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dansnaturepictures · 9 months

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Big Butterfly Count 2023: My standout species

As another fabulous three weeks of counting in a vitally important citizen science project approaches its end, I have been reflecting on the many Big Butterfly Counts I have done over the past few weeks. Below are some of the key species I saw with a few comments.

Red Admiral

Where else could I start? This long time favourite butterfly of mine has grabbed the headlines and taken the count by storm with the sheer numbers of them around. It has been fascinating to see the unusually high numbers at this time of year for me, with it being more notable if it was a day I didn't see one than did in the butterfly count a species I might usually see in two or three of my Big Butterfly Counts in a year. Personally it has made me so happy to see so many and really struck to the core of how I fell in love with this charismatic species with some glorious times watching them, key moments in an amazing butterfly year I've had generally. I took the first two pictures in this photoset of Red Admirals at one of the most memorable counts I did this year at Egleton, Rutland Water at the start and on a recent evening at Lakeside Country Park. It also personifies the importance of the count with the indicator of climate change these numbers are with more now overwintering here. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66395590

Summer stalwarts: Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper

I have just for fun actually just created two leaderboards out of all my counts this year so far, one overall and one for Lakeside Country Park where I did the most counts. Unsurprisingly Meadow Brown topped both with Gatekeeper third behind Small White overall and second at Lakeside. Where I saw less of their fellow key summer species Marbled White and Ringlet compared to previous years which in the ever shifting seasons perhaps emerged too early and their shorter seasons were waning and ceased here during the count, this pair have been ever present again with me seeing some very high numbers of them on counts. The usual passing of the baton I see where I go from seeing mostly Meadow Browns to mostly Gatekeepers on counts towards the end of it didn't really happen this year as both were high throughout, perhaps due to the Gatekeeper's notable early emergence this year too. I have felt really connected to these colourful butterflies during the three weeks and the Big Butterfly Count wouldn't be the same without them. It's been my best Big Butterfly Count for getting photos of the species included I think and I took the third and fourth in this set of Gatekeeper and fifth of Meadow Brown all at Lakeside.

The white butterflies: Small, Large and Green-veined

The white butterflies in the count have been ever present in my contributions also, with Small White like in 2021 for me really challenging the Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper for the top spots with so many seen. The elegant and alluring Green-veined White was one I notably saw more of in the count this year and I very much enjoyed doing so, taking the sixth and seventh pictures in this photoset of some at Lakeside. Large White is something I see less than I might think generally and I enjoyed some sightings of them during the count.

Speckled Wood

A surprise package this year for me, I have been very happy to observe a fair few of these intricately marked and joyful butterflies during the count this year, another that was more present for me than usual. I took the eighth picture in this photoset of one at Lakeside during the count.

Six-spot Burnet

Onto day flying moths included in the count now and before the count arrived I felt as though I was seeing more of this gorgeous moth the species that first got me into moths back in 2010 this year, but that's something easy to say whilst in the grip of their season. But whilst their season waned during it Big Butterfly Count proved that a bit for me with a high amount seen especially at Lakeside. It was a pleasure to see these dashing moths many times, I took the ninth picture in this photoset of one at Lakeside.

Jersey Tiger moth

Finally it's a quality over quantity moment as on Monday I was over the moon to spot the superb Jersey Tiger moth in the tenth picture in this photoset at Lakeside. It was only the second time I've ever seen this species and first during the Big Butterfly Count days. It was an amazing moment in my moth year getting a great view of it. But there is a notable point for quantity too as amazingly only days into the count I'd seen all of the Big Butterfly Count species in one of my counts apart from a Jersey Tiger. It was improbable I'd spot one given I'd only seen one before, but I did and for the first time ever it means I've every species at least once during my run of doing counts which feels nice.

I would do a highly commended list but fear I would end up saying all of the other species so thought I would say I was so happy to see every species and a few more for quality and quantity really made an impression on me this year. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed contributing to this amazing project again and sharing what I saw.

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greatfallsrp · 2 years

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NAME: Fiore De Santis GENDER & PRONOUNS: Cis Woman / She/Her AGE & DATE OF BIRTH: 42 years old / February 28th HOMETOWN: Venice, Italy TIME IN GREAT FALLS: Eight months RESIDENCE: Forest Hills OCCUPATION: Owner of Tutto su di te (All About You) Boutique

BACKSTORY —

trigger warnings: fire mention, illness/cancer, spousal death, depression.

