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2006

1 ИЮЛЯ (запись 5 июля)
  Погода та же. В конце дня - ливень уже с градом.

2 ИЮЛЯ (запись 5 июля)
  Князев ездил в Давыдовку, поймал двух самцов M. teleius.
  Жара, духота, так что дышать трудно. 

3 ИЮЛЯ (запись 5 июля)
  Больше +30оС, солнце. Поехали на ?Березовый - на западную окраину Омска
как раз напротив нового моста. Саша говорит, что лет десять назад ловил там
H. jurtina, но что-то не верится. Там были разреженные березняки и
участки тонконоговой степи. Под березняками местами была клубника,
причем уже обильно плодоносила. Цвели Euphorbia virgata, Galium
verym, Melilotus officinalis, Madicago, Carduus crispus, Senecio jacobaea, 
в одном месте Astragalus onobrychis, Carduus nutans. Сначала все очень
вытпоптано, вокруг частный сектор, за станцией Юннатов - неплохие
пространства. Бабочек мало: T. lineola, P. rapae, Everis agriades, 
P. amanda, Mellicta, Melitaea phoebe, A. urticae, N. xanthomelas
(отдельные), B. ino, F. adippe, A. paphia, C. glycerion, A. hyperanthus, 
H. lycaon - всех немного, а пока шли туда по рудеральным обильно цветущим 
пустырям - не было вообще никого, кроме одного hyperanthus. 
Colias hyale почему-то появились только ближе к станции. Поймал одну 
какую-то необыкновенно желтую снизу и с желтым налетом брюквенницу. 
Было понижение с некоторым количеством тростника, все дно которого равномерно заросло Potentilla 
anserina. Там держалось много C. glycerion, а на крую - несколько
свежайших A. levana. На участках степи часты черные ктыри. На широких
прогалинах видны Ae. grandis, с кустов вспугивался кто-то также
гомфидного размера. 
   На Красном Пути около полуночи нашел самку волнянки - чисто
белую с четными отметинами, то есть совершенный непарник, но 
раза в полтора меньше. 

4 ИЮЛЯ (запись 5 июля)
   Похолодало, около +20оС. С утра асфальт влажный, памсурно, к середине
дня разъяснилось. Около 18 ч прошелся по наб. Тухачевского, на иве со стороны
набережной держалась самка C. splendens с намеком на коричневатую область на 
крыле. На Ленина у самой презжей части на листе декоративного рстения
сидела свежайшая Stilpnotia salicis. За окном (это 9 этаж) сегодня ближе 
к вечеру периодически виду самцов волнянок, то ли непарника, то ли монашенку. 

6 ИЮЛЯ
   +22оС, с утра ни облачка, к обеду Cumulus humilis. С 10 до 12.30 в
Парке Победы. $Переливницы очень часты, причем с утра попадались в основном
самки, которые сосали влажную землю совершенно как самцы, в основном
с открытыми крыльями. Самцы - там же, в основном с закрытыми, кроме того,
они иногда облетали ивы. Одна самка села на иву, непосредственно
над ней сел самец, и оба сидели с открытыми крыльями неподвижно и
довольно долго, а еще см в 15 сидел другой самец. Около 12.30 прошелся
по дороге за линией ив, обращенной к открытому парку. Там были часты
переливницы обоего пола, причем самки тоже садились на дорогу. Все
самцы очень битые, кроме одного контрастно свежего и интенсивного,
самки частично тоже уже битые. Были белянки, голубянки, углокрыльницы -
кстати, не видел ни одной xanthomelas, много Aphantopus, их несколько
вперемешку со шмелями кормилось на сорбарии. На берегу протоки
была куртина густой осоки, увидел на ней какую-то бабочку - это
была N. w-album, но пока настраивал аппарат, она исчезла. Стрекозы те же,
андрохромных самок не было, но были какие-то дымчатые. Ортетрумов было
мало, дедок - исключительно много (многие спаривались), серраты не видел. 

8 ИЮЛЯ (запись 30 июля)
   Жарко. В середине дня над перекрестке за Транспортным летало небольших
размеров коромысло. Летало долго и основательно, довольно медленно, с парением,
поднимаясь на несколько метров и спускаясь так, что я готовился ловить рукой.
Проезжающие машины заставляли ее быстро подниматься высоко в сторону и потом
возвращаться. Дважды она исчезала, но минут через 5-10 возвращалась. Она
была зеленовато-желтая с явственным рыжим оттенком на брюшке, если бы не это -
была бы A. affinis, а с этим заставляла вспомнить про Anax parthenope. 
Был там же к вечеру. Ее не было, и было пасмурно. Вскоре пошел дождь.

The notes below are in English for I had a fortunate possibility to write them right in expedition, on the stationary, and to make writing of aт oncoming report for I В А easier.

12^th July

We departed from Academy Town at about 7:30. We made a short stop 40 km N of Novosibirsk, at an aspen grove edge, and were impressed by abundance of mosquitoes, absent in Academy Town. Then there were very even and regular wide meadows or fields and birch-aspen groves in relief depressions, so characteristic for the forest-steppe. First spruces appeared just before the village of Bozoi, which had an impressive near-settlement cedar forest, but then the land was the same as earlier. Only after Kozhevnikovo , the birch-aspen forest became predominating, that meant that we were already in the subtaiga. After Melnikovo some spruces, and then cedars and firs become visible among the deciduous trees, but yet their massifs were too scanty for the southern taiga zone. The village of Tyzyrachevo at the Shegarka River had a very good cedar forest. After it we passed two places where the peat-moss bogs with depressed but dense pines were seen from the road (I though that the pine in such bogs is rare, it appeared dense). Then Plotnikovo appeared quite suddenly, indeed with some fir forest seen behind the Iksa River, but it was not large and impressive as well.

The stationary was a village yard with several wooden building and metal trailers. Just behind the fence, there were some meadow patches descending to the high bank of the Iksa River, through a stripe of birch, bird cherry and spruce stand. The river was rimmed with tall sedge (sometimes over a boggy ground), had a clayey banks and a reddish-brown (peaty) water.

Over the yard and, mostly, meadow patches in front of tree stand, there swarmed very numerous Somatochloras, flying 1-5 m high. They appeared to be females: among them, remarkably dark-winged ones were noticeable. The darkest were S. arctica and two flavomaculata, but I also collected a fully clear-winged arctica and intermediate arctica and, surprisingly, a male of S. metallica (this one flew low over the grass). Such Somatochloras were swarming above all such yards on our street, and everywhere closer to the river (and I've never seen so many of them), also at tree crowns from the riverside, but not above the very river. On the river, there were males of S. metllica patrolling just above the water, and some L. quarimaculata. Above the river flew a male of A. grandis, and I collected a female A. juncea. In sedge, there were quite many C. hastulatum, also in tandems, some females of which penetrating into meadow patches and yards.

Of the butterflies, everywhere, from the bank to the houses extremely numerous were fresh N. xanthomelas; while I saw only one worn out A. uricae and nothing else from this group. Quite numerous were also G. rhamni, of both sexes. On meadows there were many T. lineola, P. argus (mostly worn) and L. sinapis (fresh). On a bird cherry leaf, I collected a female of F. pruni. On the muddy river bank there were the same N. xanthomelas, G. rhamni and P. argus sipping, the latters for some reason being especially attracted by a lonely brick.

In the afternoon, we went backward along the road to Tomsk to see some roadside water bodes. There was a stripe of wasting land along the road, bordered with birch\aspen forest. We soon reached a roadside pool, with some Phragmites and some Typha latifolia in the corner; in its shallow water stood sparse Eleocharis, a patch of Equisetum fluviatile, and some Alisma plantago-aquatica scattered; on the water surface the leaves of Potamogeton alpinum were floating. In grass and Eleocharis there were many C. johanssoni (also in tandems), quite many L. dryas and some L. virens, the later being remarkably small (some were tenerals). There were many L. rubicunda and some L. dubia (one male captured a tandem of C. johanssoni), and quite many L. quadrimaculata. The pool was patrolled by two males of A. crenata, and one female laid her eggs. Rafal saw several very light Pterphorids just above the water.

A large glade was protruding from the pool towards the birch/aspen forest (without any coniferous tree). There were many T. lineola and worn out P. argus, some P. Amanda, some Mellicta, worn out M. phoebe, many fresh L. sinapis (mostly males), quite many fresh H. lycaon, some P. daplidice, I saw a male C. hyale and collected a fresh male of M. dryas. Over the glade (as well as over the pool, flew very old females of A. crataegi, abundant but not so much. Closer to the pool, I collected a male T. dispar. Above the glade, apart from the pool, quite many Somatochlora flew trophically. They were mostly S. arctica but also S. flavomaculata. It appears that flavomaculata females all are dark-winged (and I'd say large-spotted) while those of S. arctica vary greatly for the darkening.

