Despite some
warm temperatures in January, well into the low 10Cs, I failed to see any
of the reported A. urticae flying in Vaud and Valais.
February
6th A gorgeous day with
blistering blue sunny sky, temperatures in the low teens but ice and snow
on the ground in more sheltered places reminded us that this really was
only early February. A trip to the Valais for N. ilicis eggs proved
successful. The only two we found were dead and appeared to have been
attacked from outside. Plenty of Q. quercus eggs and my first
butterflies of the year A. urticae.
14th The very warm weather continues.
Temperatures are well above zero even on cloud free nights. But, apart
from A. urticae, none of the other hibernating species
have been tempted out by the sunshine.
28th I saw the season's first Black Kite on the
23rd, about the normal time for their first appearance of the year.
However, Snow Drops and Crocuses are 10 days earlier than 2009 & 2010
indicating the prolonged warm weather and general lack of frosts has
advanced the development of bulbs. At last some precipitation too - with
just one or two mm of rain over the last 2 months, more than 30mm in the
last few days will surely be welcome by the flora (and skiers!).
March
5th A single V. atalanta passed through
the garden. It was only 6C but the sun was strong when it pierced the veil
of chill wispy clouds - clearly sufficient to give this hibernator enough
heat to fly.
11th Another warm sunny day and I had the good
fortune to see a N. polychloros swooping majestically around the
treetops near work at lunchtime. A single P. rapae was fluttering
around in the undergrowth. Very little in the way of nectar plants about
this early in the season.
14th The first male G. rhamni is always
a treat after the dark winter months. L. sinapis was a big surprise
as it is early for this species and I've only very rarely seen it in my
part of Switzerland before.
24th Half a dozen C. dia welcomed me at
a local meadow today. It was warm and sunny and butterflies were active
today. P. brassicae and I. io were also tempted to fly
today.
April
2nd Hundreds of butterflies flying in Valais
today. Temperatures reached 25C in glorious sunshine. After about 2 weeks
of well above average temperatures to see 24 species today wasn't
unexpected. The highlight of the day was watching 2 N. anitiopa
patrolling two territories each of about 50m length along a stream.
Furious fights would occur if the both met at the common boundary of each
territory. They also hassled any Pierid that passed, taking no or
little interest in anything else.
9th Yet another week of extremely high
temperatures - over 20C every day and bright sunshine most of the time.
Yet again butterflies everywhere, including my earliest ever E. triaria
and S. orion in Valais both also in higher numbers than I've
seen before at this site. Trouble was, photography was very difficult at
such high temperatures as nothing was settling for more than a few
seconds.
10th A trip to a local meadow in Vaud showed that despite the
incredibly high temperatures here the butterflies weren't fooled - apart
from many dozens of C. dia and L. megera, nothing was of
note and none of the other early species were flying.
