Marian’s 2008 Butterflies (1 Viewer)

madamcoolpix · Jan 29, 2008

Hi, Butterfly lovers! :hi:

I was thinking on just sharing my first Butterfly of the year here with all those interested. But then, I thought it would be nice to share all my year list of Butterflies posting pictures of all the different species I manage to photograph.

2007 was a fantastic year for me regarding Butterflies, but I failed to finish the year list. I guess I managed to ID about 70 different ones and photograph most of them. I’ll see what happen this year…

Any comment, suggestion, correction, etc… on what is posted here is welcome.

To start with, here you have my very first Butterfly of the year. I saw it on January the 20th, at the Botanical Gardens of Gijón (Northern Spain), in a lovely and warm afternoon. Hope you enjoy it!

1. Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria)

stuart C smith · Jan 29, 2008

please keep posting , i just love bitterflies. :t:

madamcoolpix · Jan 30, 2008

Hi there, Stuart! :hi: Thank you for your encouragement! I'll do my best to make the list long and to post many different and good (if possible,

) pictures! Cheers!

My second Butterfly of this year arrived last weekend (on January the 26th) in the shape of a Little White. I saw it in Rivas-Vaciamadrid (in the outskirts of Madrid). It was nice and warm for January (about 18ºC) so there were some of this beauties flying around. The pic is not as good as I wished (it is a distant capture, of the only one willing to rest and it was not cooperative at all).

2. Little White (Artogeia rapae)

I think I saw a Red Admiral too but as I can't be sure I'm not counting that one.

James Blake · Feb 3, 2008

Interesting stuff, Marian - here in England we don't see Small White or Speckled Wood until March, except in very odd circumstances. And they're never the first butterflies to be seen - Red Admiral, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma and Brimstone are always earlier.

I saw my first butterfly of the year last week - as very often in England, a Red Admiral.

all the best
James

madamcoolpix · Feb 3, 2008

Hi, James! :hi: Thank you for your information, I didn't know Speckled Woods and Small Whites take so long to make the first appearance in England, here seem to be quite tough creatures. Red Admirals too. The others you mention are the ones that appear when the Butterfly season starts, in March... and from then, anything can happen!

Congrats on your Red Admiral! :t:

I don't know when I'll see my next Butterfly, the nice weather is over and we have rain, wind and cold again... :-C

Cheers!

madamcoolpix · Feb 5, 2008

Surprise, surprise!

Today, as it was sunny and quite warm at lunch time, I took a brief break with my camera to see if I could find a Red Admiral, the only of the early Butterflies I’ve still not found. And what I found was that Brimstones had taken over the patch! There were many flying around and a reluctant lady accepted finally to pose briefly for me. There were about 4-5 Speckled Woods and at the very end I found one single Red Admiral. No Small Whites today.

I must comment that never before I had seen Brimstones so soon in the year.

So, two additions to the Year List:

3. Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni)
4. Red Admiral (Vanesa atalanta)

Here is the pic of the Brimstone. I’m not posting the Red Admiral pic because it is cringe-worthy… I prefer to wait for a better image.

bru.b · Feb 6, 2008

I like a lot the three images,Marian,but the third short is really astonishing!

Here not yet butterflies. Normally the first ones will be the "citrons"(entirely yellow-a bit as your third one?)...Sorry Marian,I am not a specialist...

Bernard

Sandpiper · Feb 8, 2008

Hi Marian,

I will be following with interest your butterfly list. On 28 January I caught a glimpse of what I thought was a Red Admiral, but it flew away too quickly. Each year I keep a weekly ticklist of the species seen in my area. I have been keeping lists of this type since 1991. Over the years it has been interesting to compare the first and last dates of each species.

madamcoolpix · Feb 9, 2008

Hi, Bernard and Mike! :hi:

Bernard, I'm almost certain those "citrons" you see are male Brimstones, much more yellow than the female, that looks somehow greenish (whitish or slightly yellowish in flight). It is great to know which are the first Butterflies to appear in other areas of Europe! Thank you very much for your contribution!!! :t:

Mike, thank you for keeping an eye here, it is very encouraging to know there are people interested in seeing what I'd like to share! I promise to keep you all updated!