At forest edges there were bushes of Spiraea salicifolia with flowers, and patches of Filipendula ulmaria. There I met two old N. sappho and some more fresh N. rivularis, and also a worn out C. hero, there were also some A. paphia, A. levana, and omnipresent N. xanthomelas. Going back, in the very village on the main road I found a dead (and missing left wings) male of Apatura iris, still with iridescence!

Then we went to the bridge. Under it, the ground was firm and barren (and the river fast and noisy), and there was a congregation of a dozen of P. napi with some Leptidea, and also a great number of N. xanthomelas kept to there. In sedge at bushes, I collected a male T. dispar with teared wings. Rafal saw a gomphid which flew above the water surface, and it seemed to me that I also saw one which sat on a bush leaf. Upstream and downstream the banks had a luxuriant sedge, to which kept C. splendens: several males and females: 1 normal, 1 with smoked wing disal part, 3 androchromc: 2 f. faivrei and 1 with fore wing coloured to tips. Here they are also! Above the water, I collected 1 male of I. eleans and Rafal 1 very old S. paedisca, it also seemed to him that he saw an Erythromma. Some Aeshna male patrolled quite high above the river (where it became wider and deeper), it should be crenata. On our way back, Rafal collected several Somatichlora of those which swarmed at bush and tree grove edges on the way to the bridge, and they all turned to be S. arctica.

In the evening I collected 6 speimens of 4 species of Pterophoridae arrived to our windows (one was P. pentadactylus).

We saw remarkably few birds: Milvux, C. corax, Motacilla alba, the village swallow, Passer.

13^th July

In the morning the sky was cloudless. At about 9 a.m. I visited the river bank. S. metallica flew but the swarming Somatochlora were absent. In the bank sedge, I met two L. achine, quite worn out.

At 10 a.m. we went out for the Bakchaskoe (Bobrovskoe) Bog. First we me moved for 11 km along the road until a hardly seen turn left through a wooden bridge. A the the turn, there flew L. populi which then sat on the ground, and A. paphila f. valezina, which sat on an inflorescence of Spiraea salicifolia. Then we made 4 km on a vehicle along a straight forest road, very peaty and with numerous hollows, which was accompanied with a drainage ditch with a dark-brown water, flowing surprisingly fastly. The forest was very dense and even. It was composed of B. pubescence and Pinus pumila, of the same quite a low height, standing close to each other. The ground was barely clad with vegetation, in which Equisetum pratense was locally abundant, D. expansa was noticeable, and L. annotinum not rare. Quite frequent were cedar saplings, especially at the ditch, but no mature trees. Trees bore an enormous amount of some horizontal cobwebs. Our vehicle was persuaded with numerous and various Tabanidae, from 'dozhdevki' (Haematopota) to huge vasp-like ones, and some mosquitoes. But other insects were very scarce: I saw no dragonflies, and only some P. napi and A. paphia.

Then we left the car and started walking southwards. First I came close to the ditch and saw some Somatochlora patrolling above it. We crossed the ditch and went along a perpendicular one. Along the ditch, there grew dense birches and pines of the same height as in the forest, and some willow (S. dasyclados) lower trees. But the other area was covered with a remarkably low but quite dense and even pine stand grown on the peat-moss bog. The pines were not so much distorted and were about 3 m high, yet they hardly resembled pines from any forest and all this looked very specially, as if a pine forest diminishing in size. The ground layer was represented by a dense and even shrubbery of Chamaedaphne. Further on locally there appeared a substantial component of Ledum, which may dominate, and Betula nana, also some Andromeda, but Chamaedaphne was invariably the main shrub there. In parallel to the forested ditch, theу went a road of open very mild ground, and I moved for a while along it. It was hot, Tabanidae were scarce, and there were no other blood-sucking insects. As well as any other insects, I'd say. I saw rarely some solitary Somatochloras on a trophical flight. Two of those turned out t be S. arctica. I saw 2-3 S. flaveolum as well and one female of L. dubia. Butterflies were even scarser: several L. sinapis being the maximum, plus a P. napi and, of course, some passing N. xanthomelas; a couple of times I saw G. rhamni.. Of flowers, there were only Chamerion angustifolia. Plants of R. chamaemorus occurred, with leaves which seemed me too huge. Then I went along the forested ditch and surprisingly captured a male of Apatua iris, with undamaged wings. It was a great surprise to see it among the bogs, without any river or normal forest nearby.

In 2 km we reached the ecologists' hut. On the right, behind the ditch, there was a vast open bog without trees, but as well without open water. Apart from the ditch, there was an area rich in Carex limosa. There was situated an automatic station which measured a large set of physical and chemical parameters, including emission of methane and carbon dioxide. Above the ditch there ranged a male of S. metallica. Behind the hut there was a firemen pond with black water, quite cold except for the heated surface level. Above it a male A. crenata ranged, in sedge at banks C. hastulatum occurred, and nearby both sexes of L. dubia, they perched on pine low branches. The hut, especially an open 'predbannik' was attacked by dozens of N. xanthomelas and males of A. paphia, some penetrating inside, many sitting on the walls, and some on the barren ground. I also collected there a very small and light worn-out V. optilete, a very worn out A. urticae, a fresh A. levana and saw P. rapae.

We departed from the hut in the same southern direction via the same dwarf pine forest on a bog, along a forested ditch (which now missed willows and most of its birches). It was easier to go along the ditch, for there was a firm ground, but the path was very narrow and weak while the low trees dense. The road was too mild, yet most part we went along it. Of noticeable differences, from time to time there appeared groups of R. chamaemorus with fruits, partly ripen. Dragonflies seemed to be a bit more frequent - mostly L. dubia of both sexes and also flying S. arctica. Butterflies were scarce (and the same), but I collected a female B. aquilonaris, the only specimen this day. Meanwhile the Altocumulus clouds grew and attained the congestus stage.

In 3 km from the hut, the pines appeared to become taller and we soon entered a stripe of 'normal' birch forest, 'on a mineral ground'. Surprisingly, there were no pines in it, the birches were again dense and thin, the ground under them rough, almost missing the grass and piled with fallen birch leaves. At its edge, Rafal collected L. quadrimaculata with heavily spotted wings. We crossed the forest, behind it there proceeded the same low pine bog as earlier, while the path along the ditch became even less explicit and hard to move along through the coppice. In about 1 km, which seemed longer, we crossed a transversal ditch and entered a wide open part oа the bog, through which a one-plank wide logpath [gat'] was laid, that strongly facilitate moving. Mikhail told us that, as viewed on the cosmic photographs, these open places look like some flows, and the water in them flows indeed with a speed about 20 cm/hr. (I should say the dark water in ditches flows quite fastly). The open bog was formed by a brownish peat moss and sedge leaves (mostly C. rostrata, also C. limosa), there appear both species of Drosera, in good quantities, and odd-looking Scheichzeria. On the left, some 'cape' of tall forest was seen, wchich included some cedars and spruces. Behind the open stripe, we entered a coppice of truly dwarf pines, 1.5-2 m high, with remarkably short needles, which seemed as a fantastic vast bonsai park, with nobody to enjoy. These dwarf pines were told to be about 100-150 years old. The coppice grew on the same bog, without shrubbery, as is open part, and another peculiar plant appeared, Rhynchospora alba. We soon came to some gaps in pine coppice where a chain of small pools of open water was situated. There was another automatic measurement station. Mikhail told us that here the bog was 1000 years old, while that at the hut (it was 5 km behind) reaches 5000 years. To that time, the clouds grew and produced three short but very strong rains, with huge drops. Two of them brought hale, about pea-sized. The sun appeared shortly after them, and the dragonflies on the pool seemed not to pay attention to them (A. crenata flying under the very rain).

The banks of the pools were a quacking-bog, at the water there grew C. limosa and M. trifoliate, in the water I noticed Utricularia and Myriophyllum, locally on the second pool there were Nupharpumila nd N. tetragona. Above each pool, there flew 1 (may be more) male of Ae. crenata. Rafal collected male and later a female of A. subarctica, above the bog near water but not above water. There were quite a few L. dubia of both sexes, several L. quadrimaculata, and sparse S. flaveolum, which seemed to be dispersed from somewhere else. In sedge, there were many L. sponsa and numerous C. johanssoni (no other Coenagrion species). Rafal said he collected a young L. virens. On the second pool, in sedge there were also Nechalennia, of both sexes. Not so numerous. I tried to take photos and noticed they prefer not to sit but frequently changed positions on stems nearby. Rafal collected a male Enallagma, and we both each saw a male of E. najas on floating leaves. In submerged moss on the second pool, I collected 3 very small Coenagrion larvae and 2 very small Leucorrhinia larva. There was a chain of such pools, but we visited only two. At 18 we started our way back. Haematopota were biting, but not many. Mikhail told us that it was the first pool where the first acedophylic methanogenic bacterium and the first facultative metanotrophic bacterium were discovered.

