MySightings

Bonn, GermanyBonn, GermanyGermany

Like many other butterfly lovers, I will never forget my first encounter with the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty!

I was a child in the seventies in Bonn, GermanyBonn-Kessenich. My friend Rolf (also a big butterfly lover at the time) rang our front doorbell frantically and shouted up to the second floor after opening the door:

There is an Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty on Sandtplatz!

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Excited, we cycled as fast as we could to the small sports field (then called Sandt-Platz and replaced by a school building in 2018) on the corner of Hausdorffstraße and Eduard-Otto-Straße (then Hausdorffstraße/Sandt-Straße). We had little hope that we would actually come across the beautiful butterfly.

But there it was! On a small slope bordering the sports field, a Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty was basking in the sun, looking marvellous with its wings spread out! As far as I can remember, it was an overwintered specimen with a white band.

Although we were collecting butterflies at the time, we let the butterfly go away in awe. Our respect for its appearance was too great.

It is quite possible that the butterfly we sighted was associated with the mass immigration of Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty to the British Isles in 1976 (see Distribution in United Kingdom).

More than 30 years after my first and until then only sighting, I was finally granted two further but unfortunately only very brief encounters with the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty in 2008:

Caramanico Terme, Abruzzen, Pescara, ItalyCaramanico Terme, Abruzzen, Pescara, ItalyAbruzzen, Pescara, ItalyPescara, ItalyItaly

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My wife and I travelled to Abruzzo for a few days over Whitsun. The 10th of May began in the beautiful Orfento Valley near Caramanico Terme, Abruzzen, Pescara, ItalyCaramanico Terme. On the way through the partly hot, partly damp and cold valley, I first met a Large TortoiseshellNymphalis polychloros (Linnaeus, 1758)Large Tortoiseshell. He looked pretty frayed and had obviously been through a lot. Where there is a Large TortoiseshellNymphalis polychloros (Linnaeus, 1758)Large Tortoiseshell, it is damp and cool and SalicaceaSalicaceaeSalicaceae border the riverbank, a Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty could also have its home. At least that was my hope.

Around midday, we stopped for a short break in front of a narrow wooden bridge. The bridge crosses the Orfento, which is about 4 metres wide here.

And then, flying about 5 metres above the water. Unmistakable, even in flight. An Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty!

The Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty was chasing after another smaller butterfly at high speed. Or rather, it chased it in front of it. Just a few seconds and then it was already out of sight again.

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We waited a few more minutes, but the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty didn't show itself again. Not even on our further hike through the valley. And unfortunately also on a later day, when we hiked through another section of the valley.

Boston, Massachusetts, United StatesBoston, Massachusetts, United StatesMassachusetts, United StatesUnited States

Six months later, there was another meeting with the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty.

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I saw him again at Frog Pond in the centre of Boston, Massachusetts, United StatesBoston in the United StatesUnited States. It appeared twice within an hour - again, unfortunately, only very briefly. It flew at high speed through the park in the centre of Boston, Massachusetts, United StatesBoston, sat on the grass for about 10 seconds and flew out of sight again. Although I had my camera at the ready, I only managed to take one not very good picture.

On 22 March 2012 I had my first and so far only prolonged encounter with the beautiful butterfly!

Berlin, GermanyBerlin, GermanyGermany

I had work to do in Berlin, GermanyBerlin and took a day's holiday there. I actually wanted to visit the area around Erkner, south-east of Berlin, GermanyBerlin, when the weather was nice. Six months earlier, I had already explored the area between Löcknitz and Spree on a hire bike. It's a beautiful area, perfect for the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty. However, I didn't meet him back then. Spring started on 22 March with very nice weather, but temperatures were only forecast to be around 15 degrees. So I had little hope of seeing butterflies and certainly not the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty, even if it does show itself in cooler temperatures. Instead of travelling to the gates of Berlin, GermanyBerlin, I therefore opted for the Botanischer Garten Dahlem, GermanyBotanischer Garten Dahlem. I had never visited the garden before and I wanted to familiarise myself with my brand new digital camera in the huge greenhouses.

