Alittlebitoutoffocus

Alittlebitoutoffocus

With temperatures set to soar into the 20’s C (70’s F) down in the Rhone valley, it was an easy decision to go for a walk in that area yesterday. After a quick scan of the map, I settled on doing another section of the Swiss Regional Route no. 36, “The Chemin du Vignoble”, between Saillon and Fully.

As you will see from the gallery below, the route also takes in a lot of the other farming activity which goes on along the valley floor – most notably the orchards and various poly-tunnels encouraging what looked to me like strawberry plants.

Of course I was also hoping to find a few ‘new’ (for this season anyway) flowers and butterflies and I was not disappointed. There were two distinct ‘hot-spots’ where I must have spent 20 to 30 minutes trying to chase down a Clouded Yellow – but the best shot I got was from a distance and hence why pic 21 is so poor. However, as any Twitcher or enthusiast will understand, I was extremely excited to discover a completely new ‘find’ (for me) when I checked the identity of pic 23. According to this Papillons de Suisse website (see last entry on the page) the Chequered Blue is only found in some parts of the Rhone valley, Ticino and a few other ad hoc areas in the south of Switzerland. Now that’s what I call a good day out!! 😊

15 responses

  1. Anita Avatar
    Anita

    Oh.. so many beautiful and amazing images Mike, certainly you had a good day out there! A good selection of butterflies, Interesting plants and exciting views.

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    1. Alittlebitoutoffocus Avatar
      Alittlebitoutoffocus

      Thank you Anita. It was a lovely walk. All that’s missing is the sea… 😉

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      1. Anita Avatar
        Anita

        There’s always something we miss, but at the same time, we can’t have it all 😊

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        1. Alittlebitoutoffocus Avatar
          Alittlebitoutoffocus

          Yes, you always need something else to look forward to.

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  2. blhphotoblog Avatar
    blhphotoblog

    Wow that Chequered Blue is a beauty! That looked a great walk and you have more species on the wing than we do and yes they are Small Whites.

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    1. Alittlebitoutoffocus Avatar
      Alittlebitoutoffocus

      Yes, I was particularly taken by the way the orange loops around the spots to create sort of spikes. I reviewed the photos on the camera and thought it looked a bit ‘different’, so I was over the moon Brian (as they say) when I found out what it was. And thanks for the confirmation of the Small Whites. 😊

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    2. Alittlebitoutoffocus Avatar
      Alittlebitoutoffocus

      P.S. Captured a Camberwell Beauty for you today… (Not looked at the pics yet, but I think they may be OK).

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      1. blhphotoblog Avatar
        blhphotoblog

        Excellent! Box it up and post it over 😆

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        1. Alittlebitoutoffocus Avatar
          Alittlebitoutoffocus

          I would if I could! I saw 2 or 3 before that one too. Fortunately the one I captured didn’t fly high and away like the others, but it ‘hopped’ or flitted along the side of the road. I had 3 or 4 different opportunities – until a car came along and off it went.

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  3. picpholio Avatar
    picpholio

    I fully understand your happyness when you found the Chequered Blue. He is realy beautifull, but a part of that, I enjoyed your walk through the Rhone Valley. 20°C is a lot, we have about 12°C but also sunny. Thanks for sharing Mike.

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    1. Alittlebitoutoffocus Avatar
      Alittlebitoutoffocus

      You’re very welcome. I’m glad you enjoyed the walk. I have another walk, from today, to post over the weekend.. 😊

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  4. bayphotosbydonna Avatar
    bayphotosbydonna

    Fabulous butterflies, all so very pretty! They instantly reminded me of a quote I recently read, “Butterflies are flowers in flight, and flowers are tethered butterflies”. 🙂

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    1. Alittlebitoutoffocus Avatar
      Alittlebitoutoffocus

      I’ll have to remember that one! Thanks Donna!

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  5. Tour de Romandie, Switzerland, Stage 1 | Alittlebitoutoffocus Avatar
    Tour de Romandie, Switzerland, Stage 1 | Alittlebitoutoffocus

    […] from Aigle to Martigny, and included 4 loops between Fully and Saillon (which just happens to be where I was walking last week). Not only that but Stage 5, on Saturday, starts in Sion and takes in some of the route I cycled a […]

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  6. Fully to Sé Carro Walk, Valais, Switzerland | Alittlebitoutoffocus Avatar
    Fully to Sé Carro Walk, Valais, Switzerland | Alittlebitoutoffocus

    […] I again tried my best not to be distracted by the views and various butterflies fluttering around, but when several Cardinals are about you just have to stop. Like any photographer, I’m always looking for that ‘perfect shot’ and so I stopped quite a few times – mainly for the Cardinals. And it was while reaching up to capture one, that another landed right next to it! (See pic 13). In the end, I was glad I did stop so often, as the weather turned decidedly grey and cool and there were not many butterflies around on my return (along the section of the Chemin du Vignoble which I failed to finish a few weeks ago). […]

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