The Year's First Butterfly

There's always something very special indeed about the sighting of the year's first butterfly. In 2021 it was of a tortoiseshell, and we saw it on 2nd April, so it wasn't particularly surprising that, with the midday temperature soaring to a giddy 16C, we spotted this year's on Tuesday, a good week earlier.

However, this time it was a red admiral, a very shy but exceedingly smart red admiral who didn't at all went his picture taken but....

....like any good papparazzo, I persisted and managed my scoop in yesterday's warm afternoon sunshine.

What is so special, I suppose, is the startling colours of these first butterflies after the drab shades of winter; the way these colours are suddenly in the air, moving erratically, catching the sunlight; and the fact that this small beast has managed to survive a bitterly cold winter.

So it's a joy to see it, but here's hoping these bright and very precious insects have a good year in 2022.