I agree it is very interesting to compare the sightings from one year to another. As I'm quite new in the world of the Butterflies I still don't have much stuff for comparisons... specially because I don't finish my Year Lists! :-O But I promise to be more hard-working from now!

I've not seen Butterflies since February the 5th, it has been sunny but too cool for them. I hope to get a decent pic of the Red Admiral in the next warm day.

Cheers everybody!

Ian Latham · Feb 12, 2008

Hello Senorita Picaflor. :hi:

I have only just come across this thread and am thrilled with your efforts to keep an annual record of these enchanting critters.

I spotted a Small Tortoiseshell yesterday, but he was moving to fast for me to get a photo (so it doesnt count:-C).

This is only my second season of this study and I was a late arrival (May 07) last year so I missed out on quite a few of the British species. This year I have both equipment and sites prepared and am hoping to add a few more of the little beauties to my photographic collection. :t:

High on my 2008 wishlist are the Fritillary's such as 'Duke of Burgundy' and the beautiful 'Queen of Spain':king: which I have nicknamed the 'Pequeno Marian Mariposa'.

I have planted a variety of Butterfly friendly plants (Valarian, Marjoram, Honeysuckle, Aster and increased the number of already established Buddleia. Stinging Nettles and Thistles will not be 'weeded out' and one of my hanging baskets will be given up to Lavender and Thyme. All we need now is some lovely sunshine.:t:

GTSjeep · Feb 13, 2008

Great shots! I've not seen a thing around here so far this year.

madamcoolpix · Feb 15, 2008

Hi, Ian and Greg! :hi: Lovely to say "Hello" to you both here! :bounce:

Ian, a very loud :clap: to you for that Small Tortoiseshell!!! No signs of them here yet. And a very long row of :t: to you for taking the trouble to prepare your place to receive our lovely colourful-winged friends! I hope it works and you get many of them.

I've never seen "Duke of Burgundy". On the contrary, we have plenty of that "Pequeña Mariposa Marian" (thank you for that lovely nickname for the Fritillary........ I hope you don't mind I've made a slight correction to make it sound better,

)

Thank you for your words, Greg, I'm glad you liked the pictures! I guess the winter temperatures in WV are not very friendly for Butterflies!

I wish you good luck and the spring arrives soon there too! :t:

And now, I want to share with you my 5th Butterfly of this year: the wondeful Cleopatra. I saw it today, during my break (with camera,

) I took at luch time. I regret I only cound take a pic of the underwing, but the orange hues are visible in this shot.

Cheers!

5. Cleopatra (Gonepteryx cleopatra)

Ian Latham · Feb 16, 2008

Thank you Senorita Mariposa, I apologise for the poor 'Spanglish' and stand corrected in the corner of my room with a pointed hat on with a big 'D' written on it!:-O

I have had no sightings since the last, but have seen a few Bumble bees and Hoverflys, so I imagine it won't be long now before the Butterflies will come out to play.

Your 'Cleopatra' was a revelation, as I have never seen one. I have since looked them up on the 'net' and find that they are quite a bonnie wee orange/yellow insect and are quite shy at showing off their lovely colours.

I see you noticed my new 'birding kit', this was always in mind to capture the 'butties' and 'dragies' also. I still have my macro set up and am hoping to add to it as the season begins. I dont think the variety of insects is in comparison to what you have over in Spain, so I purchased my equipment to 'broaden my horizons' so to speak. :t:

stephennj · Feb 17, 2008

Those are wonderful butterfly images Maria ! Your Cleopatra is simply regal !