Dragonflies on those pools were fine, quite abundant and were which we hoped to get. But remarkable was their scantity on the surrounded bogs, which looked pretty lifeless. Such a huge wetland had almost no dragonflies and birds. We heard and saw Motacilla alba at the pools, startled a female wood-grouse with fledglings from the forested ditch, and heard chaffinch in the initial mixed forest, and that's seemed to be all. Around the pools, I saw several dead and one alive caterpillars of some Arctia, fulvous throughout. In open bog and on 'bonsai park' there were quite many some white Pyraloidea.

We spent about an hour at the hut. On its wall there crawled a mature caterpillar of E. pavonia. On an opening in front of it flew about a dozen of S. arctica, with females of varying wing darkness. I collected series of N. xanthomelas and A. paphia. We moved to open bog area but saw only few S. flaveolum and a male Coenagrion sp., and Rafal cought a tandem of S. flavomaculata. There was no open water, just in some places some water layer appeared above the moss. Absence of pools was striking and evidenced for an undisturbed nature of the bog. At that time, about 20.00, Simulidae appeared, which followed with mosquitoes which bate furiously in the forest. When we reached the main road, we saw a male A. crenata who captured Somatochlora and flew with it.

14^th July

It was again hot and sunny. At abut 11 a. m. we crossed the bridge. From the bridge, we saw two Rallus aquaticus flying from bank to bank and hiding in sedge, and a bright-blue A. crenata flying above the dark-brown water, and males of C. splendens were playing at a small 'island' of Sparganium emersum at the river middle. and descended from its embankment to the upstream left floodland where was a chain of small half disappeared oxbows of tens of metres size, behind them a spruce-birch taiga stand with a rich herb layer. Numerous Somatochloras flew above the glades between willow bushes and above oxbows, many dark-winged: I collected some and all but one were S. arctica, the rest one was a dark-winged female of S. flavomaculata, and I saw more of those. The oxbow surface was mostly covered with Lemna, while at shallow banks there was a rim of flowering Hydrocharis (the flowers of which were vigorously visited by G. rhamni). Above the oxbows, 1-2 A. grandis flew, and a female was trying to lay eggs into a floating branch. The banks were full of L. quadrimaculata and L. rubicunda, while Rafal collected a male L. pectoralis. Quite many S. flaveolum kept at water and apart, but they seemed to be just dispersed. Rafal saw some bright-red male without wingspots. Of Zygoptera, there were many C. johanssoni and less abundant C. puella (I collected a tandem of the latter composed of two males), there were also L. dryas. The butterflies around were 'normal' - many P. argus, T. lineola, G. rhamni, N. rivularis (old), A. levana (fresh), B. ino (invariably feeding on Veronica longifolia flowers), A. paphia (I regularly saw females of both sexes),, A. hyperanthus (very old), there were P. daplidice, P. napi, L. sinapis, C. hero (one old). Besides, on flowers of Aegopodium I collected a male and female of C. angarensis and a male of Erebia ligea, completely missing the band. In grass in several metres of the water we thrice startled large brownish Pterophoridae. On a Spiraea bush on a slope to the oxbow, overgrown with Urtica dioica, I collected N. prunoides.

We started moving upstream along the Iksa valley, via a place of a former village street, with some wood house ruins. It was covered completely with nettle, with some addition of F. ulmaria. Numerous Somatochloras still flew above this (mostly females of S. arctica and some S. flavomaculata, I also caught two males of S. artica. There some S. flaveolum occurred, and I collected an old (grey) female of G. vulgatissimus. Further on, I saw a huge L. populi flying around willows at the river bank. I came to the river upstream the village: along both banks there were stripes of Nuphar lutea. There were numerous L. quadrimaculata and S. metallica, flew a male of A. crenata, in Nuphar and bank sedge - some C. hastulatum, as usually. By entering the taiga I found it empty, too much herbaceous, and very dark. Further on, there was a gap between the taiga and the bank slope, also grown up with trees. There was a tall herbage, among which F. ulmaria was flowering in abundance. Of butterflies, there were very many fresh A. levana and A. paphia. The latters fed only on flowers of A. podagraria and concentrated in places where it was flowering, sometimes up to a dozen individuals within several metres: mostly males, of course, but also females. Many N. rivularis were old, with few exceptions, and the only N. sappho very old. There occur some Erebia, without band or with only white dot in cell remaining. Here I collected a male of G. vulgatissimus and saw several females of C. hastulatum. Going back through the former village street, I captured L. populi, but it was too thorn, and Rafal collected a fresh (yellow) female of S. postocularis. At the edge of willow stand along nettle wasting land, quite a few of Erebia were feeding on the flowers of Arctium tomentosum. Then we returned.

At about 5 p. m. we moved from our place downstream. On a meadow on a taiga edge near the high river bank I collected and photographed another male of G. vulgatissimus. We entered a taiga, formed by fir (mostly), cedar, spruce, birch and asp. We were surprised by a great amount of U. dioica (and even Humulus lupupus was there), and generally a tall herbage (this feature was diminishing with distance from the bank). There were some bushes of Ribes hispidulum with berries. I collected a male of C. thore. On a clearing, I spotted a female of G. vulgatissimus, on another one - an old female of L. populi.

We made another excursion across a bridge but found nothing remarkable but C. tullia: one flew long above ruderal vegetation along the embankment on our side (resembling C. amaryllis while flying), the other above similar vegetation on the wasting land.

In twilights, I descended to the river and noticed in grass incredibly numerous the same pterophorids, but Haematopota bate too furiously to collect them.

15^th July.

The early morning seemed colder than two previous. From the grass behind our yard I startled some large gomphid. From the early morning I noticed that Somatochlora which swarmed above our yard and meadow patches behind it disappeared completely. When we returned at 6 p. m., neither of those flew as well, so their disappearance was sudden and complete. Patrolling males of S. metallica at the river banks were on their place, as usually. Then, in the morning I noticed that about half of the berries on bird cherries darkened almost to black, whereas they were completely green last morning. Another difference consisted in a seemingly much less abundance of the fresh N. xanthomelas. Since I was not at Plotnikovo in midday, I might miss other changes in Nature. I can suppose that yesterday there were so much hot (and it indeed were, judging by the fact that I couldn't help but was 'switched off' and go sleep about 10 p. m.) that many organisms got some accumulated temperatures necessary to complete some phenological phases, e. g. almost all females of three species of Somatochlora completed feeding and migrated to the breeding places, and N. xanthomelas turned to aestivation.

At 10 p. m. we left for Mel'nikovo. By thу road, we saw B. buteo. At about 12 we reached a swamped right bank Ob' floodland: a very wide stripe of swamp (with a gas pipeline going along) crossed by a road. It was covered mostly by swamped stand of low birches, with some open water among them, willow thickets, and huge tussocks. Of semiaquatic plants, there were Caltha palustris, Comarum palustre, M. trifoliata (fewer), in some openings Utricularia flowered, once I noticed Sparganium (?minimus). Among this 'sogra' there were patches of reed, a pool of open water, and patches of even quacking bog of C. lasiocarpa, with Acorus calamus (abundant in one place), Typha latifolia (scarce). The place looked not so suitable for Nechalennia, and it was absent indeed, but so much suitable for some other dragonflies, mainly Lestes, Sympetrum and Leucorrhinia. Nevertheless, the dragonflies were astonishingly scarce: for about 40 min of moving there (which was hardly possible) in total, I saw 4 S. danae, 1 male and an ovipositing tandem of S. flaveolum, 3 L. sponsa, and that was all! There was some open pool with a school of ducks. Above it flew A. crenata and A. grandis, and there was a number of L. quadrimaulata. Along a high road, there flew several males of S. flavomaculata, and Rafal said that this species should breed in this swamp. But no individual was met in the actual swamp.

We moved to a firm land which separated the bog from some Ob' left arm. There was a short and overgrazed, rather ruderal meadow (aspect of Achillea and Carum, mostly withered, flowering Geranium pratense at willow stand edges), bordered with a stand of tall Salix alba along the arm and swamp. There were scarce L. quarimaulata and S. flavomaculata, and at the arm bank but behind a line of wilows I unexpectedly collected a female of Cordulia aenea. There were quite frequent S. flaveolum and S. sanguineum (not fully coloured), the latter perched on bush branches (mostly dry ones). I saw A. grandis, and Rafal some gomphid. Butterflies were scarce: P. argus, T. lineola, P. daplidice, N. xanthomelas,B. ino (here also feeding on Veronica longifolia), M. dryas, T. dispar (I met two) and H. virgaureae (also two). A falcon sat on a high willow and then flew away, and I saw Emberiza. Near the very Ob' arm water there appeared very abundant and greedy tiny Culex sp. In other places the blood-suckeк pressure was standable and mostly due to [dozhdevki and Chrysopidae.

