|
Last year, when I started creating the first flower bed I bought two Purple Top Vervain plants (verbena bonariensis). In the past I often lost them due to frost but this year they spread through my garden and I replanted a lot of them in my new flower beds….and they attracts a lot of insects including butterflies. Mid-August I noticed the first Swallowtail visiting my garden and for some weeks this species was a regular visitor, especially they liked the Purple Top Vervain:  Swallowtail (Papilio machaon) Comparing to last year, this year I had more butterflies in my garden but a big part of the garden is still grass/wild and a lot of work needs to be done. At the moment I’m busy creating a ‘larval butterfly garden’ for a lot of species. In my next blog I will write more about this special part of my garden.
0 Comments
After a very disappointing butterfly weekend in the Eifel last year, the Jordan brothers and I decided to visit an other area in 2025. On the internet we found some clues in an area not too far away. So this summer we drove to Germany and after arrival in the afternoon we noticed a lot of fluttering butterflies, mainly Dusky and Scarce Large Blues. The next morning we found some roosting butterflies, most of the Dusky Large blues are roosting on Great Burnet but his 'grey brother' chose other roosting plants and he was not that easy to find. As we had summer temperatures, both species quickly started flying around and the Scarce Large Blue liked the yellow clover:  Scarce Large Blue The amount of butterflies was fascinating and near the path I discovered an ants nest...not that I have seen the nest but I found four freshly emerged butterflies (both species), hanging low in the gras above the ground. The last morning I found one Dusky Larg Blue which was not roosting on Great Burnet:
It was a nice weekend with of course our traditional 'Kaffee & Kuchen' in a new region and I enjoyed to photograph other species than we usally do in the Eifel. But...I must admit....I miss the old Eifel times with meadows full of butterflies.
A big part of my garden is wild and as on some pieces little hop clover (Trifolium dubium) is growing (one of their larval foodplants) I was wondering if and when I would find the first Common Blues. On the third of August it was bingo…a female visited one of my flower beds. Two weeks later I found the first roosting Common Blue in my garden and since then I found regularly one or two roosting butterflies. My ‘sport’ is to catch them with open wings and the last weeks I learnt that the male butterflies are much easier and more cooperative (= the females flew away immediately):  Common Blue - Polyommatus icarus This autumn I will create a big clover bed to attract more blue butterflies like the Short-Tailed Blue, this rare species is found in a nature area nearby and it would be nice to have this species in my own garden :-).
In the evening I returned to this spot again and between the grass/reed I found a mating couple again. From this couple I found no images on the internet so I assume that they were not noticed by the crowd and fortunately not trampled.  Large Copper - Lycaena dispar batavus (left female and right male) During the Christmas holiday I decided to give myself a special Birthday gift…the Lycaena dispar batavus; it was 17 years ago that I visited the area and took a photo of this rare species. I booked a long weekend and I was curious if I should find and photograph this rare butterfly species again. After arrival my partner and I visited the area where I have seen lot them in 2008; unfortunately I did not find one single Large Copper. As a photographer friend was in the area too I asked him to give me a clue and it was not hard to find the right spot as it was crowded with photographers, bikes and cars. I took my binoculars and walked to the crowd which were running up and down with big lenses to catch this species. I saw two butterflies but this was not the way I like to photograph butterflies so I decided to leave and we made a walk somewhere else to find another spot; unfortunately we didn’t. After our early dinner I decided to return to the hot-spot but again a lot of people were still there. I wanted to drive past but I noticed that they were photographing a mating couple…..so I stopped, took my tripod and camera and asked if I could join the club. Everybody was friendly and I started photographing the two Large Coppers; unfortunately it was very windy and my position was not the best one to have them both sharp. In the beginning more cars, people were stopping but after a while everybody needed to go home for dinner….so suddenly I was alone with two mating Large Coppers…this was THE birthday present I dreamt of:  Large Copper - Lycaena dispar batavus Not rare or endangered, no spectaculair colours and not difficult to find....the unwanted and unhunted Meadow Brown. The only thing about this species is that they always have a keen eye when they are roosting....not the easiest species to photograph. I'm very happy to have this species around my house this year and a few weeks ago I found a roosting one in the grass:  Meadow Brown My next blog will be about a critically endagered and very wanted and hunted species...
