Puzzles

[Ragged Robin]

Appropriately in a sunflower, Apollo (Parnassius apollo) but I have to confess I did a web search to check!  
The first butterfly I photographed was one of these, in the Pyrenees.

Is this how butterflies Apollogise?

[David Shaw]

OMG! (to both of the last two)

[Ragged Robin]

Is this a clue for across or down!

[Ragged Robin]

Where there's life there's hope, eh, Carol?? 

You've got it Maggi! We've got flights from Aberdeen via Amsterdam to Vienna. ..... 

Which flight is this and where's it going?  I need some sun.....

[Carol Shaw]

Which flight is this and where's it going?  I need some sun.....

We're flying to Vienna and then up to Kaprun but not until 6 June... don't fancy wading through snow drifts anymore

[Maggi Young]

Not the bum of the flightle bee, Robin.... a humming-bird hawk moth?

I've been looking up your Apollos ( so to speak!) and I discover that they are highly variable, so not a male /female difference in the wings edsges, just natural variablility. All very interesting and not something I would have found out if not for you setting the puzzle    The Apollos are listed as being "vulnerable"  and are seldom seen in the Valais before the last week of April, I read....so you should shortly be looking out for them this year, eh?

[Ragged Robin]

  Thanks for the info on both the Apollo butterfly and the flighty thing (I was fascinated with it's similarity to a humming bird in flight) - I've leant a lot from Member's forum and it makes things less puzzling than trying to find them out in French!  Few if no English publications here - but lots of mountain-speak!

Hope someone will pose a puzzle for me to solve if they have the inclination - tired out and soaking wet after a morning of pruning....

[Ragged Robin]

Appropriately in a sunflower, Apollo (Parnassius apollo) but I have to confess I did a web search to check!  
The first butterfly I photographed was one of these, in the Pyrenees.

Tony you won the prize for naming the butterfly even though you cheated! Now I shall enjoy it even more with Maggi's and your info and hopefully a bit of sun.  The sunflower of that name was planted by the birds in thanks for feeding them avidly over the winter and now we have more seeds to give them - I shall call out 'Parnassius' when I see a similar sight!

[David Shaw]

The humming bird hawk moth reminds me of a time in Austria when I was sitting on a balcony trying to photograph one. It always moved just as I pressed the button and I wasted a lot of film but got plenty of petunia pictures . Digi cameras are so much cheaper.

[Lori S.]

What an incredibly tiny hummingbird hawk moth   - dwarfed by the phlox flowers!  (Ours appear to be almost the size of hummingbirds.)  Wonderful to see!

[Ragged Robin]

The humming bird hawk moth reminds me of a time in Austria when I was sitting on a balcony trying to photograph one. It always moved just as I pressed the button and I wasted a lot of film but got plenty of petunia pictures . Digi cameras are so much cheaper.

It took me ages to go digital but I love my Canon PowerShot S3IS even though I want more zoom (not digital)  The shot of the humming bird hawk moth only came about because I happened to be focused!!!!!!

Just for a night cap as we have one hours less sleep tonight....

What grows like a green alien emerging from the forest floor in the Alpine Spring?

[David Shaw]

That's Butterbur, or a Swiss equivalent? Petasites hybridus or P. albidus.

[tonyg]

Here's a little puzzle for you if its still rainy.
I entered this pic in a competition.  First I had to find a name for the butterfly.  It could be one you have seen locally.  Do its wings reflect the sky?

[ranunculus]

Mirror blue ... or in the case of Lancashire ... mirror murky grey?   

[Ragged Robin]

That's Butterbur, or a Swiss equivalent? Petasites hybridus or P. albidus.

Thanks so much for identifying the Butterbur in the forest, David, - it's extraordinary watching them grow out of the forest floor like fungi, almost overnight.  It is not mentioned in my flora book of wild alpine flowers - wonder how it got its name?