We depart at about 4 p. m. and about 5.30 made a stop on the Shigarka river. At the village on its right bank there was a luxuriant near-settlement cedar forest. The river was very nice, it has a greenish (but not so much) water, a very fast current (surprisingly in so flat area), and rather a narrow valley. On its right side, there was a stripe of some open forest of Salix alba and Populus alba, that is a typical floodland forest. At the banks there were patrolling S. metallica, perching L. quadrimaculata, I saw A. crenata, and no Coenagrion. Going for several hundred metres along, I met with a very worn out male of C. splendens and an entire (and normal) female. Rafal collected a female of G. vulgatissimus. I returned to the main road via a partly shaded road going through the forest, a wilow/birch one. Although the sunbeams were also evening slanting, I was surprised by scantity of butterflies: there were no A. paphia. The only species which was quite abundant was A. levana. Here I met a female of A. crenata which flew fast and windingly above the shaded road.

In the evening I took a bicycle and went on the northern road. Soon I found a very long and beautiful pond seemingly on some brook descending to the Iksa, with a meadow on one side and aspen grove on another, dammed by the road. It has a clean water, with some Lemna at he bank. Some males of A. crenata and S. metallica flew above its surface. I explored field roads going on very large meadows which must be very old fallow lands in fact. The aspect was again Achillea and Carum, and the meadows had a very strong autumn village smell. It was evening, and Haematopota became furious. Above these meadows I at last saw hunting Somatochlora, quite many, but not so as on previous days. On a vast meadow which came close to the river, marked with firs seen in the forest, I captured some of those. They were all females, scoring as follows: 3 metallica (quite dark-winged, not so much as in the darkest arctica but much more than in the clearest arctica, pterostigma dark, that is corresponds to abocanica), 2 flavomaculata (extremely dark-winged), 2 arctica (moderately dark-winged and clear-winged). So, today the latter gave up in number in favour of the former, which breeds nearby in the river and pond. Females of S. metallica were excellently recognisable by their very low flight, 0.5-1 m above the ground. The two latter flew at 1.5- 3 (4) m. Some of them flew smoothly, others frequently pulsating while flying. One of the latters appeared to be S. flavomaculata, and one of the formers - S. arctica, but I am not sure this is a strict rule (in contrast to the case of S. metallica).

I twilight the brownish Pterophoridae were again extremely numerous in the grass on our high river bank.

The sun sat into some Stratus, and there was a phenomenon of 'false suns', two fragments of a rainbow halo by the sun sides.

16^th July

The morning was warm but overcast, with few gaps. Yet, blues were active in the grass. The sun appeared at about 10, but was unstable, and the weather was mostly overcast. At about 11 we passed the village to some boat. In this part of the village, near the river, there were Somatochlora females swarming: obviously many flavomaculata and some arctica. We crossed the river and entered the spruce taiga, with birches, some cedars and rowan-trees. Close to the river there were berries of Ribes hispidulum. At first it was grassy and also with a nettle, later nettle disappeared while Oaxalis appeared. I collected rather old C. thore and L. achine, than another one. Some Aconitum septentrionale was flowering, and I was surprised enough to see frequent Daphne mezereum, with berries, and also one Actaea erythrocarpa, near Daphne and also with berries. In addition to all these poisonous plants, numerous was Paris quadrifolia, still in flowers, and Cicuta virosa extremely abundant at bogs and river banks. I met two B. virginianum, growing close to each other, one with a panicle. We went along a very muddy path crossed by fallen spuces. We crossed a first gown-up oxbow: it was a long clearing evenly covered with reed, Thelipteris, and Carex lasiocarpa, with water surface between them with quite a lot of Lemna minor. There were no dragonflies.

Then we came to the main former-oxbow bog. It was long and quite wide, totally covered with a quacking peat-moss mire with very abundant Oxycoccus palustris, with many unripe berries, and also Drosera, Scheihzeria. Closer to the middle there was an interrupted line of Comarum palstre, with many flowers, under which there was some water, yet not seen from above. In these places, there were sparse and non-flowering Tyhpa latifolia, and some areas of reed, with more open water inside. Yet there was no clear water surface anywhere. At sides, there appeared some pine trees and small birches, while the clearing was surrounded by regular spruce taiga. We were there not less than two hours. There were not a single zygopteran. In the first minute Rafal found a 'window' of open water among the peat-moss, not greater than 40 m in diametre, and there was an exuvium of ?A. juncea (while the place was good for A. subarctica). But it was the only one 'window/ we managed to find. The most frequent dragonfly there was S. flaveolum (not a single danae), but also not numerous. In the air there were Somatochloras (always several in view): we collected 2 females of flavomaculata, 1 of arctica and, surprisingly, 2 males of metallica, although the habitat was not suitable. For the long time, I saw a female of A. crenata which flew out of Comarum with a hooked abdomen, that is it oviposited, and also we saw an individual of A. grandis, although quite unexpected. There were few L. quadrimaculata. We expected males of S. arctica, but they were absent. Of butterflies most numerous were small fritillaries which fed on the flowers of Comarum, and with time they seem to increase in number. I anticipated first of all Boloria, since it was the best place for them, but in fact collected only one male (with evenly ochraoceous postdiscal band) and one female (with a whitish band). Most numerous were B. ino, quite fresh (seemingly fresher than at the river), there were also C. selene (not so fresh) and, the last in abundance, C. angarensis (very fresh), plus one old C. thore. I met two females of E. ligea. There were some blues, on the spot one or two seemed me P. idas, at the base I'd say they all were idas. They were not so old as the argus on meadows, but too scarce to get a series. I met a female of V. optilete (very worn out, the second individual during the trip), and 3 fres females of L. dispar. At the northern end of the clearing there were some low birches with Thelypteris and especially abundant Comarum, and there were especialy many butterflies, of mentioned species plus one female of Fabriciana (why there were not many of them here?), and L. populi crossed the clearing elegantly. Rafal saw a 'kuksha' (Perisoreus infaustus).

We returned to the base and in the afternoon visited the pond at the northern road, in view of a the thunderstorm approaching for some reason from the east. There werу very numerous L. quadrimaculata and C. hastulatum, many C. puella and E. najas (not a single C. johanssoni), some A. crenata and A. grandis, Rafal collected a teneral S. paedisca and a male of C. aenea. The place was gooв for S. metallica but we did not met it. In sedge, I colected Enallagma, it was the nominotypical cyathigerum.

I went to the river at our place and saw three 'chernysh' (Tringa ochropus).. Haematopota bate especially vigorously. There was a shower, and one more thunderstorm came from the east but passed southwards of us before the evening. In the evening Rafal went along the road to Bakchar. On thу swamp, he saw three Aeshna making feeding flight above the water (!) and supposed them to be juncea, and also a beaver who swam towards his hut. I found the pterophorids very active even in wet ground.

17^th July (recorded on 18^th July)

It was rain at night, with some stops, and before the noon there were several rains separated by short periods of hot sun . At 13 a. m. we departed by a coach to Tyzyrachevo, that is east, to the Shegarka River. There it appeared a sunny and hot days with impressive clouds, from one of which once a very short rain occurred but when we returned to Plonikovo at about 5 p. m. we found the roads wet and misty evidencing at heavy rain(s). The meadows at Tyzyrachevo were quite flowery, with an aspect of Geranium pratense and frequent Centaurea scabiosa and Vicia cracca (we met one plant of L. chalcedonicus) , meadows on rough ground at the river right bank were full of ripen Fragaria viridis, and some women collected it. Of butterflies, there were many T. lineola, L. sinapis and E. argiades, obviously associated with V. cracca, also P. rapae, P. amanda, B. ino, M. athalia (very few), M. dryas (quite many) and H. lycaon (very few). I collected one very old H. morpheus and one fresh M. aglaja. At tree and bush edges there were numerous A. levana, few A. paphia and old N. rivularis, It turned out that this day I collected 3 L. morsei, but do not remember where, most probably at the forest road. Everywhere S. flaveolum was frequent, but the first dragonfly I encountered when we descended from the bus was a young S. vulgatum.

There was a road descending to the river right bank to the place where an old wooden bridge had once existed (its piles still protruding from the water), downstream of the modern one. There was a patch of a flat and clean clayey bank. At that place, 3 fresh P. machaon sipped the wet ground, as well as a number of P. rapae and some P. napi and L. siapis. Here at water, there were many T. lineola, mostly flying and resting in sedge. Some S. flaveolum kept to the sedges, and I saw also tadems, but there was also a very bright mature male of S. sanguineum, which I trice miss to collect. An individual of G. vulgatissimus arrived and sat on the barren ground, but I missed it as well. In sedge, there were C. hastulatum and C. puella, but very rare, and there were a male and female of C. splendens. As usually, S. metallica males ranged along the bank. In a gap between bushes I collected a female of S. arctica flying quite high, that is still quite common in this area Males of A. grandis frequently appeared ranged above the water. Several times appeared also males of A. viridis (!), at least two, since when I spotted one, a next one continued appearing. Remarkably that they appeared as soon as the sun hided behind a cloud, and very rarely at sunshine (mostly when a cloud passed), and only for a very short time. A female also appeared, but even less frequently and for very short time.

