Winter Butterflies

It's like winter today - air temperature 8C, a heavy dew, reports of snow settling on the lower bens of Lochaber, and a chill northwesterly blowing, but at least the sun is occasionally out and the promised rain has held off, so we took our usual walk down through the forestry to the village. I had stopped at Roe Corner in the hope of seeing a deer, and even sat down on a log to enjoy the sun, when a movement....

....caught my eye. It was a speckled wood, a bit tatty around the edges, but quite happy to fly in these damp, cold circumstances. However, what surprised me was that it was joined by several others all of which flew up....

....into the branches of the trees, settling there....

....in the sunshine, rather like the monarchs do in Mexico after their long migration south.

So, it appears that winter butterflies are evolving in Golspie to cope with the sunless summers, and the speckled woods are leading the way.

If you don't believe me, all this was witnessed by a small red bird which watched everything from a perch amid the elder berries.