💾 Archived View for magda.cities.yesterweb.org › oblog › 2024-april-28.gmi captured on 2024-05-10 at 10:39:43. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
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The original date for the next field trip, 27 April, had to be postponed due to the weather forecast being vastly off once again, with the reported 21°C and "pure sunshine" not occuring. In reality, the morning kicked off with mere 4°C and the highest temperature I recorded was 16°C, with very cloudy conditions and occasional moderate winds shaping the second half of the day. Additionally, I currently am dealing with an inflammation affecting my right index finger in particular, which makes typing and using my camera unpleasant to outright impossible without pain. Luckily, this delay virtually has no effect on my research, as I noticed little to no insect activity during two car rides between 9 and 11 AM on the same day likely because of the very low morning temperatures.
The 28th saw a mix of sunny and cloudy weather, with temperatures at 10:30 AM reaching 18°C and moderately strong winds. The latter were strong enough to make photographic documentation nearly impossible and the exact determination of nearly all smaller whites (P. napi, P. rapae and female A. cardamines) very difficult.
+-------------------------+---------------------------------+--------+ | Species | Location | Status | +-------------------------+---------------------------------+--------+ | Aglais io | Mixed Field / Zone I / III | Adult | |-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------| | Anthocharis cardamines | Mixed Field / Zone I / II / III | Adult | |-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------| | Araschnia levana | Zone II | Adult | |-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------| | Erynnis tages | Zone I | Adult | |-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------| | Pieris brassicae | Zone II / III | Adult | |-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------| | Pieris napi | Mixed Field / Zone I / II / III | Adult | |-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------| | Pieris rapae | Mixed Field / Zone I / II / III | Adult | +-------------------------+---------------------------------+--------+
With P. brassicae now kicking off its first generation, the observation of A. levana (f. levana) only happened due to some incredible luck. Because of the amount of birds occupying the trees surrounding both streams, most butterflies, including A. levana, were hiding close to the bridge to David's fields and it began to search for a new hiding spot the moment I approached it, passing me quickly in the process.
It appears that the low temperatures during the last weeks had a quite significant effect on both flora and fauna. Vegetation saw little to no changes over the course of nearly two weeks and some fields in Zone III show signs of damages due to freezing temperatures at night. V. atalanta retreated, whereas P. brassicae, which is a typical "May species", has begun to appear at its regular period. The last weeks thus contributed to "things being relatively normal again".
High emphasis on "relatively normal": So far, there has been not a single sign of A. urticae. While I still hope that it may start to appear soon, it is highly unusual for this species to skip April altogether, which may indicate that my study area now also is affected by its widespread decline across Europe. For now, it's still to early to draw any conclusions, though.