Venice, Italy. It’s a unique city, with its structure and foundation that has been built on water. It’s a city that exudes confidence, and that’s why it made sense as to why Margaret Powell, a Jamaican Canadian immigrant, would move to the city in order to follow the love of her life. The city made her feel as if she were strolling in a dream. Witnessing the sparkling water, gorgeous palazzos, and picturing herself floating from one area to another. But, before Italy, Margaret’s life began in Kingston, Jamaica until her parents decided to move to Toronto, Ontario in order to open a fully authenticated Jamaican restaurant when she was six years old. Margaret grew up in that restaurant. The location was unpromising – a former McDonald's on the first floor of a shopping center in Egleton West, also known as Little Jamaica – but Margaret’s parents, being the dreamers and visionaries that they were, transformed it into a grand, open love letter and an expression of respect for the richness of Jamaican culture while serving comfort island foods. Complete with delicious Caribbean cooking, eclectic design and soulful hospitality, the restaurant was able to run itself. And then the unfortunate happened. A fire took everything. An electrical shortage. Something that could have been fixed so easily, but someone decided to cut corners. One spark was all it took for the restaurant to go up in flames overnight. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but the loss was devastating for the family. It was their only source of income and now it was all gone. Remarkably, the community came together, and after several months of outpouring donations and volunteer work, Margaret’s parents and their restaurant were back up and running. It was a trying time for all of them, but it also taught the family resilience and humility.

Life went on for Margaret as normally as it could. She went to school, did her work and helped her parents at the restaurant when she had the time. Eventually, Margaret went off to university for English literature in the hopes of one day becoming a published author. Shortly after graduating, Margaret met who would be her future husband on the streets of downtown Toronto. It was a meeting that was not supposed to happen. He was a product specialist for Armani who was doing everything that he could in order to claw his way up the fashion hierarchy. Margaret was a freelance writer and trying to break into one of the city's most prestigious news companies. They were two people on different paths, moving through life in their own limited worlds, and yet, after taking each other out on dates and spending a few short months together, Taddeo Visentin understood that his world had been expanded because of the woman he had bumped into and spilt his coffee on. Margaret undoubtably felt the same way. Ecstatic, Taddeo went down on one knee and ask Margaret to marry him, and she certainly didn’t have to think twice about her answer. Taddeo has already done so much of her and her parents out of the pure goodness of his sweet, giving heart.

In no time, the couple moved to Taddeo’s home country: Italy, where they would also marry. They settled in easily. One year later, they had Margaret’s parents flown in, attended the wedding and stayed for three and a half weeks. The newlyweds began their lives together despite being in tune with one another since the first day they had met. Overtime, Taddeo had risen the ranks to becoming the front point marketing director. Margaret gained a job at The English Internation School of Padua where she gave classes in English and Musical Arts. They thrived together. They didn’t think their lives would become any better than it already was. And then Margaret found out she was eight weeks pregnant, and despite being absolutely terrified about how much everything could change, her anxieties and doubts disappeared when she had finally worked up the courage to tell Taddeo about her positive pregnancy test. He was elated, over the moon, filled with joy.

Fiore was born on a cloudy day while Venice was still in the throes of winter during February with the enrichments of success thrusted upon her. She could sense it ever since she was little – the world was a heart cracked open, all for the taking. Fiore’s imagination and sense of wonder allowed her to explore everything she took an interest in with no restrains. Margaret and Taddeo saw this spark within their daughter from an early age and allowed massive amounts of opportunities for Fiore and created an environment that allowed time and space for creativity to be nurtured. They surrounded their daughter with all different genres of books, music, literature, and people, even, due to both of their professions there were certainty a wide range of personalities Fiore had been exposed to since early childhood. Because Fiore has such a wide range of likes and curiosities, school was certainly a space for the young girl to cultivate and expand on her talents. She was also particularly good at being social, as well. Fiore could be withdrawn sometimes, occasionally staring off into the distance with unfocused eyes.

