The recent spring weather has encouraged plenty of butterflies into our gardens over the last few weeks. All the usual suspects - Brimstone, Orange-tip, Peacock and Holly blue, but I was delighted to see an early Painted Lady ( Vanessa cardui ) while gardening this morning! These amazing insects migrate from North Africa every spring and are often seen from May onwards, so this fella is quite early - and stayed still long enough to get a few shots. He (I think it was male) hung around for quite a while enjoying the sunshine.
There was a fascinating documentary last year (BBC4 I believe) on the breeding habits and migration of this species which was very interesting.
Alphabetical girls and boys names January 2024