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When I arrived shortly before 10:00 a.m. in bright sunshine, I was greeted by a group of Small TortoiseshellAglais urticae (Linnaeus, 1758)Nymphalis urticaeSmall Tortoiseshells right at the entrance. They had survived the winter very well, almost all of them still looked fresh. A PeacockAglais io (Linnaeus, 1758)Inachis ioNymphalis ioEuropean PeacockPeacock ButterflyPeacock and a male BrimstoneGonepteryx rhamni (Linnaeus, 1758)Common BrimstoneBrimstone also fluttered past. I hadn't expected this, but the temperatures were already higher than expected, even for this early time of day, and there was virtually no wind.

Next, I went into the garden's fantastic greenhouses. I then walked through the park, always keeping a sharp eye out for butterflies and in particular the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty. In recent years, it had been seen again and again in and around Berlin, GermanyBerlin. So why shouldn't it also be found here today?

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Several times I toyed with the idea of asking one of the many hard-working gardeners about the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty, but then didn't because I assumed they knew nothing about butterflies. Certainly an incorrect assumption. I then inspected the map of the site and headed for the Deutscher Wald area. Apart from a few Great TitParus majorGreat Tits, I found nothing of note there. There had to be Goat WillowSalix capreaPussy WillowGoat Willows somewhere, so I searched the overview map for an area with willows.

And indeed: I found such an area on the map and the Goat WillowSalix capreaPussy WillowGoat Willows there weren't too far away either. Nevertheless, I managed to get a little lost. Once again, I came across two gardeners. Wondering whether I should ask them about the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty now, I caught sight of a small, light-coloured birch grove.

A large butterfly fluttered around among the BirchBetulaBirches! I left the gravel path, but as I got closer to the dark butterfly, it revealed itself to be an PeacockAglais io (Linnaeus, 1758)Inachis ioNymphalis ioEuropean PeacockPeacock ButterflyPeacock. It made a nice picture against the white birch bark, so I pulled out my new digital camera and tried out the video function, which was new to me. Just a few seconds and the first thing was in the can.

I actually wanted to go to the Goat WillowSalix capreaPussy WillowGoat Willows, so I made my way back to the light-coloured gravel path a few metres to the right.

Returning to the path, I was abruptly slowed down in the first step. For a brief moment, I didn't realise why.

There he sat. An Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty right in front of me on the path!

Although silent, he spoke a few words: There I am.

What an imposing appearance.

The butterfly had obviously survived the winter well, although the edge had lost its yellow colour. Instead, the edge now shone in a beautiful beige colour. I still had my camera in my hand. I carefully took a picture from about 2 metres away. Then I got closer and closer to the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty, but the beautiful butterfly didn't mind at all: it was sunbathing on the path.

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After a few minutes of sunbathing, it flew up and took off at high speed. It flew quickly to a height of about 3 metres, but due to its impressive size I could still see it flying between the sparse trees. It flew a few loops before finally resuming its perch in the immediate vicinity of its previous perch.

This was repeated many times, but sometimes he sat down on one of the white trunks of the nearby BirchBetulaBirch instead of on the path. Only once did he rest on a dried leaf in the grass.

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After watching him for about 20 minutes and taking countless photos and videos, I wanted to see if Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauties are really as trusting as they are often described. He sat on the path again to sunbathe and I carefully moved my left index finger in front of his front legs and gently nudged it. He immediately crawled onto the finger and remained sitting on it after I had stood up. He continued to bask in the sun and then flew another lap. This time he circled me a few times and tried to land on the lens of my camera several times. Finally, it landed on my finger again. Other landing spots on the following laps were my shoulder and arm. I had already had a similar experience once with an Purple EmperorApatura iris (Linnaeus, 1758)Purple Emperor. Unlike the Purple EmperorApatura iris (Linnaeus, 1758)Purple Emperor, however, the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty did not suck on skin or clothing with its proboscis, but simply basked in the sun.

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Although I had already taken several shots and was able to get close enough to the butterfly to use the macro lens up to the minimum distance, I wanted to take a shot without the strong contrast between light and shadow. I moved so that it was sitting in my shadow falling on the bright path. He immediately flew forwards a few centimetres to sit in the direct sunlight again. Again I moved my shadow over him and again he flew a few centimetres out of the shadow.

