I reckon it had been in the old Chemical/Paint store which has vented doors and no heating but is dry and sheltered which is why it was so tatty 
Continuing with 2020...
Middle Street Feb into March
As January ended and we broke into February I started to get itchy feet. This is the time of year when the sap starts to rise, the buds start to unfurl and the anticipation starts to build. So I found myself wandering Middle Street-ward for no better reason than it was the first time in since I didn’t know when! This was a very early visit and was actually just a recce, a chance to see how things lay ready for the season ahead. Where were the likely looking spots? Were there any quagmires (giggity) to avoid, any fallen branches blocking the path ways etc? Despite a few moments when some falling or odd coloured leaves or even blades of grass twitching in the slightest of breezes caught my eye I wasn’t surprised when I didn’t see any butterflies. It was still good to catch up with Reed Buntings and the ever explosive Cetti’s; the cooler crisp air seeming to make his call even more ear shattering. On the return journey a teenager Herring Gull did a few piratical passes.
- View through the entrance
With the days continuing to lengthen, the sap rising higher and the first flowers of spring in bloom I felt like it was time to venture forth and try my luck at Middle Street once more. Normally I’m onto my first butterflies in February and whilst it wasn’t a mini unseasonal heat wave like in 2019 I have seen butterflies at around this time of year in cooler, greyer and damper conditions than we’ve experienced.
Today there was a first; it was the first time in 2020 that I got caught out by the weather forecast. I’ve come to take anything the Weather People say with a bucket worth of salt but I’d obviously forgotten this over the winter months and so despite showing no rain and light cloud I only got as far as the other side of the wooden bridge before the sun disappeared, the temperature dropped and down came the rain swiftly followed by hail.
Take 2b (01-03-2020)
So the second visit proper saw me wandering through ‘mud’n bullets’ as my dad says, the paths churned into a quagmire (giggity)
by dog walkers and poaching anglers. Dennis had menaced the site with one of the tracks blocked with a fallen tree and the various ditches and depressions were serving their purpose – they were filled with water. Needless to say I didn’t see any butterflies on this trip either despite the slightly more favourable conditions and even the birds were scarce today, the only calls coming from the football pitch. I learnt that apparently Ron is a ‘fornicating phallus’? 
- The river side path is now part of the river…
- This, believe it or not, is actually a path, or was once.
It must be third time lucky now surely? So I decided that as soon as the chores were done I would take the now familiar stroll along the Town Path, cut through Harnham and saunter round Middle Street. During the morning around town the air was clear, the sky blue but there was still a nip in the air. As the morning wore on the occasional wisps of cloud appeared, the temperature started to rise and the cold breeze picked up meaning that when it blew the temp dropped back down again. It was one of those typical spring days which remind me of the mum and the dad bear in the Goldilocks story; the weather was too cold, or too windy or too dull – it was never just right!
Still I set out hopefully and as I turned the corner from South Street to Harcourt Terrace there was a sight that lifted my soul. The blazing yellow of a Brimstone. I watched it land on the flattened top of a hedge and by standing a few paces back and holding my camera out at full stretch I was able to get a few shots. I was stopped and asked what I was doing by the neighbourhood watch but when I explained that I lived round the corner and that I was watching a butterfly this seemed to placate them. Luckily to add further credence to my excuse and reassure them that I wasn’t casing the joint the butterfly took off and started patrolling along the hedges along one side of the street. After a while it landed in another high bit of hedge and I kept my eye on its position and at the same time kept an eye on the NW. Once they were gone I had a think about how I could get some closer shots and in the end reasoned that if I stood on the low wall at the bottom of the hedge, leant in slightly and held my camera in one hand I might be able to get something on the memory card. So that’s what I did.
Have a goodun and stay safe
Wurzel
I've not seen a Brimstone yet but I'm hoping one will pop in the Garden before long 
) I had quite a good list including Meadow Brown, Small Copper, Common Blue and Small Skipper 
Missing it now though - thankfully we're allowed our exercise walks 
Swop you a Holly Blue or two? 