Then we moved to the bridge and tried to find some exuviae, but failed. There were C. hastulatum, S. metallica, A. grandis, C. splendens - the second female we saw was androchromic, and I unexpectedly collected C. aenea male ranging among S. metallica. There was a shallow river arm now insulated and without current, but as well without water vegetation. Above it, flew the same male of S. metallica.

Then we went along the forest road, full of A levana, to an oxbow. Along the road there were numerous flowering A. archangelica, the same huge plants towered from back side of willow bushes at the first place, oriented towards the slopes. The oxbow lied in rather a wide glade covered with a degraded meadow, with the aspect of very abundant G. pratense and, closer to the water, nettle. On the main bank, the oxbow was margined by a beautiful cedar forest, from the river side the valley was bordered with birch groves and separate individuals of cedars. The oxbow was long and had a clear water, it was surrounded by willow bushes, than a thick rim of high 'rush' identifiable as Bolboschenus maritimus, that was strange, with participation of some C. virosa. The water surface at banks was covered with Spirodela, under which there was L. trisulca. The main aquatorium was clean and had some groups of Nuphar lutea. A grey duck was worrying upon our appearance. There were many S. flaveolum, as everywhere, and at the sedge and willows quite many young S. danae and mature L. rubicunda. There were quite a number of L. quadrimaculata. Above the water, males of A. crenata and few A. grandis, females of both species (but more frequently the latter) being observed ovipositing. A female of A. viridis was repeatedly seen, and Rafal observed as it oviposited into Nuphar. This was a very important observation suggesting what plant is useful for this species as a surrogate of Stratiotes. There were common C. hastulatum and C. puella (but not a single C. johanssoni) in sedge, and E. najas on floating leaves; there I also saw Enallagma males but did not managed to collect. In sedge, very teneral S. paeisca were frequent.

Above the glade, there flew, quite high, some Somatochlora, as usual, and they were flavomaculata. But I also collected two females and one male of S. metallica flying low above the grass (noteworthy that it was shortly after a short rain). At some distance, in the same valley there was another round oxbow with some Salix alba trees and an aspen forest at rather a steep slope behind. It has a green water due to algae and was remarkable for a wide and continuous rim of vigorously flowering Cicuta virosa. There were many insects on each inflorescences, including numerous A. levana, and even a huge L. populi was feeding on them. I've never seen before this butterfly on flowers!

In Plotnikovo, at early twilights I took a bicycle and crossed the river for a large roadside swamp. It overflowed a spruce forest with admixture of birch (most trees being already dead), its surface was covered with Lemna minor, and there were large patches of Calla palustris. There was a crepuscular activity of Aeshna juncea (2-3 in view) with some A. grandis. Some juncea sometimes rose above the road and flew above it for a while. I collected three females of A. juncea: one blue, one greenish-blue, and one green, Rafal collected 1 male and a blue female. The mosquitoes bate furiously and in deep twilights I departed while Rafal staid. He says soon all the aeshnas concentrated in one corner of the swamp where they 'boil', among them A. grandis predominated while A. juncea was acarce, and there was also a female of A. viridis (it seemed to me that among juncea I saw a male A. viridis but I am not sure). Rafal said this was finished at about 11 p. m.

18^th July

At 8 a. m., on a couch to Tomsk, we departed towards the Iksinskoe bog. The sky was dull but becoming more or less blue above, where some Stratocumulus were seen. Most probably the air was not transparent due to evaporations of the previous day precipitation. This time we oriented by JPS, using the coordinates inferred from the GoogleMap cosmic photographs, having an aim to get to a small lake in the bog where no roads go; and this worked excellently. However, this part of the bog appeared to be meliorated in the same way as the visited by us part of the Bakchar bog, and there were ditches, full of water but with no flow, until the open part ('galeya'). The sequence of vegetation change was also the same, maybe somewhat shorter. We deepen southwards inside the bog for 2,700 m, passing a birch forest almost without understorey. (At first we moved via an abandoned road grown up with nettle.) After a while, pine appears as an admixture, which soon supplanted the birch, that was accompanied by appearing a dense understorey of Chamaedaphne, with admixture of Ledum and, to a less extent, Andromeda. After a while the dominance in the understorey was attained by Betula nana, then the pines became lower (about 3 m) while the low bushes become sparse, with some patches of peat covered by lichens, where R. chamaemorus grew, being already half-ripen; but at this . However, this was most probably due to the peat being severely disturbed while ditch digging. I found two or three bushes of Vaccinium uliginosum, with several berries. The ditches had water almost filled with mosses, and some Eriophorum vaginatum bunches (in the birch forest part also large spots of Caltha palustris). There were also three subsequent firemen ponds with clear dark water and sudden peaty banks. Then was an open part ("galeya") being a latitudinal stripe several hundred metres wide, being a reddish quacking bog with Scheichzeria, Rhynchospora, Drosera anglica (more frequent) and rotundifolia, Oxycoccus palustris, and tussocks of E. vaginatum, which were helpful while walking as more firm. Some reddish-black spots of pure Sphagnum did not hold a human being. The pines close to the open part were 1-2 m high and grouped into "gryady", on which grew some white Cladonia and even R. chamaemorus. In 800 m west along this open part, we came to two lakes separated by several hundred metres of swamp with a dense stand of C. rostrata (that is rather a mesotrophic bog among oligotrophic ones). Each lake was represented by several lobes with open water with some floating and flowering N. pumila and (less) N. tetragona. The quaking bog at the sides was formed by C. limosa with some M. trifoliata (much fewer than on the Bakchar bog lakes), and was an excellent habitat for Nechalennia. When we appeared, the sky was not transparent for the sun, which appeared later, although through not so transparent an air. When it happened, it became very hot (and moist), fortunately, there was some unstable but freshening eastern wind. In the north and north-west there were permanently seen anvils of Cumulonimbus incus calvus, the bases of which were not seen through the dull air close to the horizon, and even a far thunder was several times heard. But they remained almost immovable.

We saw almost no vertebrates: startled some Galidae, heard Motacilla, Rafal found a viper skin, I saw Lacerta vivipara and several frogs. There was a complete silence (but at the last depressed pines at the open part I heard an infinite stridulation of some Tetigoniidae. Of butterflies, at the bog I saw only one G. rhamni and several N. xanthomelas: one was at the open part and tried to sat on me repeatedly. In a pine part, I saw a dark blue and was astonished discovering it to be a female of E. alcetas. Above the lake a dark Satyrid once flew to low pines, it could look like Erebia but flew fastly and I thought about Oeneis as well. No peatland species were met with. In birch forest, I saw one G. papilionaria. On the open part there were some whitish Crambidae, some very nice water Pyraustidae (one specimen) and some greyish-white with dark spots Lithosiinae (also one).

Odonata: in the pine part ('ryam') invariably occurred S. flaveolum and, less frequently, L. dubia: the latter concentrated at fishermen ponds, at which we found also quite many S. danae and, at the water, some Enallagma and C. hastulatum. Among still rather high pines I collected a female of S. arctica, but it flew trophically, as in village, without and hints of oviposition. Among shorter pines deeper in the bog I collected a young S. vulgatum. The ditches looked excellent for Somatochlora, but the only individual we saw was a male S. metallica slowly ranging to and fro along a ditch full of open water among a medium-high pines. The lakes on galeya were the riches. In sedge there were L. sponsa (quite many, also teneral), C. johanssoni (not so numerous, also teneral), C. hastulatum (very few), E. cyathigerum (few, with narrow lateral stripes of melanisation), and N. speciosa (quite frequent, all female mature). On the leaves of Nymphaeaceae floating in open water I noticed some Enallagma but no Erythromma (the only loss as compared to the Bakchar swamp). I visited the second lake only shortly, but saw the same set. There were quite many L. dubia at the water, and one L. albifrons, which took much time for Rafal to catch, for the individual easily changed its location. There were L. quadrimaculata, more numerous at the second lake. The open water was patrolled by males of A. crenata (always several in view), clashing each other permanently; I startled also an ovipositing female. Once A. grands appeared for a while, most probably 'in error'. S. flaveolum occurred there as on the rest bog without water, that is not concentrated, but we saw ovipositing tandem. The only (and teneral) indiviual of S. danae was found stick to the leaves of Drosera! Dark wet moss patches with some water surface glistening, were patrolled by males of A. subarctica. They were not seen when we just arrive there, in overcast weather, but appeared when the sun appeared (although through thick evaporations of the air) and it became very hot (and wet) 2-3 of those were normally seen. They did not appeared above the main open water but quite flew also over an additional sallow pool. They had a habit to for a long time 'stand' against wind; they flew lower than A. crenata, as A. juncea (which did not occurred there), about 0.5 m high, and were seemingly smaller than juncea. A high flying dark-winged female of Somatoclora unexpectedly appeared above the bog between the lake and first low pines (not wider than several dozens of metres); it appeared S. flavomaculata. The mystery of the breeding places of those S. arctica so numerous at rivers remained undisclosed this time as well.