As much as her imagination and creativity gave her the ability of open-mindedness that drew people in, there were also negative ways Fiore’s imagination got her into trouble. Because as she goes through school, moving up the grades one after the other in what she thought was slow torture, she found her imagination seemed less relevant to teachers than certain things that they wanted her to learn, like the alphabet and math skills. That isn’t to say Fiore didn’t find those things unimportant, however, schools tend to test students solely on their ability to regurgitate knowledge. Back then, schools mostly cater to people who can learn easily from lectures and reading. Fiore barley made it out of high school because she was so bored. Her social life was active, but not out of control. She had a great relationship with her parents, but there were respected boundaries. Even Fiore’s extracurricular activities had her on the go, creating and confident and bubbly personality. So, what happened during lower secondary school?

While nobody was watching, Fiore would sneak out of the lectures she didn’t enjoy and hide out in the classroom with the red sewing machines. Fiore has been operating one since she was five years old because of her father. She knows that, in her deepest of hearts, that one day work in the same industry as her father. They have never spoken about it, her interest in the fashion industry, but they will in time and a celebration would soon follow. So, Fiore was of course punished for not going to any of her classes and instead of learning, she was honing the skills she was gifted. Fiore is in fact her father’s daughter. The young girl was grounded for a month and a half, and she was only to leave the house for interactions out of recreational. No parties. No sleepovers. Honestly? Fiore didn’t mind. She breezed through the lockdown because she was still able to do what she does best: create. Seeing his daughter's talent’s grow, Taddeo started bringing her to his office and instead of having her run around from room to room before sitting herself down in the kitchen where people would fawn over how adorable she is, Fiore was learning how to work alongside them.

The young girl started from the bottom with the primary level of textile production, where she learned mills and yarn makers. Fiore learned about a plethora of designers and the history of manufacturers, vendors, and retail levels. What really got her attention was the fourth level – the auxiliary level. This level gave Fiore the chance to connect all her talents together. This is where it all made sense for her. Because on this level, she was able to connect the dots between her imagination and being able to forecast fashion. Not only trends, but agencies, consultants – Fiore was going to be one of the hardest working people to become the person who is able to play a part in the merchandise’s progression and growth. By this point, Fiore had made it into upper secondary school. She couldn’t wait to make it out. She loved spending time with her friends, but the days were so long for her. It was hard to be stuck in classes for someone who already know what they’re going to do with the rest of their lives. Beneath her desk, Fiore’s leg would be shaking constantly on rhythm, ticking down the minutes when she would rush home to expel the pent-up energy that had accumulated over the day into something beautiful. Fiore would always start a sketch in the morning and before the next school night, could have a prototype of a dress ready for fitting.

One hundred days before their exams, the graduating class of 1998 organized their ‘Scuola secondaria di secondo grado’. Fiore made a lot of money by making more than half of the girl's dresses and tailor a handful of her male classmates. She was happy to do it, and in fact, Fiore would have rather done this for free and out of the goodness of her heart if it were not for the fact that she was paying her own way through university, and she needed to start somewhere. Fiore understood her parents reasonings for not supporting her through school. They had already given her so much and although a parent is always supposed to support their child, which they do, at some point, they also need to set up boundaries and Fiore needed to learn how to fend for herself. And she did. Arriving at the Istituto Marangoni Fashion School was no easy feat, but she did it. She made it and now she was excited to get started. From day one Fiore learned rigorous perfection and finding balance between design functionality and aesthetics. Though, moving through the various progressive stages of design from pattern making, to cutting, prototyping, and seeing the design right through to the finished product is where Fiore was able to shine. She also was able to see patterns or trends that were in the rise and the ones that were about to plummet before anything even hit the newsstands. Some would say Fiore was a fashion profit, some would say that she was simply marching to the beat of her own drum, never following trends in the first place.

Whatever it was, it was working for Fiore. She gained her master's at Instituto Marangoni Fashion School, which opened the door to the biggest goal she had been aiming for: being accepted into the Milano Fashion Institute. This was the first time Fiore was unsure about something. She was unsure if she was going to be get in. This was a highly competitive industry, and it wasn’t lost on Fiore that there was a lot of talent being read. What made her so special? Other than the fact that her father was already a socialite in the same industry Fiore was trying to break into. She was terrified of people believing she would get in because of nepotism, and there were rooms. It broke her heart that there were people out there who didn’t know her who thought that she didn’t have to lift a finger when she did get into her course when in fact Fiore worked extremely and incredibly hard. Because of these rumours, her celebration party for getting into the prestigious school was a little damped because of her despondent mood. Though, as she started her learning, the people who doubted her didn’t matter in the end. All that mattered was that Fiore was going to make a name for herself, and she was going to make her family proud.

