Last one from me on my mystery butterfly. I mentioned it to a pal who lives locally and he sent me this pic taken by his wife of one on his hat, from a family trip to Middleton Farm three weeks ago. Definitely looks like the Escape Committee have stopped digging their tunnel and are looking for easi...

Thanks for the further consideration chaps - much appreciated as always. Before seeing your replies, I felt honour-obliged to take a look at some photos online of butterflies present at Middleton Farm, which is about 1 mile from my work as the crow flies (probably more like 2 miles as the butterfly ...

Hi ZZ_W , Your mystery butterfly seems to have a dark background and white stripes . Together with your description of flight , my guess would be a day flying Jersey Tiger moth . Cheers Greenie Hi Greenie, Thanks a lot for the suggestion. I don't think it was a Jersey Tiger Moth, but I'm certainly ...

Eating my sandwich this lunchtime when a strong-flying, large butterfly flew along the hedge in front of me. It kept stopping at intervals to rest and then taking off again after a few seconds. At first I thought it was one of my Speckled Woods who do a similar tour along that hedge, but this thing ...

That's a great shot Zigzag and love the title! Thanks very much Pauline. I'm slightly ashamed to admit I had originally toyed with using "Damsel In Distress" but that didn't seem quite respectful enough of its already fatal plight (I could actually hear the munching). Luckily on closer in...

Saw my first Grizzled Skipper and Meadow Brown of the year today.

The former landed close to my feet whilst I was eating my sandwich, the latter was along a sunny hedgerow on the walk home.

Well at least you did have that pair of shorts on, Otep. I should imagine the helicopter pilot has seen all manner of things from his lofty vantage point ! Yes, I'm actually a Neil (another one), but when I joined I thought I'd give myself some kind of moniker and Zig Zag Wanderer fitted the bill on...

Thanks Otep.

Great to see you back by the way. I was beginning to wonder if our favourite Spring arrival had been as affected by the weather as some of the butterflies

I'm taking part in an archaeological dig on Saturdays which is reducing my general wandering, although I do walk home if the weather is good. The chosen aftershave is ready, but I've got to find something significantly more interesting than I have to date to get that invite into Prof Roberts' tent. ...

Love that upside down male, BertI. I haven't seen a female yet so that's one up to yourself and Clackmannanshire. Saw my first OT of 2023 on Monday and a minimum of 4 patrolling males doing large circuits around me on Thursday lunchtime. I like the way the males engage when they meet. They don't app...

Can't compete with a Camberwell Beauty, but I did see 4 butterflies in a 30 minute spell at lunchtime today.

A male and female Brimstone flew past me five minutes apart and in different directions. Hopefully they met up at some point.

The others were a Peacock and a Small Tortoiseshell.

Saw my first flying butterfly of the year at work on Friday. A Small White in House #3, one of our warmest. No others about that I could see but at least it has plenty to nectar on. The jumping spiders were out and about on Thursday. Think the larger one is a Fencepost Jumping Spider (Marpissa musco...

Monday was quite sunny at lunchtime. Still haven't seen any butterflies outside yet, but I am seeing fresh-looking Diamond-back moths ( Plutella xylostella ) around the nursery (inside and out). They are the most successful of all the moths and butterflies on the nursery. The cabbage whites (both sp...

Thanks Aeshna. Yes, I note that many moths seem to exist very merrily without having an English name bestowed upon them and alternatively there are a few that seem to have garnered more than one (regional varieties I assume). So as I very much value your (and others') feedback I'll always include th...

Was doing some early Spring cleaning in the main shed at work today. Came across a Small Tort hibernating on the inside of a very large wooden reel of electric cable. 95% of the cable has been used, so plenty of wooden reel exposed to find a comfy spot. Hopefully i'll see it flying about outside soo...

We've also had an overwintering Peacock in our warmest house (#1). Along with the warmth it seems to appreciate our tidying up efforts as it is usually to be found in the middle of a cleared (if not necessarily glistening white ;-)) bench. These will start to be filled with bedding cuttings soon tho...

Apologies for this very late response Aeshna - but much appreciated as always. Yes, I read that the "W" or "M" behind the eyes is a good diagnostic for Larch Ladybird. I've only seen a few small flies on the netting so far this year, but I did spot the attached on Wednesday. Not ...

Hopefully that's a sign of things to come, David.

(ouch)

Not a butterfly, and nowhere near in focus, but this thing landed in front of me and was gone in the space of 5 seconds !

One from yesterday.

Pretty certain this is a Larch Ladbird. I see they're common but I don't think I've spotted one before.

This one was on the inside rather than outside.