When it basked in the sun, its wings occasionally shivered - presumably to increase its body temperature somewhat (see Cech; Tudor, 2005 - Butterflies of the East Coast: An Observer's Guide: isometric shivering). At the end of March, the path of the sun's rays still passes through a lot of atmosphere at midday, which means that a large proportion of the energy does not reach the ground.

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Incidentally, the sound that the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty makes during flight is interesting: the movement of the air can be clearly heard as the wings flap. Although quieter, it is certainly comparable to the flight noise of some birds. But quite different to the flying sound of the ApolloParnassius apollo (Linnaeus, 1758)Mountain ApolloApollo, for example, which is a bit like rustling parchment.

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I also noticed that the colours of the splendour spots seem to change between bluish and purple depending on the angle of the incident light. Very similar to how a male Purple EmperorApatura iris (Linnaeus, 1758)Purple Emperor or Lesser Purple EmperorApatura ilia (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775)Lesser Purple Emperor takes on a blue colour at a certain angle to the sun.

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Finally, after a total of 40 minutes, he flew up again and left my sight.

What an encounter! What a strange impression he left on me. Now I realise how Peter Kremer (1901-1989)Peter Kremer found his beautiful words in Stories/Poems (Peter Kremer: Schmetterlinge (1985)):

He seemed to me to belong to an otherworldly realm and only occasionally strayed into our bright day out of longing for the sunlight.

After 5 years without being able to spot an Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty, I had an encounter with the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty on 4 August 2017, albeit unfortunately an extremely brief one.

Zillertal, AustriaZillertal, AustriaAustria

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It was midday and me and my three sons still had about 5 minutes‘ walk ahead of us to reach the Olpererhütte, Zillertal, AustriaOlpererhütte in AustriaAustria. At an altitude of around 2300 metres, I photographed a Shepherd's FritillaryBoloria pales (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775)Shepherd's Fritillary feeding on a yellow flower standing on a small island in a stream. Another Shepherd's FritillaryBoloria pales (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775)Shepherd's Fritillary crossed my line of sight. I saw that this one was being followed by a much larger butterfly.

It was an Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty.

Interestingly, the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty - as far as I could tell from the flying butterfly - had very light-coloured wing margins. A hibernator? In August? Hardly possible. However, it still seemed to be in very good condition and had hardly flown.

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Unfortunately, the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty did not sit down, but flew downhill at greater speed after it had let go of the Shepherd's FritillaryBoloria pales (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775)Shepherd's Fritillary. It soon disappeared from my sight.

In addition to the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty, I saw several Shepherd's FritillaryBoloria pales (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775)Shepherd's Fritillaries as well as some Small TortoiseshellAglais urticae (Linnaeus, 1758)Nymphalis urticaeSmall Tortoiseshells in the same place, Blind RingletErebia pharte (Hübner, 1804)Erebia pharte, as well as a Red AdmiralVanessa atalanta (Linnaeus, 1758)Pyrameis atalantaRed AdmirableRed Admiral, a Silky RingletErebia gorge (Hübner, 1804)Silky Ringlet and a Phoebus ApolloParnassius phoebus (Fabricius, 1793)Parnassius sacerdosPhoebus Apollo.

Rhodopen, GreeceRhodopen, GreeceGreece

was on a photo tour in the Greek Rhodopen, GreeceRhodopen for a few days in mid-June.

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The large number of insects, lizards, snakes, tortoises etc. found there was overwhelming.

However, I hadn't expected the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty, as it is actually still in the chrysalis at this time.

On the last day of my stay, I was already on my way back to my accommodation in Ano Karyofyto. I wanted to look again for interesting motifs in an open area I already knew near the village of Livaditis.

I had only walked a few metres when I saw an unusually large dark butterfly flying between some butterflies about 20 metres away. I had suspected a Great Banded GraylingBrintesia circe (Fabricius, 1775)Aulocera circeKanetisa circeSatyrus circeGreat Banded Grayling. I had already seen a few of this species in the Rhodopes in the last few days. But the light conditions were not good, so I could hardly make out any details.

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I moved to the spot and the large butterfly came flying towards me. More precisely: it had obviously set its sights on me. It swivelled back and forth above my head and only now did I see that it was an Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty!