I'm back in the Netherlands and since days I'm very busy removing the weeds around my house. Five weeks vacation means a lot of work ;-). Exactely one week ago, I was at my favorite Aosta spot and I found a fresh Turquoise Blue which was roosting on Black Rampion. I took some photos with closed wings and searched for other roosting butterflies. Two hours later it was time to return to this butterfly as I wanted to catch him with open wings. When the sun came over the edge this little beauty opened his wings and it became clear why his name is "Turquoise Blue".  Turquoise Blue - Polyommatus dorylas That day I also found a freshly emerged Scarce Copper and Damon Blue and I wished I could have stayed another week. The counter remains at 96 butterfly species, not bad but I missed at least 10 other species.
The last week of my Aosta trip has started. I’m here now for four weeks and until now I counted 86 butterfly species. I still miss a lot (mostly blue) species. Very slowly it’s getting warmer but finding roosting butterflies early in the morning is still hard working. Normally around the accommodation there are always roosting butterflies/nice species to find but now it seems to be ‘off season’ and it took until yesterday before I spot the first Apollo. This morning we visited on other valley than usual and after a long walk we entered the world of the Glandon Blue. Actually I was hoping/searching for the Alpine Blue but unfortunately we did not find this species; instead we found at least 15 Glandon Blues. The majority of the Glandon Blues were roosting on Alpine Cat’s tail (phleum alpinum) and photographing them on this plant was due to the heavy wind almost impossible.
Fortunately I found two Glandon Blues roosting on other (with a thicker stem) plants. As the sun almost touched the mountain edge I choose the butterfly with the purple flower in the hope that it was male. Very quickly the sun came over the edge and within a minute the complete flower field was sunny; the butterfly next to me opened the wings first….it was a brown female. After two minutes ‘my’ butterfly opened the wings and it was a male….I created some shadow and he allowed me some images before he left.
Maybe in a few days I will return to this place as photographing the Alpine Blue again is on my wishing list for years.
The first week Aosta has passed by very quickly and until now we counted 40 butterfly species. Summer temperatures needs to rise and summer species still needs to emerge; a few days ago I saw in a higher area some fresh Orange-tips flying. But, I will not complain as I have no ‘choice stress’ and we often visited the area of the Iolas Blue as I wanted some decent photos of this species. On Wednesday we also visited this area after breakfast but all butterflies in this area were already flying around. I noticed a male Iolas Blue and dropped my camera bag on the path when suddenly a black snake crawled next to my bag. The first snake I have ever seen in Aosta, I was too much flabbergasted that I forgot to use my binoculars but I guess that it was a dark Western Whip Snake. No photos of the Iolas Blue as the sun was shining and they were flying around without resting. Yesterday, after two days of rain, we visited this area again and found a roosting Iolas Blue (I guess that she was surprised by the rain on Friday as between the showers the sun was shining shortly).  Female Ioloas Blue - Iolana iolas Unfortunately she was sitting on a spot with the longest shadow….so I waited three hours before she opened her wings. Although I plamped the twig of her larval foodplant, the heavy wind blowed her up and down during three hours and taking pictures with open wings was a kind of mission impossible.
Sitting three hours in the shadow and waiting for the sun was also not convenient for the cold I already have for weeks. So next week we're going to take it easy.
Yesterday evening we arrived in Aosta and after we unpacked the car we immediately went out, looking for butterflies. The meadows are full with alpine flowers but the butterfly season has yet to start. As we were tired after the long drive yesterday, I did not set my alarm clock this morning and after a cup of coffee we went out, not expecting much.
Two Green-underside Blues were roosting on Common Sainfoin and one of the Almond ringlets was sitting on a flower instead of low in the grass. As there were not much other butterflies we made plans to visit an other area after breakfast with the hope to find a new species: the Iolas Blue. This species flies on the southern slopes of the mountains. After we entered the area we spotted the first big blue butterfly and it became clear that it was not going to be easy as it is a powerful flyer, the slopes are steep and there are not many of this species. Long story short, one male and female were resting for a short time and I found an egg.....not bad for the first day in Aosta.
We will definitely visit this area again!
|
Jibt dir dit Leben mal een Buff, denn weene keene Träne. Lach Dir'n Ast und setz Dir druff und baumle mit de Beene.
Archives
December 2025
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed