💾 Archived View for magda.cities.yesterweb.org › oblog › 2024-may-20.gmi captured on 2024-08-18 at 17:22:13. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Home

20 May

Despite an equal mix of sun and clouds, temperatures of 20°C (12:15 PM) and very weak to moderate winds, this field trip offered the least amount of observations during this season.

+-------------------------+---------------------------------+--------+
| Species                 | Location                        | Status |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------|--------+
| Anthocharis cardamines  | Zone II                         | Adult  |
|-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------|
| Coenonympha pamphilus   | Zone II / III                   | Adult  |
|-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------|
| Cupido minimus          | Zone II                         | Adult  |
|-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------|
| Erynnis tages           | Zone I                          | Adult  |
|-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------|
| Pieris napi             | Zone II                         | Adult  |
|-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------|
| Polyommatus icarus      | Zone II                         | Adult  |
|-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------|
| Pyrgus malvae           | Zone II                         | Adult  |
|-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------|
|-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------|
| Coenagrion mercuriale   | Zone II                         | Adult  |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------+--------+

The vast majority of whites and blues were unusually restless and overall lower in individual numbers than a week prior. While "Mixed Field" offered only two unidentifiable whites, Zone I offered two whites and a single blue. Zone II largely was just as sparse, with the only rather minor exception being the hay field next to the path leading to the "Meisel". Nevertheless, few individuals got disturbed by me crossing the field and, just like Zone I, was largely dominated by a handful of grasses. There were small patches of meadow sage and seed sainfoin, yet the only butterfly feeding on them was a single female A. cardamines.

Much to my own frustration, I briefly spotted two mating damselflies, likely Coenagrion mercuriale. The shot I took, however, turned out to be entirely unusable and both disappeared just as fast as they approached the northwestern brink of Zone II. Based on the absence of C. hastulatum within this particular area, C. mercuriale is the only possible species. This is unusual insofar due to the surprising absence of of P. nymphula so far, which normally is the first damselfly species to appear in mid-spring. This, alongside the generally low amount of butterflies, highlights the downside of "David's Fields" not hosting any lacy phacelia whatsoever this year.

What also had a significant influence on this day's field trip was the relatively large amount of cyclists crossing the area from "Mixed Field" to Zone II in particular, which significantly disturbed the few whites on the western edges of Zone II, ome of which were talking in a loud voice and one guy continiously calling his loose dog. One Pick-Up truck even used the dirt path to the Meisel forest to cross Zone III, disrupting my research for approximately two minutes and scaring every insect away. While I should have expected this, considering this day is a national holiday in Germany ("Pfingstmontag" or "Whit Monday"), my study area previously used to attract the least amount of tourists and general human activity within my district – it seems that the amount of cyclists not only is growing in absolute numbers but more of them now start to cross the main zone in groups, which also are getting larger as time goes on. What is most annoying about this is the fact that some of those now introduce unnecessary noise by blasting radio broadcasts: Just a few weeks ago, a family consisting of two females and two girls passed me with one woman rather loudly listening to the local news. (Considering those cyclists go on bycicle trips to stay physically active and relax their minds, listening to the news whilst cycling with kids sound as contra-productive as it is.)

Before I disgress, let's just say that this field trip was unexpectedly disappointing and borderline frustrating for several reasons.

---

Addendum (27 July): One individual I originally assumed to be A. agestis turned out to be a female of P. icarus with damaged wings.