A Scarce visitor to our garden!

We spotted this Scarce Swallowtail (Iphiclides podalinius) battling the gusty wind this afternoon.

It is only a scarce visitor to our garden as despite its name the butterfly is quite common.

This extract from Wikipedia gives more detail: (Full entry is here)

It is widespread throughout Europe with the exception of the northern parts. Its range extends northwards to Saxony and central Poland and eastwards across Asia Minor and Transcaucasia as far as the Arabian peninsula, India, and western China. A few specimens of the Scarce Swallowtail have been reported from central Sweden and the UK but they were probably only strays and not migrants. The scarcity of UK migrants is responsible for the English common name. In the Alps it can be found up to altitudes of 1600 m.

The Butterfly Catcher...

We saw something today up at Chateau du Rivau which surprised us...

This fellow was sat in the undergrowth and was happy to pose for a few photographs... However he had other things on his mind as we observed...

This particular spot was a fluttering ground for large white butterflies and when one came in range, it was no more! He was having an afternoon snack... (No picy unfortunately, he was too quick)

Our presence disturbed the butterflies and hence his meal so he gave up and waddled off into the undergrowth never to be seen again...

The nearest thing we have seen to that is a Black Redstart chasing a butterfly in the garden. In that case it was unsuccessful.

Butterfly survey - chez nous

As regular readers of our blog will know, we should by now have completed a couple of surveys for this year's STERF butterfly study. However, until a couple of days ago the weather has been against us and we are still waiting to do our first survey for 2012.

In the meantime we've been able to photograph one or two beauties in the garden and in one of the little plastic greenhouses we've had seedlings in..

Here's a couple from the past few days.

The Orange tip (Anthocharis cardamines)

The Wall Brown (Lasiommata petropolitana)

And lastly, one which we haven't been able to identify with any degree of certainty.. The vegetation gives an idea of scale.

This tiny little thing is possibly a moth?? Any help with identification gratefully received!

First of the swallowtails

Sunday's walk in the Usseau area revealed several "firsts" for this spring.

We spotted two Tiger Swallowtail butterflies (papilio glaucus) as we walked along a grassy banking in full sun. Luckily one landed long enough for Colin to get this shot, taken from a distance..

The start of this year's STERF butterfly atlas project is just around the corner. Next month we will be conducting the first survey of the year near Assay, 13km northwest of Braye.

For anyone wishing to take part in this year's French butterfly survey, information can be found (in French) here
or email: STERF.Manil@free.fr

The first butterflies of the year

We both spent much of today out in the garden, Colin giving the potager a "going over" with the motobineuse  whilst I pottered about in the flower beds, trying to look busy.

It's hard to look busy when you've a camera constantly tempting you to take photos of all that comes your way. And today there was plenty to snap.

Before I'd even got out of the house I saw this beauty on the windowsill...

Once out in the garden Colin spotted the first peacock butterfly of the year but I wasn't quick enough to photograph it.

Another spectacular "miss" was a small hummingbird-like, bee-type of creature. It looked like a cross between a tiny shrew and a small bee...(I think that should weed out those with anything short of a fertile imagination!)

Ladybirds and bees were two a penny but then came the Brimstone butterfly and I was ready...

By now I'd abandoned the pretence of being busy. I had the camera posed ready for the next potential shot and the Brimstone didn't disappoint!

It led me a merry dance round the garden; hence the variation in the backgrounds on each picture..

I was catching my breath when I spotted these; aren't these just so pretty?

They were buried under several inches of snow in sub-zero temperatures for more than two weeks yet they've  survived and are looking lovely...

Gardening is such a pleasant and uplifting pastime.... when you've a camera, rather than a motobineuse to hand!

Battered Butterflies!

And before the comments start coming in, this is not a recipe but a description of the specimens I've photographed recently.

 

 

 

 

These poor creatures have obviously seen better days. I'm surprised they get off the ground... but then again, I sometimes think the same could be said about me!!

Colin, don't comment!

Butterfly Atlas - August Update

Last week saw us up near Assay again for the August stage of the Butterfly Atlas project (STERF).

Each month Colin provides invaluable help with his skilful camera work, whilst I fill in the required details, clipboard in hand.  In fact I would not have been able to complete the survey without his photographs to assist with identification. I'm not very good at naming butterflies flying past and then landing some metres away but his camera lens has been able to pick out the subjects on my behalf.

Here are some of his August beauties....

The Speckled Wood..

 

The small white ....  or is it the large white??

A lovely Provencal Short-tailed Blue...

The Gatekeeper

 And finally my photographic contribution to the day.... Chicory!!

 I guess I'm not cut out for moving subjects!!!

A study of Maps

The Butterfly variety.....

In April this year we had the spring brood of  Maps (Araschnia levana) in the garden.

Today we spotted the first of  the later brood and, like it's forerunner, this one was quite happy to pose for me on the flowers by the side of the patio.

 

Whilst the spring Map resembles a Fritillary, the summer Map bears more resemblance to a smaller version of the White Admiral.

And how kind of it to position itself at a convenient height and on such a colourful bloom, long enough for me to get the camera!

A Tale of Two Tigers....

A Tale of Two Tigers.... or so we thought!

When we first spotted this handsome butterfly on the lavender we thought it was a Tiger Swallowtail but on further investigation we now think it's a Scarce Swallowtail....

 

 

And let's face it, when you're as attractive as this specimen (even with a damaged wing) who really cares what you're called!

And the other tiger? Well, we're sure of that one... It's  a Jersey Tiger moth which seems to have taken up residence in the garden.

 

The colour of the hind-wings is shown at its best when the moth is in flight. Its striped legs are something else!

This shot shows just how well adapted it is to flight.  Does aircraft design owe anything to the Jersey Tiger???

French Butterfly Atlas - July update

Last weekend we went to complete the July survey for STERF, the French Butterfly Atlas project.

The outright star this month was the Gatekeeper, pyronia tithonus. It really stole the show....

They were so numerous we had to estimate rather than do an accurate count. Estimates were up in the 50s along some of the transects we survey.

A refreshing change was provided first by the Speckled Wood, Pararge aegeria...

And then by a very attractive Sooty Copper, Heodes tityrus...

Colin was photographing a bee on Ragwort when a chance entrant took the limelight. We've not been able to identify it conclusively so would appreciate any help on this one...

I couldn't resist this last shot. It shows the boundary of one transect and although it is heavily managed woodland, I can't help but see it as magical in the sunlight..