There has been a year-long gap in this blog due to technical problems with the internet. All seems to be OK ... for now.

Spring has been very late arriving, but at last butterflies are on the wing. The most spectacular ... if not rare ... to date is this Scarce Swallowtail.

What a difference a day makes

Yesterday combed my Green-underside Blue site thoroughly, but none were there. Today, one female had emerged, bright and beautiful.

This was a particular delight as I had failed to see one there last year, and feared for the colony.

A rolling stone ...

With the excuse of searching for nicely rounded river rocks for the garden and new pond, I hit the road.

Naturally the route went by a favourite butterfly spot not yet checked out this year. There are usually Green-underside Blues there, but not yet. However there was a Provençale short-tailed Blue, Violet Fritillary, some Green Hairstreaks and the currently common Orange Tips, a Peacock and 2 Wood Whites. She was seen laying eggs on Lathyrus tuberosus, and later saw off a hopeful male.

I did get some stones too!

Back to Anse

The sun has returned to the Rhône so the magnetic attraction of a walk in Anse natural park proved irresistible.

The nightingales have started to sing. Walking the paths is like wrap-around sound as the song of one fades the next starts its crescendo. They seem so near yet are so hard to spot, and impossible to photograph, as they stay hidden deep in the bushes.

One change from previous years is that an area of the forest has flooded, and shows no signs of draining away. Frogs have already moved in. Hoping that at least some of this water remains, it will be interesting to observe the wildlife arrivals during the year. I notice that some Rumex is pushing up through the mud. I wonder how and how long it takes for Large Coppers to find a new area to colonize?

Last visit I was delighted to find 2 Map butterflies. This time there were lots, with males defending territories and attacking anything which moved in their range like mini-Don Quixotes. The Speckled Woods were equally aggressive, so the air was quite a war zone.

Another butterfly which I had already seen elsewhere has emerged at Anse. Here is a pic of this tiny flying emerald, the Green Hairstreak.

Swallows ! I was driving with my son to Courzieu and we saw 2 swallows. Now it feels like Spring is really here.

Later today I checked out a favourite forest drive, and added 2 more firsts for the year. One was Large Tortoiseshell. These have been out and about for quite some weeks, but I had not seen one yet. This one was so tattered by combat that it could hardly fly.

The other was a delight. First I spotted two tiny butterflies whirling around each other as if in their own miniture whirlwind, then the light caught them and they sparkled like emeralds : Green Hairstreaks ! One particular conifer tree was just buzzing with them, but they stayed very high making photography very difficult.

The Migrants start arriving

Yesterday found some migrants just arrived from Africa ... not swallows but Painted Lady butterflies. There were 2 or 3 swirling around in aerial combats among pine trees, and swooping up and down the hedgerow to establish their territories.

Here is a photo of one of them looking only slightly the worse for wear after the journey.

The first "Map"

As the sun shone and the temperature rose, checked out a site near a river and lakes.The expected Orange Tips and Small Whites were flitting along the banks of the pathways. Peacocks were knocking chunks out of each other defending territories at regular intervals along most paths, particularly near emerging nettles.

Disappointment when found that the dell where in past years Map butterflies were regularly seen has been completely blocked with brambles. Wandered to another favourite spot ... and spotted a Map butterfly (Araschnia levana) ... definitely the first of the year. Later a second one was seen.