The first one was a Holly Blue which could fly a little but, his forwing was badly damaged and a little part of his body too....I guess he lived a short live as after this photo I did  not see him again.

A few days later I found this roosting female Common Blue; her backwing was less damaged than the Holly Blue and I found her roosting on almost the same spot a day later. But she didn't live long either, because the weather changed and a lot of rain came down.....good for nature and the future butterfly generation as they need moisture during the developmental stage into a butterfly.

With these beauties the Saturday morning started perfect. On Sunday we went to a small heath area were normally a lot of Small Coppers can be found. A part of the heath was flowering, the other part was brown/orange/death....but the most shocking fact was that there was no sign of any insect. The extreme drought not only kills trees/plants but also insects and animals which needs insects and plants to eat. I'm afraid that the consequences of this drought will be dramatic for the flora and fauna, and in the long term for us as well!

The Clouded Apollo has a remarkable flight and as soon as a cloud moves in front of the sun, this species drops into the vegetation. 

I visited the one spot with the 45 Clouded apollos three times early in the morning;  twice I found two butterflies climbing up between the flowers next to the path and the third morning I could not find a single butterfly. I did not enter the meadow to search for them as I was afraid I would step on them. In the afternoon we visited an other mountain top and we had lunch between the fluttering clouded apollos. I was happy to see that this species is doing well in the mountain areas!

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After the sun arrived the next morning, this male opened his wings but closed them immediately as soon as I created some shadow....my mission to get a photo with open wings without hard sunlight failed. 
But I will not complain as I was very happy to photograph this species again!

The weather conditions that morning were perfect...no wind and some dew so the butterfly was very cooperative. The next evening I found this species roosting again but unfortunately the weather was too bad for photographing; so I hope to find this beautiful species again the coming days.

First, grass was growing between the boxes but it costed too much time to keep the paths nice and clean. This weekend we covered the paths with woodchips. The garden has two entrances, one with an arch of 5 meter against which we planted grapes and wild honeysuckle.

While we were busy, a female swallowtail visited the garden and layed a lot of eggs on the fennel and carrot plants....I hope the ants will not eat them. And last but not least....we created a nice corner were we can enjoy our coffee and the first sunlight:

The start of 2026 has been made; I wonder what will come next....in the meantime we are very busy in the garden with creating new flower beds and making plans for building a greenhouse. 

The 4th of June was the last time I saw them all together in front of the nest box. After that night the first chick left the nest box and the following days they were all leaving but still hanging around in the neighbourhood. One week later I saw mum with three young owls on my roof which gave me hope that they had survived the first week in which they could not fly. I do not remember the exact day but suddenly it was quiet around the nest box and for month no owl came to visit the box; time enough to clean the inside and to change the camera position a little bit.
Now that spring is in the air, I hope that they will breed again; during the breeding season dad is less shy and easier to spot; I feel privileged to have dinner on my terrace and to see a little owl sitting in my yard.