Rafal looked for exuvia and found A. subarctica and C. aenea.

We returned to the road at about 4 p.m., enormously tired. Fortunately, at the very moment we appeared from the forest the same couch we depart in the morning appeared from behind the road bent.

19^th July

The morning was rather cold and the sky cloudless, the air at the horizon soon became dull but the sun was shining and it was hot. At about 9 a. m. we departed for Bakchar. The road was going through infinite walls of birch/aspen forest, with very scarcely seen spruces, and some more open stands with dead large birches, young birches, and always some pines. The huge bogs were hided behind this forest belt. We startled a Milvux from the road, and saw some Pica pica, and nothing else.

We arrived to the bridge across the Galka River in about 1 km upstream of the settlement of Bakchar. From willow bushes behind the bridge we heard a 'kedrovka' (Nucifraga caryocatactes) shouting. The dew still has not been evaporated, and insects were rather scarce. At the river, there were S. metallica and C. splendens. The latter appeared quite numerous and still sat mostly on sedge on the bank rather than played on Sparganium in the river middle. A male of A. crenata ranged over the river. Along the right bank, there was a nice grassy meadow with some bushes between the river and a system of large oxbows, and we went along it for a while. We met L. sponsa, C. puella and C. hastulatum on the meadow. The oxbows were entirely covered with Spirodela, at the very bank there was a rim of Hydrocharis and then a wide one of tall Carex rostrata. Odonata were surprisingly scarce: L. sponsa, S. flaveolum, A. grandis - and not a single A. crenata. A male of L. rubicunda occupied a floating log. Perhaps, it was too early, and we did not return. The meadow was excellent for Gompids, but we did not meet them.

We again approached to the river, the opposite bank of which was sunny, and were there for a couple of hours until our bank got to be sunny as well. At this point, the river was extremely slow and deep (in some places to the neck, at some above), 10-15 m wide, while under the bridge it was sallow and fast. The water was brown as in Iksa, at banks grew Sparganium and Sagittaria sagittata (not present in Iksa), between them there occurred rosettes of Callitriche verna, at this point there were no Nuphar. The banks were quite high and overgrown with willow bushes, many dead trees and bushes were hidden on the bottom. Calopteryx were numerous, the males ranged in colour from normal green to blue (in old individuals). There occurred males with the wings coloured to tip; at first it seemed to me that such ones are those blue, but fortunately no correlation was confirmed. I must say that such males coloured to tips were rare. Among females, androchromic ones predominated! Some were f. faivrei, but most had the wings coloured to tips while the inner end of the coloration varied from 'normal' to almost the level of nodus, and such ones were not rare. No such females were found on the two previous rivers. Beyond the series I collected, I counted here visually (and after capture with a subsequent loss) 4 normal females, 1 f. faivrei, and 3 with coloured tips and variable inner border, plus 2 normal under the bridge, plus 3 normal and 3 coloured to tips in village.

I spent too much time in water, which was of moderate temperature and cold at the very bottom, in attempts to collect a series from the depth of the left bank, that appeared not reasonable since later we found a better place. There were scarce C. hastulatum and L. sponsa in sedge at banks, some males of Enallagma appeared at the water. A. crenata ranged at water, and once we saw a female, and A. grandis appeared as well. Males of S. metallica ranged along the sedge, and I collected a female flying in shade along its base, most probably for ovipositing. I collected a male of G vulgatissimus sat on barren ground near the water, and Rafal another one. Then Rafal showed me a gomphid female, obviously of the same species, which oviposited at the middle of the river: for quite a short time but it appeared two times shortly. At last, he saw a tandem (!) of gomphids which was startled from our bank, crossed the river and landed quite high onto a willow bush. Rafal crossed the river and managed to catch the tandem from the water: it appeared to be composed of two males of G. vulgatissimus!

We entered the village and came to the river again within it. It was a lovely and desolate place, with houses hardly seen behind gentle grassy slopes of the valley, an open bank, a calm current and spruce forest on the opposite bank. There were very many Calopteryx, and I collected quite a good series. I noticed that against light the males looked blue and along light blue. There were Lestes, C. hastulatum, Enallagma (quite many), Ae. grandis and crenata, and Rafal surprisingly collected a male of A. subarctica. We found another place within the village where spruce taiga came close to the river (there were Ribes hispidulum berries in it), but the set of dragonflies was the same.

Then we crossed the village, which appeared cozy and very calm, although large. It was full of Enallagma males, which were everywhere if at least some grass present. At one house, there flew two Somatochlore females 1-3 m high: it appeared S. flavomaculata. Soon we came to an enormous pond with hard grassy (with some Cicuta) banks, a narrow rim of Hydrocharis and a very wide stripe of Spirodela, with admixture of Lemna minor, under which there was Lemna trisulca and Ceratophyllum demersum. The outer margin of the Spirodela zone was swarming of Enallagmas, some in tandems, they were also present above Spirodela and in the bank grass. They were not melanized. The females were mostly grey but I collected a blue one and a blue oe with greyish-green upper surface of pterothorax and abdomen. The zone of Spirodela was occupied by many E. najas. In grass and partly above Spirodela, among those damsels there were quite numerous C. puella, rather few (but also in tandems) C. pulchellum, plus Rafal collected one male C. lunulatum and I 1 male of C. hastulatum. No C. johanssoni was present at all. So at last we found C. pulchellum and C. lunulatum which I expected from the very beginning. The pond appeared to be very favourable for Coeagrion, although did not look so from the very beginning. Above it there flew A. grandis and (less) A. crenata and no Somatoclora, once S. vulgatum flew by. I came downstream the brook on which the pond was made. In one place there was a crystal and cold pool from a water-pump, above which a male Enallagma was present. Nothing more interesting: in the surrounding ruderal vegetation there were quite many S. flaveolum, some Libellula and one young S. vulgatum. At 17 p, m, we departed by a couch.

I cannot say anything specific about today's butterflies: there were many T. lineola, P. argus, E. argiades, A. levana. Some Leptidea, N. rivularis, A. paphia, M. dryas, very few H. lycaon and B. ino, once P. machaon, once (at the bridge) E. ligea.

20^th July (recorded on 22^nd July)

The morning was very cold. At 9 we depart west. Between Bakchar and Parbig there were surprisingly many fields. We had to stand to repair the wheel between Vysokii Yar and Parbig. There were very many A. paphia amd A. levana, one P. machaon and one L. populi at the road, on glades there were B. ino (not many), F. adippe (one), T. lineola, A. paphia and A. levana in plenties, many fresh Gonepteryx of both sexes. Celerio galii flew and sat on Galium verym just in front of me, allowing to take a picture. There were enormous amount of Tabanidae at the vehicle but in glades and forests the blood-suckers were surprisingly scarce. On both sides of the road, there were enormous glades covered with flowering Chamenerion, most probably long-fallow lands. Above one of those I saw a female Somatochlora, most probably arctica. In general, the nature looked boring.

Behind Parbig, the road became peatyand seemingly went through bogs, although overgrown with low birches, with rare pines, at both sides so that only once something like a bog was seen. Behind the Kyonga River, there appeared some wavy relief, and the patches of tall forests became represented mostly by cedars, with admixture of fir, rather than birch.

Having crossed the Emelich River, we at last arrived to the open bog which was our destination, the Sambusskoe bog. It was margined with tall fir/cedar forests which produced narrow capes into the bog, the border between the tall forest and the bog being quite abrupt, unlike the bogs we visited earlier. Near the border, there were areas of even Eriophorum, which looked as former pools. AT such a place I heard an infinitely stridulating grashopper (Tettigoniidae). The very bog looked the same as the previous one, with dense stand of medium and low pines and bushes of Ledum, Andromeda and (predominating) Chamaedaphne. The difference consisted in the abundance of low cedars among common pines, especially at the forest edges, and of Vaccinium uliginosum (with berries) among shrubbery, and frequency of moist peat-moss openings, with Oxycoccus (somewhere with abundant berries of the previous year). We failed to find the lakes indicated on the map but at last came to some lake, although it seemed that we went through the pine stand of increasing height. The lake was very similar to those on the previous bogs but the opening without pines was smaller, that is the rim of the quacking bog around the lake was several dozens of metres only. The banks were most flexible and impermeable of all the lakes, and Rafal said that this one was the most oligotrophic (no Carex rostrata, for instance). Drosera anglica was especially numerous, and all other plants like Rhynchospora and Scheichzeria were of course present. Odonata were rather scarce: we met with only 3 females of Nechalennia (and collected two of them; I tried to photograph one but failed), there were Lestes sponsa and scarce C. johanssoni, Rafal collected Enallagma. At the water there were not numerous L. dubia and some L. quadrimaculata, and males of A. crenata ranged above the water. Quite many exuviae of A. subarctica were found on sedge and just lying on the moss. Rafal noticed and collected Buckleria paluda; there were many water Pyraustidae, and an individual of Arctica caja sat on me unexpectedly. Haematopotawere scarce, and no other blood-suckers. We were unable to spend much time there and came back. Halfway, I startled a copula of A. subarctica from a margin of a grassy (Carex or Eriophorum) and wet patch ([mochazhina]) among the low pine stand, above which another male flew.

