|
|
Post by boghaunter1 on Apr 7, 2011 10:43:44 GMT -8
Yesterday at around 1:00 pm I saw my 1st b-fly... a Milbert's Tortoiseshell, (Nymphalis m. milberti) of 2011 basking on the sidewalk of a nearby town here in N.E. Sask., Canada. Temp. was around +6 C. & sunny. Funny to see when 3-4 ft. pushed up snowbanks are still everywhere! Entire country side is still cloaked in 2 ft. of snow (enough to still go snowmobiling!...have to take my net with me!  ). Saw 2 more Milbert's Tortoiseshells at 10:30 this morning, 07 April, basking (on hard snowpack!) & flying about my farm yd. Temp was only +3.5 C. & sunny. I also saw a Shoeshoe rabbit in some willows while driving back from town....the rabbit was still pure white, not a trace of brown fur showing yet. Looks to be yet another late, very wet start to spring.  John K. |
|
|
|
|
|
Post by saturniidave on Apr 7, 2011 16:04:18 GMT -8
We are basking in 20 degrees c. (68f.) of sunshine here, loads of butterflies and other insects around and lots of trees and plants in flower. The birds are singing and nesting, Spring has arrived!
Dave
|
|
|
|
Post by wollastoni on Apr 7, 2011 23:44:06 GMT -8
Same weather across the Channel.
Spring is very early.
|
|
|
|
Post by thanos on Apr 8, 2011 15:00:28 GMT -8
Very good weather also here - it's time going for Papilio alexanor in a few days !!  |
|
|
|
Post by saturniidave on Apr 8, 2011 17:28:18 GMT -8
Had a female Gonepteryx rhamni in the garden yesterday and an Anthocaris cardamines today. Still Polygonia c-album in numbers and the Whites, Pieris rapae, are just starting to show. I expect the Holly Blues, Celastrina argiolus, to appear any time now.
Dave
|
|
|
|
Post by boghaunter1 on Apr 9, 2011 9:46:17 GMT -8
Ahh!!...Bhaa....HumBUG! (Pun intended!) ;D
John K. ;D
|
|
|
|
|
|
Post by prillbug2 on Apr 9, 2011 16:51:48 GMT -8
Today, things were popping. A Pieris rapae, several species of Anisodactylis ( Carabidae), flies of various families, since the temperature was over 75 degrees.
Jeff Prill
|
|
|
|
Post by bobw on Apr 10, 2011 6:40:38 GMT -8
I saw about a dozen male A. cardamines when I was playing golf this morning so for me, that means spring is officially here; also a couple of P. rapae and several G. rhamni. I saw a pair of rhamni fluttering around each other, they dived into a bunker and by the time I got there they were already in cop.
Bob
|
|
|
|
Post by wollastoni on Apr 10, 2011 10:48:39 GMT -8
Saw many Pieris rapae on the Champs-Elysées today.
|
|
|
|
Post by lepidofrance on Apr 10, 2011 15:19:05 GMT -8
Yes, P. rapae was flying yesterday in the right center (Marais area) of Paris. Two weeks ago, by a sunny day, several G. rhamni, Inachis io (many !), P. c-album in the Forêt de Dreux (West of Paris).
One told me that A. cardamines merged since my come back in town.
|
|
|
|
Post by lepidofrance on Apr 11, 2011 7:28:39 GMT -8
|
|
|
|
Post by Khalid Fadil on Apr 15, 2011 2:43:13 GMT -8
Its 6:41 pm here... Temperatures' in the twenties... Mercury vapor bulb hanging outside my room window... Moths flying in... Life's good.  |
|
|
|
Post by boghaunter1 on May 15, 2011 10:26:19 GMT -8
Back again! Miserable cold spring continues here in NE Sask! Still not a single new leaf on a tree & only a few spindly Dandelions on southern exposures. I drove by a rather large SNOWBANK still remaining in a heavily shaded area along a back road just SE of my farm. Still no crops seeded on my farm yet... still too wet & cold. Last few days, thankfully, have been nice & sunny (15-20 C daytime & near 0 C at night) so spring seems to be reluctently returning. Even for my area, this is one late spring. I've only seen 6 spp. of B-fly up to this date!! (5 common overwintering Nymphalids). Actually saw & collected 2 specimens of the Mustard White ( Pieris o. oleracea) 2 days ago on Friday the 13th  ... 1st true spring B-fly to emerge from the chrysalis... this report is just so pathetic...  Wishing everyone a fantastic collecting season! John K. |
|
|
|
Post by lepidofrance on May 16, 2011 7:59:51 GMT -8
 Here, an "old" photo from May 7th 2011 (more than a week ago !) : flowers were blooming and Iphiclides podalirius was flying in the garden ! Previous years, I. podalirius was not so frequent (rather very rare) in this area in NW France. This is the third I saw this Spring. It is true that this year's spring has 15 days earlier than the seasonal average and the country is threatened by drought (28 departments where it is now forbidden to wash his car and where irrigation should be limited !). An effect of global warming? Nevertheless, all faunal observations made in France confirm the earliness of the lepidopterist season! Attachments:
|
|
).
... 1st true spring B-fly to emerge from the chrysalis... this report is just so pathetic... 
