Thanks, Neil. I've been trying to avoid looking at your beautiful moth photos - I can see that moth-fancying (?) would be a slippery slope to get onto! Some of them are stunning.
Wednesday 15th March: another glorious day and this time I was able to call it a day at work soon after lunchtime, and set off round a circuit of my local patch to see what had been enticed out.
Just around the corner from my house, a mirabelle plum was in full flower, and flitting from blossom to blossom was my first Small Tortoiseshell of the year.
A great start. Once onto the path next to the River Colne, the next sighting was a Brimstone, and then another, quickly followed by a Comma and what looked by its flight to be a Red Admiral. Whilst following the orange flash of another Comma, I disturbed a Peacock from the path in front of me - another first for the year.
Comma Corner lived up to its name again today, with three, possibly four, there or thereabouts, with another two not that far away. They were sharing the spot uneasily with two Peacocks and there were a number of aerial battles with two or three butterflies.
Heading back, I came across another Red Admiral and Commas and Peacocks in different spots to where I had seen them earlier.
Finally, nearing home, there is a small area where a few trees were felled in the autumn and piles of logs lie surrounded by burgeoning young nettles. Here I found three Small Tortoiseshells, two of which set off madly into the distance and didn't return. The third was constantly bothered by a Comma and eventually also disappeared.
I was out for 90 minutes this afternoon, and saw (conservatively) eleven Commas, six Peacocks, four Small Tortoiseshells, four Brimstones and two Red Admirals. The numbers of Commas really are impressive!
Dave