Graduating as a master in Brand and Product Management, Fiore hit the ground running. And not just in her work life. In 2003, around the same time Fiore had started her internship for brand management at LVMH, the young woman had met Amedeo De Santis. They had crossed paths in the lobby of her work by coincidence. She had been coming back from a coffee run when she spotted a television crew setting up, and she couldn’t help but to ask what was happening, and the person she had asked was Amedeo. He looked at the intern, informing her that this was his final project for school. A documentary series about being black in in Italy, and in different industries. This episode was focusing in on being black in the Italian fashion industry. It was a big project and Fiore couldn’t help but be impressed by how well Amedeo was handling all the moving parts. Amedeo and Fiore met up every time he was doing in interview at her work and over a short month, they fell into a routine. It wasn’t until Amedeo’s last day of filming that he asked her to be in his documentary. When she said that she’d love to give an interview, he followed up with asking to go on an official date with him. To no surprise to either of them, Fiore agreed.

The rest is history, as they say. Fiore and Amedeo spent almost every waking moment together for the next fifteen years. Despite their busy schedules, they always were able to make time for each other. They got married in 2005, moving through life together. The talk of conceiving or adopting children had popped up every now and then. In the end, they don’t end up having children and instead, continue loving their lives, with just the two of them. Twenty-one after they meet, Amedeo began showing unusual signs of illness. Fatigue, trouble breathing, and unintended weight loss. And after numerous blood tests and CT scans, Amedeo was diagnosed with cancer. His doctors tell him he has three months to live. He lives for another year and a half before he succumbs to the disease, drifting off into an endless slumber with Fiore at his side to the end.

It’s been three years since Amedeo has passed away and sadly, Fiore hasn’t done much since other than retire from the fashion industry.

For three years, Fiore would sit on the porch in the backyard and imagine Amedeo wandering through the garden. Taking in the beauty of the new flowers they placed in five springs ago, he would comment on how big they’ve grown, how proud he is of these seedlings, and Fiore cannot help but picture what an amazing father he could have been. He sounded so proud, and with that, a smile grace gentle lips while he moves toward the tree, Fiore’s heart swells. The tree, but a sapling. An oak, to be specific. Also, a memorial for their beloved Scottish Terrier who had sadly passed away five months earlier. His favourite spot was lounging in the gazebo, under the shade with a chilled glass of dry wine. Fiore wanted to remember everything so that she wouldn’t have to forget.

In her grief and anger, for months, that was only way Fiore knew how to communicate. Margaret and Taddeo hated seeing their child this way. In so much pain, feeling so completely lost. During a breakthrough and a rather explosive argument between Fiore and her parents – Margaret and Taddeo explain that they wanted Fiore to live with them for the foreseeable future so that she didn’t have to stay in her own home alone, driving herself mad. But, always wanting to maintain a streak of independence, Fiore decided to meet in the middle, and suggest she pick a place that is far away from Italy, but also where she would have family so that she was able to call on for help if it were ever needed to ease her parents worry. That is how Fiore ended up in Great Falls, Montana eight months ago. Fiore’s great-grandmother’s house was up for sale. An old Dutch Colonial styled home in Forest Hills that was covered in over-grown vines, paired with an unruly garden and many floorboards to be replaced, it was clear that nobody in the family wanted it, mostly because it had been neglected for so long. Fiore, though, saw the potential - and the risk - and decided to go for it. For herself. It was that or tear down, and Fiore had always been an incredibly sentimental being. The big move did come with its up and downs, for course, but after a long flight and unpacking an embarrassing number of boxes, nailing down a routine that she can be happy with, Fiore has finally settled into her new home. The fact that she has also opened an upscale boutique within the same months very well adds to the fact that she has only just started to relax and take in her new place of residence - just in time for summer.

Portrayed by MEGHAN MARKLE, written by JAS.

#t.#na.#f.#fiore de santis #meghan markle #jas

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