He already let go of me again and flew in an arc to a shady spot under a tree. He sat down there on dried ferns and I only managed two quick shots from a few metres away. Then he flew on over a gravel path and I rushed after him.

On a tour through the Rhodopes, you often don't see a single person for many hours. You might come across a few goats, cows or horses, often guarded by fierce dogs.

Just as I followed the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty and stepped onto the gravel path, a man came towards me. He was carrying an axe in his hand and was surrounded by 5 dogs. He was coming from the exact direction in which the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty flew off. I didn't have to think twice: I didn't follow the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty, but turned around immediately and quickly made my way back to the nearby parked hire car.

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I quickly got into the car and it only took a few seconds for the dogs to surround the vehicle barking. The man with the axe gave me a friendly nod.

A few minutes later, with man and dogs long gone, I walked round the area again. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty again.

Bonn, GermanyBonn, GermanyGermany

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I cycled a short loop of the Sieg to Meindorf and over the Ennert back to Bonn, GermanyBonn in pleasant summer weather.

Just before the entrance to the police headquarters in Ramersdorf, I saw a dead grey butterfly lying on the cycle path. At first I thought it was a Meadow BrownManiola jurtina (Linnaeus, 1758)Meadow Brown and cycled on. After a few metres, however, I decided to turn back and take a closer look at the insect.

I was quite surprised when I realised that it was actually an Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty.

There is always a small plastic container in my bike bag, so I put the dead animal in it and took it home with me.

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The butterfly looked very battered, but it had probably not been lying on the cycle path for too long. Otherwise it would certainly have been washed away by the recent rain or completely flattened. The Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty was close to the spot where a pedestrian had been fatally injured by a police van in 2017 - a terrible accident.

Of course, it is not possible to determine whether the butterfly really met its end in Bonn, GermanyBonn. However, I think it is not unlikely that it died in a collision with a vehicle where it was found. However, it is also possible, for example, that he was caught by the radiator of a lorry in a completely different location and killed and finally fell down again after a long journey near the place where he was found.

Allgäuer Alpen

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A friend who lives in the Allgäu had chosen a few places in the Allgäu Alps for a day trip with me and some of my family, which we visited together on 2 August. These included the high moor in Oberjoch, Oberallgäu, Bavaria, GermanyOberjoch near the Austriaaustrian border.

We had just left the high moor swimming pool on the right behind us when I saw a large butterfly sailing around the trunk of a BirchBetulaBirch:

It was an Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty!

The butterfly sat down on the trunk of the BirchBetulaBirch and briefly spread its wings. Fortunately, I had my camera ready to shoot, so I managed to take a single, albeit not quite optimal, picture. Only a short moment later, the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty flew up again and disappeared over the moor. Unfortunately, the butterfly's wings were only slightly open when I took the photo.

The friend (not a butterfly expert): What was that giant butterfly?.

All in all, the entire scene may have played out in a maximum of 4 to 5 seconds.

The next day I visited the area again - this time without children and with more time.

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During a short flying visit to the high moor Oberjoch, Oberallgäu, Bavaria, GermanyOberjoch, I unfortunately didn't come across the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty.

But later at the Konrad Zuse power station on the Ostrach in Hinterstein, Oberallgäu, Bavaria, GermanyHinterstein.

I had just set my camera on the sign describing the namesake of the residual hydropower plant (Konrad Zuse (1920-1995)Konrad Zuse is well known to me as a painter and engineer) when an Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty flew over me and the hydropower plant on the other side of the Ostrach.

Unfortunately, I was unable to record the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty here.

The next day I again went back to Kleinwalsertal, AustriaKleinwalsertal with the family.

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The day ended with a short walk along the Breitach river near Baad, Kleinwalsertal, AustriaBaad.

There are many WillowSalixWillows along the beautiful path and I saw an Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty twice:

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I saw the first one directly at the campsite in Baad, Kleinwalsertal, AustriaBaad and the second Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty a few minutes later at the end of the village in the direction of Mittelberg, Kleinwalsertal, Vorarlberg, AustriaMittelberg.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any shots here either. I was able to follow the second Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty briefly, but it flew past the Kleinwalsertal road maintenance depot on the left at high speed in the direction of Mittelberg, Kleinwalsertal, Vorarlberg, AustriaMittelberg.