.