Highway shut for butterfly travel (1 Viewer)

[Vectis Birder]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6491255.stm

A delightful story and I wish more countries were as thoughtful of other creatures besides humans as Taiwan seems to be here.

 

[matt green]

Nice story Vectis, not all bad news is it!

Matt

 

[dafi]

Nice one a price worth paying! good to hear about. Cheers Vectis.

 

[Marmot]

I wonder if Mark Bruce who lives in Taiwan can shed any more light or even supply some pictures of this.

Great news.

 

[A CHAPLIN]

Hi,

It is good to see Taiwan protecting the butterflies. I read it last night too but forgot we had a butterly forum, I don't see many here in Preston.

There was also a link to an article on the Monarch butterflies in Mexico.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4779092.stm

Ann

 

[Mark Bruce]

I wonder if Mark Bruce who lives in Taiwan can shed any more light or even supply some pictures of this.

Great news.

Hi Margaret,

Hopefully, I will have some pictures shortly. The butterfly migration passes within a few kilometres of where I live. The highway crossing point is about 5 km from where I stay. Actually, my local patch, Huben, falls within the Linnei crossing area. This is a really wondrous time of the year for this area. Literally, coinciding with the Purple Crow/Milkweed Butterfly migration through central Taiwan is one of the world's most spectacular raptor migrations. The Grey-faced Buzzard is also moving through the area in their thousands (A Brief History of Grey-Faced Buzzard Conservation in Taiwan). This continues until about 7th April and then it's just a two week wait and the Fairy Pitta return to Huben.

Here's another article that may be of interest.
http://english.www.gov.tw/TaiwanHeadlines/index.jsp?recordid=93238

Hi,

It is good to see Taiwan protecting the butterflies. I read it last night too but forgot we had a butterfly forum, I don't see many here in Preston.

There was also a link to an article on the Monarch butterflies in Mexico.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4779092.stm

Ann

Hi Ann,

I agree this is really a good thing to see happening. Here are two articles that appeared in our papers.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2007/03/24/2003353583
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2007/03/25/2003353763

I'm off to chase butterflies and buzzards.

 

[A CHAPLIN]

Hi Mark,

Thanks to the links to the articles. I wish somebody could film the major movement of the butterflies that would really be something to watch. I have seen films of the Monarch butterflies in Mexico and it was spellbinding, like the big raptor migrations you couldn't see the sky for butterflies which we need as well as bees to pollinate our flowers.

Good luck with the photographs.

Ann :flowers: :t:

 

[Mark Bruce]

Hi Mark,

Thanks to the links to the articles. I wish somebody could film the major movement of the butterflies that would really be something to watch. I have seen films of the Monarch butterflies in Mexico and it was spellbinding, like the big raptor migrations you couldn't see the sky for butterflies which we need as well as bees to pollinate our flowers.

Good luck with the photographs.

Ann :flowers: :t:

Hi Ann,

Actually Discovery Channel did a program on the butterflies a year or two ago. I saw very small numbers of Purple Crow Butterflies today. They were moving very quickly overhead through the bamboo and a photo was out. These are really just small little groups. Most of the movement will be later in the week.

 

[Mark Bruce]

Purple Crow Migration-Huben and Ping Ding

Bad weather has influenced the migration this season and things haven't happened quite as expected. From the 27th to the 30th we had rain. I went out to the Huben and Ping Ding area on the 30th but apart from seeing very small groups flying through the bamboo I saw nothing.

There was good movement through Ping Ding on Saturday the 31st but I had to go to Taichung. The highway project was in operation on the 31st and I believe it worked pretty well. I was able to go out to Huben and Ping Ding on Sunday 1st April and Monday 2nd April but again the weather was poor and not much was happening. A great sighting on Monday was a pair of Maroon Oriole.

We had poor weather for most of the week. Friday the 6th April was very overcast but no rain so I decided to do another trip to the area. This time there was a small migration of Dwarf Crow Euploea tulliolus koxinga. There were several research groups in the area netting and coding the Dwarf Crows. I was able to have a chat with Prof Cheng Juey-fu who is the man behind the highway crossing project. He tells me that the nets that force the butterflies higher as the cross the highway have worked well. He says that there is still a lot of work to be done on the guide lights.

Again, bad weather kept numbers down for a few days but yesterday I managed to go out to Huben and Ping Ding in the late morning and was able to catch the tail end of a good migration of Dwarf Crow Euploea tulliolus koxinga, Two Band Crow Euploea sylvester swinhoei, Striped Blue Crow Euploea mulciber barsine, and Taiwan Asagi Madara Parantica swinhoei at Butterfly Spring between Huben and Ping Ding. Butterfly Spring is a deep gorge-like forested valley which the butterflies pour out of. It's quite a sight to see thousands of butterflies pouring out from the forest.

 

[A CHAPLIN]

Hi Mark,

The photos are fabulous, I can't even get clear shots of the flowers in the garden.

It must have been some sight seeing those butterflies streaming out of the gorge, thank goodness the weather has improved for them and for you that day. I wonder how poor weather affects their numbers? I know there are thousands or millions but like birds every one lost is gone for ever.

How long does the migration continue, can we look forward to seeing more photos of them?

Thanks for sharing.

Ann :flowers: :t: :egghead:

 

[Mark Bruce]

Hi Mark,

The photos are fabulous, I can't even get clear shots of the flowers in the garden.

It must have been some sight seeing those butterflies streaming out of the gorge, thank goodness the weather has improved for them and for you that day. I wonder how poor weather affects their numbers? I know there are thousands or millions but like birds every one lost is gone for ever.

How long does the migration continue, can we look forward to seeing more photos of them?

Thanks for sharing.

Ann :flowers: :t: :egghead:

Hi Ann,

The migration generally lasts about a week. Normally the peak period is two or three days. With all the rain the the butterflies have been moving in smaller groups and it is lasting a lot longer than usual. I've attached some other photos of different butterflies that are in the area now.

Purple Saphire Heliophorus ila matsumurae.
Not sure of the English common name Ypthima formosana.
Common Jester Symbrenthia lilaea formosanus.
Common Mapwing Cyrestis thyodamas formosana.

 

[A CHAPLIN]

Butterfly Migration Taiwan

Hi Folks,

It is that time of year again for butterflies too.

Mark Bruce was going today to see the butterflies moving through Huben but sadly it is raining there so no movement today.

I hope the weather clears up for them soon, the freeway is closed again and wish them all well on their journey north and hope Mark gets more photos for us as he did last year.

Sadly Vectis things have changed since last year Taiwan is less caring and has slipped to 103 on the list of Eco-tourism areas, sorry don't know how else to put that.

Good luck butterflies and Mark.

Ann :egghead::flyaway:

 

[Mark Bruce]

Still raining so yet to go see the butterflies. The net is up along the highway and they have been closing lanes during peak periods again this year. Yes, Taiwan tumbled on the Geneva-based World Economic Forum's (WEF) Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report for 2008 mainly due to environmental sustainability concerns. Hopefully, the loss of tourism revenue will be a wake up call for the powers that be. I've attached a shot I took of the end part of the net along the highway.