At 6:30-7 p. m., when we was going back, I paid attention to a congregation of A. paphia, of both sexes (about equally represented) on a young aspen bush near the road. Not less than ten (perhaps more) of butterflies sat on leaves, at first with open wings, later closed them, often two on the same or adjacent leaves, and from time to time flew to change the position. Besides, they sucked something from the leaves. They obviously prepared to overnight there.

On the way back, before the Emelich River, we were impressed by a great number of Aeshna, most probably juncea, flying low above the road. It looked as a crepuscular flight, although the slanting sunshine was still quite bright. At about 89 p. m. we stopped for a very short time at the bridge through the Emelich River. About 20 A. paphia congregated on a concrete wall, covered with some black resin, under the bridge, at its base: they sat and flutter; the congregation was not dense but obvious, and some individuals sat very close to each other. Going to the bank, I saw Apatura iris which I could catch if reacted in time: it gently flew to a tree crown behind the river. Rafal collected a male Aeshna above the road but it appeared crenata, not juncea, and I caught a female S. arctica.

Behind Bakchar, which we passed at 11 p. m. in dense twilight, there was a very spectacular low fog on glades, in some places overflowing the road. We arrived to base at 11:45 p. m.

Along this long way, we saw many ravens, startled one Buteo buteo, twice saw a chipmunk ('burunduks') crossing the road in front of a car, and from herbage at the very road near the bridge across Emelich frightened a hare. So, the animal life was extremely scarce.

21th July [recorded on 22^nd July]

All the day there were no any clouds (once I noticed a very small Cirrus), and it was quite hot, yet the sky was dull white and hardly transparent, so that sunshine was strongly reduced. At about 6 p. m. it acquired a yellowish tint while closer to the horizon the sun appeared to be a red circle with no shine. It all means that some peat was burning somewhere nearby. At about 10 a. m. I heard a chipmunk shouting from an old birch near our yard.

We did not made remote trips. At about 1 p. m. I visited the river bank near our stationary. There were S. metallica, A. crenata and L. sponsa, as usually. In a sedge not far from water I captured a male G. vulgatisimus but it escaped. No Somatochlora females were flying at tree crowns and above meadow patches. I photographed a vigorously flowering herbaceous patch on the bank, the flowers being Ptarmica cartilaginea, Lysimachia vulgare and Stachys palustris. I walked on a surface above the bank, on the taiga edge. Of butterflies, most numerous and fresh were A. levana. Females were often seen sitting on nettle, one was laying eggs in three columns. Quite numerous were G. rhamni of both sexes, mostly feeding on Cirsium setosum., and A. paphia not so numerous. I collected one male F. adippe and one I. io. T. lineola were still numerous, but the blues were not, both P. argus and E. argiades being old and scarce. Leptidea were quite quite frequent , but with the wings thorn. There were extremely old N. rivularis and A. hyperanthus. At about 4 p. m. I came to the bridge. At the roadside above ruderal meadowy vegetation a male of C. hyale flew. At the river, quite frequent were T. dispar (not fresh), on a wasting land with C. setosum I collected several A. urticae, another one I. io, a fresh and large I. lathonia (perhaps a female) and M. aglaja. At the water I saw 2 males of C. splendens, and regular aeshna and Somatochllra. On the barren ground there were a 'congregation ' of 2 P. rapae, 2 P. napi and 1 Leptidea/ Behind the bridge, in ruderal vegetation I again met an old C. tullia. Above a neetle glade of an abandoned village street I again saw an very old L. populi, and at bush and forest edge - a male of E. ligea. I observed a female of S. metallica which crawled among herbs with very long stops in the air, at last it collected a Haematopota at me and sat onto my trousers, as startled proceeded its search and sat on the grass nearby. I went along the riverbank on an abandoned road, overgrown with neetle, going through the taiga. A. paphia were much less numerous than earlier, but A. levana much more numerous. Some N. rivularis still retained. I saw how an individual of N. rivularis was persuaded by four (!) males of A. levana. N. xanthomelas were still seen throughout the day, but already not abundant. And today from time to time I saw (aтв collected( flying males of Limantria dispar).

At about 6 p. m. I visited the pond. The sun was still high, but illumonation quite evening-like, yellowish and faded. Zygopterans apeared to be very scarce. L. quadrimaculata rather abundant but trying to occupy perches at the bushes on the bank; A. crenata and grandis still patrolling. I photographed S. paedisca and, again, A. levana, which were numerous there as well. This time I observed how two males persuaded a L. quadrimaculata. From the road I startled a 'vityuten' (Columba palumbus) with white stripes on the wings. Then I visited shortly a roadside pool which we visited 9 days ago, in hope to meet those pterophorids. Of course, I failed. There were very numerous L. virens and some L. dryas. And no Somatochlora.

In twilight, I saw one dark-winged Somatochlora female flying above our yard with pulsating flight. It should be S. flavomaculata.

Today the berries on the bird cherries are fully ripen, some ripen berries could be found on wild raspberry, and on some birches yellow leaves became noticeable.

Rafal visited the rivulet of Nizhnyaya Yarya but observed nothing but S. metallica.

BY the way, I did not saw here any Sanguisorba and Maculinea.

22th July

In the morning the sky appeared the same bleached as yesterday but later it have cleared, and it became very hot. At 9 p. m. I heard a remote 'glukhaya kukushka' (Cuculus saturatus). Later in the morning from behind the river I heard presumably a fledgling of Asio otus. Yesterday Rafal heard Garrhula garrhula. At 13-14 I went along our side of the river and along the taiga. The butterflies were as yesterday, but scarcer. I also shortly visited the pond and found everything the same, including teneral and young S. paedisca, but also saw a mature male of S. sanguineum. Rafal also saw S. sanguineum at the bridge.

At 14-16:30 I was on the former oxbow peat-moss bog near Plotnikovo, the same as on 16^th July. When or boat came to the shady opposite bank of the river, a female of S. metallica appeared to oviposit mostly on mud above the water, also to the very margin of water, flying extremely low and fearless of us. Upon arrival to the bog, I first went to its end with birches and many flowering Comarum and was struck to find that a medium fritillary sitting on an Umbellifera was in fact a male of Argyronome laodice, not so fresh. Very soon I collected two more males, also with slightly damaged wings I did not see them on the previous visit. So I feel I should characterise the habitat: open stand of low birches, a mesotrophiс quacking bog composed of Calamagrostis neglecta, Carex lasiocarpa, C. rostrata (not abundant), Comarum palustre and Thelypteris palustris. Among them, there were some Menyanthes trifoliata, Rumex aquaticus, Peucedanum palustre, and some further apart Tyhpa latifolia and Phragmites australis (here no Cicuta virosa). The composition of butterfflies seemed to be homogenous here and on the peat-moss part: here they just were more numerous. So I characterise here the butterfly community I found this day. Numerous: B. ino; frequent: L. sinapis, P. argus (today not a single blue looked as P. idas), P. c-album, C. selene, B. aquilonaris, T. dispar; several: N. rivularis, A. levana. A. paphia, C. angarensis, H. lycaon (two females on the peat-moss part); one individual noticed: T. lineola, N. antiopa (seems fresh), Colias (it seems to me that it was hyale, not palaeno), C. tullia (fresh). Noteworthy: not a single N. xanthomelas. All small fritillaries fed on Comarum, very richly flowering here, A. laodice and A. paphia - on Peucedanum palustre.

Of dragonflies there were many S. flaveolum, including perching mature males and tandems, several L. quadrimaculata; there flew A. grandis and several times I saw Somatochloras flying as males: I collected one and it appeared to be a male of S. metallica, although he flew about 2-2.5 m high. All the day it was very hot.

At midnight I came to the river and noticed that its surface is densely covered with something while flowing: it appeared exuviae of Ephemera! But not a single imago was seen, and neither arrived to lights.

23th July

In the morning we departed by a coach to the same Iksinskoe bog, but this time north from the road. When we disembarked from the coach, at 8:30, the sun was hided and there was a rain cloud in SW direction, quite a heavy one, and it approached., and at about 10 a. m. there were several very slight rains, although we even heard a remote thunder from the west. We started to move north between to parallel ditches, overgrown with birches and willows, between which there was formerly a road which now was overgrown with a terrible mixture of nettle and raspberry (already with berries), or birch and willow coppice. There were some signs of an old path, but it was very hard to move. In some shady places, there was a solid ground with only sparse fine grass (even with Leucanthemum flowering), and in two of them there was Rubus saxatilis, with berries. There were quite many mosquitoes and some Haematopota. Through the trees, on both sides there was sometimes seen a burnt out pine stand of a peat bog, a very spectacular one I'd say. In 2 km, the birches changed to the regular pine bog, half-burnt out. It differed from the earlier visited ones by abundance of Vaccinium uliginosum, with berries (round). R. chamaemorus was also quite abundant.

