The weather is still dominated by cloud and rain but the butterflies are brilliant at exploiting any opportunities that arise. I had little time today, as I was teaching in the afternoon, but in the morning visited a site in the Val d'Hérens where Nickerl's fritillaries fly. When I arrived it was cl...

So was this a case of Pathetic Fallacy (or the whatever the bird equivalent is)? Pathetic fallacy? You mean that wryneck wasn't really mocking me when he casually looked 180° to the left then 180° to the right? This has always been my jinx bird, if you'll excuse another pun. I saw my first in 2007,...

My memories of orange tips go back to when I was 7 too, Jack, though that was a mere fifty-three years ago. And even after all this time, and however many thousands of individuals, I still find them exquisite. Seeing the first orange tip of spring is always a highlight of the year.

Guy

Thanks Wurzel and David. The weather has since degraded back to gloom and rain, and I really do worry for the butterflies this season. On Sunday I found my first grizzled skipper ( malvae ) on my local mountain but there was precious little else. The same day, a pain in my neck became a full-blown n...

I knew there might be aurorae last night and kept a watchful eye out until about 23h00, but then went to bed. This was a mistake: Vincent Baudraz e-mailed me at one in the morning with an amazing shot of the northern lights, but by that time I was fast asleep and didn't get his urging to go outside!...

Thanks, Wurzel and David. Breaks in the cloud have been few and far between - until today. I'll open a new post, so piccies can load better (my pages are so picture-heavy a lot of them don't load on first click).

Guy

What a fantastic butterfly - and fantastic shots too. In that last one, you can see his dangly front legs. I've never seen those before in a Duke - the males just look as if they have four legs.

Guy

Allan.W. wrote: ↑Tue May 07, 2024 5:47 pmI had a couple of hours at the (probable ) last local site which i felt may produce one or two .I found one almost immediately ........hopes were suddenly high ! but it took about another hour before i found another .

And both were taras? That's remarkable!

Guy

Wonderful stuff, Pete, and congratulations on the inky! We all know that surreal feeling when a mythical butterfly materialises nonchalantly in front of you and for a moment you don't know if you're waking or dreaming. If you close your eyes or look away, you think, you'll wake up - then you look aw...

Only just catching up with your diary, Buzzard. I'm so glad you had a great trip to Gibraltar. It was my first home outside Suffolk (back in 1983), and though it has changed in many ways since I was there, the Mediterranean Steps have changed the least (apart from the fact you now have to pay to acc...

You're right, Rob, though I have a deep love of Suffolk, too. I will always return to relive memories. Recently, the weather has been grim again and yesterday visibility was down to a few metres, with cloud clinging to the mountain: https://www.guypadfield.com/images2024/3may2024c.jpg The snowline h...

Hi Rob. I was born and bred in Suffolk, where altitude just isn't a thing (there is no English word for dénivellation :D ), but have lived most of my adult life in the Alps, where it is everything: the mountains define existence here. In fact, 'nostalgia' (' la nostalgie ') was originally recognised...

Brilliant shot of the mating Duke and Duchess, Maximus.

What has ten legs and four wings?

Guy

I had to go down to the valley yesterday morning, to do some two-way interpreting for a friend at a council meeting in a different commune. He dropped me back at Aigle Dépôt, right by the vineyards, where there was no snow and flowers were rejoicing in the sunshine. But no butterflies. It was very s...

I do remember, Mike! In fact, I pre-ordered a copy at the same time as you and then, like you, gave up on it. Now I have a copy and will be posting a full review soon. Well done on photographing andromache! It's always nice to find endemics, especially when you go on once-in-a-lifetime trips.

Guy

Hi Paul. Winter always has a sting in its tail and it is completely normal for there to be snow in April. In fact, by school folk wisdom, 50% of summer terms begin under snow. What is different this year, though, is the intensity and duration. I first moved to Switzerland in 1989 and can't remember ...

Hi Rob. I'm on planet winter at the moment. It has snowed every day for ten days and temperatures have been down to -11°C at night. David asks about the small tortoiseshells: it's the violet fritillaries I'm most worried about at the moment. They began emerging in the local meadows about two weeks a...

Actually, that's a good point - these cameras are not waterproof. They're OK getting splashed and I even left my previous PowerShot outside overnight in the raing (in its carry bag) without damage; but then I accidentally dunked the same camera in a cattle trough last year and it appeared to die com...

Hi Nick. I feel a certain responsibility now! First, for butterflies, I always use the P setting on the wheel - never automatic. For long-exposure star shots &c., I use TV. The P setting lets you configure exactly what you want. It’s good to know how to navigate quickly to all the various settin...

A couple of pictures of males (both taken in Suffolk) to show that sex brand:





At the right angles, and on fresh specimens, it is easily visible as a grey sheen.

Guy