At last! A sunny day, and I'm not at work.
I had two separate tours of my local patch today, one between 11 and 12 and the other between 1 and half past 2. The first was notable for seeing Brimstones in double figures, the second for seeing none at all! Definitely a morning butterfly. The first butterfly encountered today was actually a white one. I assumed it would be a Small White, but having looked at the photo snatched before it set off again, it was definitely Green-veined.
I saw several more whites during both walks, but all others were of the Small persuasion.
Peacocks and Commas appeared, with the latter in good numbers during the afternoon.
An area I have dubbed Comma Corner proved very aptly named today.
I also found a couple of Small Tortoiseshells, making four new species for the year and the grand total now stands at six.
One particular piece of interest was watching a female Comma meander gently along a hedgerow (quite different behaviour than the males) and wander into a male's airspace. I managed a few pictures of their courting behaviour, but unfortunately they were interrupted by an aggressive male Peacock and lost track of each other.
A proper spring butterfly day.
Dave