After 2.6 km we abandoned the road and went for 2 km, again according to the JPS and coordinates taken from a cosmic photo from Internet, otherwise we would never find the lakes. Акащь time to time we saw S. flaveolum and males of Limantria dispar, and Rafal startled a female willow-grouse. We arrived to the first lake at 10.20. It was about 80 m long, with ranges of low pine approaching to it for 15-20 m, separated by wide very mild light-green patches of Sphagnum and Rhynchospora. The lake appeared to be rather mesotrophic: it was surrounded by a rim of Carex rostrata, it had no vascular macrophytes but only Sphagnum emerged to water surface, making it look dirty for several metres from the bank. There were few damselflies: several C. johanssoni, some more Enallagma (variably melanised) and Lestes sponsa; there were few Libellula, L. dubia and an ovipositing female of A. crenata (no aeshna males). It did not look well for Nechalennia, yet we met with two females: one several metres from water, but where some Carex limosa was present, another at the water: in this very place there were only the leaves of Scheichzeria. In 500 m there was another lake, a bit less mesotrophic. Curiously, it was rimmed with C. rostrata but behind it there was a second rim of C. limosa, not being in water. Going along this, Rafal collected 3 females and 1 male of Nechalennia. L. sponsa were more numerous there. Just next to this one, there was another lake, about 80 m long and 15-20 m wide. It looked oligotrophic and best fit for Nechalennia: there was Nuphar pumila and N.ymphaea tetragona in water and C. limosa, with M. trifoliata, at banks. I found a female and male of N. speciosa and photographed them, but later we failed to find more, perhaps due to a considerable wind. When photographing, I noticed that the female mowed deeper into the sedge, closer to the water, with wind blows. C. johansoni and Утю cyathigerum were present, and L. sponsa very numerous, including frequent teneral specimens. Many times I observeв as a male tried to grasp a female which, to escape it, fell down into the sedge and immediately flew away. I saw no succiessful attempts and not a single tandem.

While standing on the bank, Rafal noticed a large snape, Limosa limosa, in 15 m from him. The snale approached to the lake around Rafal and approached to him to 4 m, it came to the water anc collected insects there, then it moved onto a Rhynchospora/sphagnum 'mochazhina' and stood there. This time I started to approach to it (it only changed its sight left and right) for maybe 6 m, permanently photographing, when it at last flew away, showing a white under feathering.

When we arrived there, the weather was still overcast. At first it looked that there were no Aeshna males, but from time to time there appeared a male flying along the shoreline as if investigating the sedge margin. We collected several ones and they were A. juncea, a species still not seen by us on such peat-bog lakes. I also noticed and photographed a copula of A. juncea in sedge at the very water. There was also an ovipositing female of A. crenata. Then the sun appeared, and immediately appeared males of A. crenata and A. subarctica: the formers ranged above the water and the latters above the Sphagnum/Rhynchospora 'mochazhiny', at 20-50 cm above it. Separation was very strict, and when the males of these species met near the border of water and the quacking bog, an intruder already escaped: if it was above the land, S. subarctica was the winner in spite of being smaller. At first an impression arose that A. juncea disappeared, so as if it had weather separation with crenata. However, later we noticed and collected several (at least three) males of A. juncea which flew low along the very bank even at the sun. But each time there were no males of A. crenata nearby: it generally looked as if there were too few of them for such a lake. And in fact, the clouds from time to time hide the sun.

L. dubia were quite frequent, males occurred on the bank and flew above the water, and I saw a copula.. L. quadrimaculata were few and scarce, but I saw an ovipositing one. Once a dark-winged Somatochlora flew above the lake and disappeared.

I saw a very nice female of, I think, Limantria monacha sitting on a M. trifoliata leaf above the water, but it appeared too cautious to photograph. We abandoned the lake at 15:40 and went back. AT that time, a thunder cloud was in SW direction, with some remote thunder, but there were no rain, even in Plotnikovo. Still in the pine part, I collected a large white butterfly which appeared a very old female of C palaeno. And it was a second such butterfly I saw. Of butterflies, in he bog I saw only one P. c-album, which sat only onto my net, and a large blue which sipped a dark mud at the lake but then disappeared, it looked as a male of A. amanda. On the bog, there were almost no blood-sucking insects, just few Haematopota, and a slightly overcast and windy weather was very nice for such a place/

We appeared in Plotnikovo at 18:40. At a house next to the stationary, we noticed a raven sitting on a fence. I came close to it, and it jumped to the ground. When I approached, it started to jump away, but rather slowly; it spread its wings but did not fly. When I got to it, it lied down with its wings spread and legs stretched, but head risen and watching: if it was feigning death?

The sunset was very nice, the clouds being pinkish-yellow.

T. lineola

H. morpheus

P. machaon

L. sinpis

L. morsei

P. rapae

P. napi

A. crataegi

P. daplidice

C. hyale.

C. palaeno

G. rhamni

A. iris

L. populi

N. rivularis

N. sappho

A. urticae

P. c-album

N. xanthomelas

N. antiopa

I. io

A. levana

Mellicta

M. phoebe

A. paphia

A. laodice

F. adippe

M. aglaja

I. lahtonia

B. ino

C. angarensis

C. thore

C. selene

B. aquilonaris

L. achine

M. dryas

H. lycaon

C. hero

C. tullia

E. ligea

F. pruni

N. prunoides

T. dispar

H. virgaureae

P. argus

P. idas

P. amanda

E. argiades

V. optilete

48

C. splendens

L. dryas

L. sponsa

L. virens

S. paedisca

C. hastulatum

C. johanssoni

C. puella

C. pulchellum

C. lunulatum

E. najas

N. speciosa

I. elegans

E. cyathigerum

A. juncea

A. subactica

A. grandis

A. viridis

A. crenata

G. vulgatissimus

S. postocularis

C. aenea

S. metallica

S. flavomaculata

S. arctica

L. quadrimaculata

S. flaveolum

S. danae

S. sanguineum

S. vulgatum

L. rubicunda

L. dubia

L. pectoralis

L. abifrons

34

25 ИЮЛЯ (запись 29 июля)
   С утра небольшой дождик, пасмурно, прохладно. Около полудня обрака растянуло
(причем небо очень красивое - очень чистый воздух, разнообразные облака) 
и было солнечно часов до 20, когда снова прошел кратковременный дождь.
  На Ине за час до выхода солнца. Почти ничего нет - отдельные E. agriades,
Leptidea, P. pennipes, даже S. flaveolum крайне мало. Сразу же после выхода 
солнца активизировались красотки, стала летать A. grandis, появилась 
летающая вдоль берега (крайне редко) S. metallica, в траве стали чаще попадаться 
плосконожки и симпетрумы. Через минут 10 после выхода солнца (находились в месте 
выхода сланцев выше разъезда, на правом берегу, из крон деревьев слетела гомфида, 
как бы села на воду и прилипла к ней, причем дергалась. Доплыл - оказалось, самка 
S. p. epophthalmus.
   Рафаль подошел к одному проходу в ивах (напротив глинистых обрывчиков) 
и увидел, что между ивами и камышом летает Macromia. Солнце зашло за облако, 
и она тут же исчезла. Когда вышло - появилось минут через 10. Поймал, новых не появлялось, 
вероятно - одна. Но периодически откуда-то с воды прилетали и садились на ветки
ивы гомфиды - все epophthalmus - один самец и самки. Самец грязно-зеленоватый,
все самки красивые желтые (и они крупнее). Еже одна самка взлетела откуда-то
из травы перед пешеходным мостом и села мне на штаны. Всего сегодня поймали
(часть отпустили) шесть особей этого вида - один самец, остальные самки.
Еще были L. quadrimaculata, и Рафаль поймал A. mixta. За бабочками не следил,
но были довольно часто Leptidea - по полету наверное и amurensis, причем именно
там, где вовсю цветет amoena. В этом году в пойме роскошные луга и почти нет
тропинок. I. helenium вовсю цветет. Тырса в разгаре, на ковыле перистом 
семянки только изредка. Цветет Rhynanthus, Galatella - аспект уже осенний.
Ежевика без ягод. 
    Вечером, в начале короткого, но сильного дождя, в небольшом
заливчике плясала в воздухе Somatochlora, похоже та, что там только что курсировала.

29 ИЮЛЯ
   Шел от ФМШ к ИМ по тропинке в лиственничных посадках пролетел и сел на 
лист сныти довольно оборванный, но Limenitis helmanni! В самом городке 
раньше не видел. Солнце, +25оС

31 ИЮЛЯ
   В лесу между ИМ и студгородком на соцветии Sanguisorba сидела
и не собиралась улетать целая самка M. nausithous.

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