As the next trip is set to occur on 20 July, the 18th and 19th were spent teaching my mother some DSLR basics while both of my zoom lenses accidentally got messed up during my cleaning attempt. During the practice day on the 18th, we got surprised by a single E. tages right between Zone III and "Yard" but were unable to photograph it due to one of my neighbor's cats that became jealous of the butterfly. We also got to see a male C. splendens in the midst of hunting in the hay field in Zone II.
+-------------------------+---------------------------------+--------+
| Species | Location | Status |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------|--------+
| Aglais io | Zone III | Adult |
|-------------------------|---------------------------------|–-------|
| Aglais urticae | Zone II | Adult |
|-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------|
| Aphantopus hyperantus | Zone II | Adult |
|-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------|
| Erynnis tages | Zone III | Adult |
|-------------------------|–--------------------------------|--------|
| Maniola jurtina | Zone I | Adult |
|-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------|
| Melanargia galathea | Zone II | Adult |
|-------------------------|–--------------------------------|--------|
| Pieris rapae | Zone II | Adult |
|-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------|
| Polyommatus bellargus | Zone III | Adult |
|–------------------------|---------------------------------|--------|
| Vanessa atalanta | Zone III | Adult |
|-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------|
|-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------|
| Calopteryx splendens | Zone III | Adult |
|-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------|
| Coenagrion mercuriale | Zone II | Adult |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------+--------+
And while not present myself, my mother was able to properly identify Colias sp., P. bellargus and P. edusa, the latter only having made a single appearance in 2024 which she missed back then. She had to return after less than ten minutes due to the heat.
+-------------------------+---------------------------------+--------+
| Species | Location | Status |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------|--------+
| Colias sp. | Mixed Field | Adult |
|-------------------------|---------------------------------|–-------|
| Polyommatus bellargus | Mixed Field | Adult |
|-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------|
| Pontia edusa | Mixed Field | Adult |
|-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------|
| Vanessa atalanta | Yard | Adult |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------+--------+
And whilst preparing our second barbecue due to leftovers from yesterday, one V. atalanta checked out our stinging nettle multiple times and appeared to be wanting to lay eggs. It likely got disturbed by our barbecue, as no eggs were found.
Although both the increasing temperatures and my zoom lenses still making me worry, tomorrow may finally see the Meisel trip.