SueO · Feb 17, 2008

Hi Marian,
What a wonderful thread. Que hermosa! I look forward to checking in and learning something here this year. I have seen quite a few really beautiful butterflies while I've been out and meant to look up id's for them. I kinda shelved that until now. I'm going to find some of those photos when I sign out and do some looking and learning.
Sue

madamcoolpix · Feb 17, 2008

Hi, all!! :hi:

I’m back to the thread to update it as promised and found your replies! Thanks a lot for them! :bounce:

Ian Latham said:
Thank you Senorita Mariposa, I apologise for the poor 'Spanglish' and stand corrected in the corner of my room with a pointed hat on with a big 'D' written on it!

Ian, you are so funny! :-O I love your lovely “Spanglish” so please keep using it! I promise not correcting it again… in fact, if I correct it, it stops being Ian’s lovely Spanglish! |

|

And thank you for mentioning the Cleopatra because I forgot to add some further information: it is a Southern specialty, the female is very similar to the female Brimstone, better told apart by the shape (note the more angular edges in the Brimstone than in the Cleopatra, if it well seen in my pics). But the male is a marvel, unmistakable even in flight by its big size and his orange flash on the fore-wing upperside.

Stephen, thank you very much for your words and I’m pleased you liked the pictures… and you found this thread!

Sue, it has been a very long time since I heard from you for the last time! It is great to see you in BF again! o

If you have problems to ID your Butterflies, maybe you can post them in this Butterfly Forum and people will help you in that tough task. And so we all can see your pics!

And now here it is the update. Yesterday I went out in the afternoon to look for some staff to photograph and look what I found! Three new Butterflies for my year List!

6. A very cooperative Clouded Yellow (Colias crocea). Next week I’ll post a different view in my gallery.
7. A Wall Brown (Lasiommata megera)… or better to say, 3/4 of a Wall Brown (

)
8. The marvellous Peacock Butterfly (Inachis io). This is not as common in Spain as in England, so I was very pleased with this encounter.

Hope you enjoy these pics. Cheers!

Adey Baker · Feb 17, 2008

Marian Alvarez said:
And thank you for mentioning the Cleopatra because I forgot to add some further information: it is a Southern specialty, the female is very similar to the female Brimstone, better told apart by the shape (note the more angular edges in the Brimstone than in the Cleopatra, if it well seen in my pics). But the male is a marvel, unmistakable even in flight by its big size and his orange flash on the fore-wing upperside.

I saw lots of Cleopatras on my holiday in Spain last year and I must say they were one of the highlights of my trip! As they always seem to close their wings when they land - just like Brimstones - photographs don't do them full justice; they're really exotic-looking butterflies.

Ian Latham · Feb 17, 2008

Marian Alvarez said:
Yesterday I went out in the afternoon to look for some staff to photograph

Its a really weird to do Marian:eek!:, but if thats what you like doing then who am I to judge:h?:, and if your staff don't mind........

Anyway, thanks for the pics they were great, but my day was quite far removed from yours because of the weather. It was nice and sunny but the ground had a thick layer of frost that never thawed out all day. I had to break a 1/2 inch thickness of ice from my ponds so the frogs could get out and hop about to keep warm (Brrrrrrrrrr!). The chances of finding a Butterfly were zero, I was more likely to bump into a Polar Bear:-O.

I long for Spring, the Butterflies, the Dragonflies and the chance to sit on the ground without my cheeks freezing:eek!:.

madamcoolpix · Feb 17, 2008

Hi, Adey! :hi: You are right, I can't imagine a way of taking a picture of a Cleopatra with open wings to show him in all his splendour!

I'm glad to know you saw many of them!!! :t:

Marian Alvarez said:
Yesterday I went out in the afternoon to look for some staff to photograph

Spelling mistake, Ian!!! Look how I am blushing: |:$| |:$| |:$| |:$| |:$| |:$| ........ o

I join you in your wishes for the arrival of Spring. Today I felt quite disappointed as it was a bit cooler than yesterday and nothing was moving around.

By the way, warm regards to Teddy the Toad and Freddy the Frog!

Cheers!

Ian Latham · Feb 18, 2008

Marian Alvarez said:
By the way, warm regards to Teddy the Toad and Freddy the Frog! Cheers!

Lo mismo por Felipe el Fuegocresta:t: e Sofia el Piedracharla

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