It was a wise decisin to avoid my main study area on the 9th because the path leading from the mixed field through Zone I and past Zone II was covered in litter, mostly plastic cups and beer cans. Weather conditions were good, with temperatures between 17 and 18°C at 11 AM, a single tiny cloud to the southeast and weak to moderate winds. Despite this, Zone III was still too wet to cross and thus was not evaluated on that day.
+-------------------------+---------------------------------+--------+ | Species | Location | Status | +-------------------------+---------------------------------+--------+ | Aglais io | Zone II | Adult | |-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------| | Anthocharis cardamines | Zone II | Adult | |-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------| | Coenonympha pamphilus | Zone I / II | Adult | |-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------| | Cupido minimus | Zone I | Adult | |-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------| | Erynnis tages | Zone I | Adult | |-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------| | Pieris brassicae | Zone II | Adult | |-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------| | Pieris napi | Zone I / II | Adult | |-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------| | Polyommatus bellargus | Zone II | Adult | |-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------| | Polyommatus icarus | Zone I / II | Adult | |-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------| | Pyrgus malvae | Zone II | Adult | |-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------| | Vanessa atalanta | Zone II | Adult | +-------------------------+---------------------------------+--------+
Unlike the field trip to the bog hill the day prior, there was relatively little activity within my main zones. Roughly a dozen whites were too restless to be identified, though I'm suspecting that the most restless ones were of the species P. rapae, as P. brassicae behaved the calmest (and can be identified much easier due to its larger average size) and A. cardamines seemingly already entering the end of its season, as only two males were present in Zone II. P. napi was less calm than P. brassicae, yet due to its prominent veines just as easily to identify. Nevertheless, those observations are too uncertain to be included in this list.
Zone II still is sparse in terms of nectar plants and the hay field, like the rest of this area, offers nothing but grasses. The only species appearing to profit from this is P. malvae, of which I managed to count more than a handful of individuals. V. atalanta, despite only a single individual briefly resting close to me when I was taking a break, also appears to prefer the empty field at this time.
Overall, it appears that the current vegetation with its lack of nectar plants and abundance of wet grasses is delaying the appearance of species already recorded at the bog hill. With the weather expected to become unstable in the following week, I assume that the main zone won't see more activity for a while.