Thyon Ridge Walk, Valais, Switzerland

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I mentioned in my last post that my walks and subsequent posts tend to concentrate on some combination of views, flowers and/or butterflies. Well, almost incredibly, given the warm weather we’ve been having, this walk has no butterflies at all! I did capture a very poor picture of a Tortoiseshell, but I didn’t think that worth posting and the Swallowtail at the top of Mont Carré flew off before I could catch my breath and switch on my camera. Others either flew off up or down the slope to the side, making it difficult to follow them.

As you will see in the gallery below, there was a bit of cloud around for a while, but this more or less cleared as I reached the turnaround point at Greppon Blanc.

Aiguilles Rouges Cabane from Arolla, Val d’Hérens, Switzerland

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The weather across Europe has taken a turn for the better this past week and on Sunday I decided to take advantage of the blue skies. I was rather hoping to find the Small Apollo butterfly, which I’ve seen on this route before, but I was to be disappointed.

That said, whenever I set off on my walks I wonder whether there will be more butterflies, flowers or scenic views – or some combination of all 3. This was certainly a good mixture., which I hope you enjoy. 😊

Mont d’Orge Bisse and Butterfly Walk, Valais, Switzerland

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Last Friday, Jude had a hair appointment and some shopping to do down in Sion, so I took the opportunity to do a short walk along the bisse which runs along the side of Mont d’Orge. It was a warm and somewhat cloudy day, but I still hoped to find a few butterflies. And indeed I did – including a new one for me. 👍👍😊

I thought the Great Sooty Satyr was new untiI I spotted a note in my book saying I’d seen one last year on the path up to La Sage. It was the Eastern Bath White in picture 18. In flight the whites can look quite similar, but this one looked a little different – once landed. Thankfully I got just the one shot of it before it flew off. Result!

Sasseneire, (3,253m / 10,673m) Val d’Hérens, Switzerland – Part 2 of 2

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In case you missed Part 1, please feel free to catch up here. We left ‘our’ walk, just before the pond at Béplan. There I cursed myself for not being quick enough to capture a marmot disappearing over a rock. But only a few strides later I spotted another just around the corner. Normally they are gone in a flash but this one didn’t seem too bothered and carried on nibbling away at the grass just a few metres away. (See pic 2).

From Béplan the greenery of the alpage gradually fades away into the slate grey of the upper mountains, but even there, incredibly, flowers still grow. (See pics 14 & 15 – the Two flowered saxifrage, my book tells me, is quite rare). The ascent to the top of Sasseneire is quite steep and looks pretty hairy in the pics below, but it is quite safe. There are 2 false summits, so just when you think you are there, there is another one. As you will see there is still quite a lot of snow on the north facing side of the mountain range.

And, of course, on the descent, there were yet more butterflies… 😊

Sasseneire, (3,253m / 10,673m) Val d’Hérens, Switzerland – Part 1 of 2

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On Sunday I went for a walk, intending to go up to the Col du Torrent (@2,926m or 9,567ft). As soon as I’d set off, I realised that the overnight rain had created a series of clouds hanging over the mountain peaks, so I didn’t think I’d get anywhere near. However, after taking my time taking numerous photos, (hence why this post is only part 1!), the clouds gradually dispersed and I arrived there to clear skies and feeling quite fresh. So I took the opportunity to go to the top of Sasseneire. Although this seemed like a good idea at the time, my legs were completely shot by the time that I arrived home (8 hours after setting off). Descents are often as hard as the ascents sometimes!

Now, whenever I’m taking photos of butterflies, I never really know until I study the images later whether they are the same butterfly as a photo taken earlier in the walk. The blues in particular all look pretty much the same to me in the field. Imagine my surprise then when almost all of the pictures turned out to be something different… (assuming my identifications are correct of course!)

More Bugs, Skippers and Butterflies

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I’ve had such a wonderful response to my previous post, I thought I’d share a few more pictures taken last week. I’m not very good on Skippers, so I’ve made my best guess at the two below. Please feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.

As you will see there are only a few photos, but I think I may well make up for that in my next post(s)… 😊

Flowers, Grasshoppers and Butterflies…

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Jude and I are now back home in Switzerland. We were only away for a month, but to look at the garden you would think it was for 3 months! Had it not been for the local farmer cutting a swathe down our drive and through our field, (pic A1), I’m sure we would have had difficulty finding the chalet! Various things had popped up in the lawn around the chalet. Well, I say lawn, but it’s just a mixture of grass and weeds really. And it was doing its best to encroach onto our pebbled ‘beaches’.

This of course meant that the local wildlife were in abundance. Not for nothing is our chalet called Les Criquets, though the crickets are way outnumbered by the grasshoppers!

And, where there are flowers, there are inevitably butterflies… 😊

Cnicht Walk, Snowdonia National Park, North Wales

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As mentioned in one of my previous posts, our cottage looked across to the hills and mountains of Snowdonia. One of them, called Cnicht, is known as the Matterhorn of Wales, due to it’s shape when viewed from a certain position. Well, it just had to be done.

My route would start in the small village of Croesor and head up the south-west flank. I was a little worried about finding my way as the map never had a path marked. But as you will see from the pictures below, the route was well signposted, even from the car park, and the summit was always clear and visible straight ahead.

From there I descended to 2 or 3 of the many small lakes, or Llyns, which pepper the landscape, before returning via a disused slate quarry down the Cwm Croesor valley.

Lleyn Peninsular, North Wales

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For a day out, Jude and I took a drive around the Lleyn Peninsular. Jude had read about a place called Caeau Tan y Bwlch, where there were some of the last traditional fields left on the peninsular. We hoped, even expected, to see lots of wild flowers and butterflies. In the event, there were no butterflies at all (well, it was a windy day), but there were tens of Chimney Sweeper moths flitting between the orchids.

From there we went to Porth Iago and had a walk along the coastal path, (where I did at least capture my first Painted Lady of the year) before stopping at Llanbedrog beach on our way back to Ynys, near Harlech.