I am going to say that the Small Tortoiseshell was my 'Butterfly of the Year' for 2020.
I saw them in the kind of numbers that I have not seen around here for some years and took loads of photos of both those re-appearing in the spring and then again later in the summer. In fact I took so many photos that I am going to limit the ones that I post here to ones taken within walking distance from home, and even then I had trouble whittling them down to a 'reasonable' number.
I saw my first ones on 21st of March, which is pretty average timing for around here, although they did appear with a bit of a bang with the most I have ever seen on my first day of sightings included a number of courting pairs.
![Wagon Lane 21.03.2020 119 resize.JPG (723.2 KiB) Viewed 2861 times Small Tortoiseshell pair - Wagon Lane 21.03.2020](./files/thumb_10101_0b0287685ea8cd0918686c1ca4662caf)
- Small Tortoiseshell pair - Wagon Lane 21.03.2020
They were then seen every day that I went out on my daily exercise walk during the first 'lockdown'.
![Wagon Lane 24.03.2020 124 resize.JPG (531.78 KiB) Viewed 2861 times Small Tortoiseshell - Wagon Lane 24.03.2020](./files/thumb_10101_8bf416bc07a90bbabeecfa6e74cb100c)
- Small Tortoiseshell - Wagon Lane 24.03.2020
![Wagon Lane 26.03.2020 007 resize.JPG (519.69 KiB) Viewed 2861 times Small Tortoiseshell - Wagon Lane 26.03.2020](./files/thumb_10101_53e5fce1b9ee35d622667f5b6ac345fe)
- Small Tortoiseshell - Wagon Lane 26.03.2020
![Wagon Lane 03.04.2020 011 resize.JPG (503.6 KiB) Viewed 2861 times Small Tortoiseshell - Wagon Lane 03.04.2020](./files/thumb_10101_8189b95463572bba2752a1554d9b055f)
- Small Tortoiseshell - Wagon Lane 03.04.2020
![Sheldon C P 05.04.2020 159 resize.JPG (749.31 KiB) Viewed 2861 times Small Tortoiseshell pair - Sheldon Country Park 05.04.2020](./files/thumb_10101_081a8acf69732d5e82e513c66f46ccb9)
- Small Tortoiseshell pair - Sheldon Country Park 05.04.2020
![Wagon Lane 07.04.2020 010 resize.JPG (588.71 KiB) Viewed 2861 times Small Tortoiseshell - Wagon Lane 07.04.2020](./files/thumb_10101_2475544ad9e1517b991f2855734b75e2)
- Small Tortoiseshell - Wagon Lane 07.04.2020
![Wagon Lane 12.04.2020 064 resize.JPG (632.85 KiB) Viewed 2861 times Small Tortoiseshell - Wagon Lane 12.04.2020](./files/thumb_10101_1fd786cbc843017a31eecd8982a793b2)
- Small Tortoiseshell - Wagon Lane 12.04.2020
Given the numbers seen in the spring, both by myself and by reports from elsewhere in the midlands, where was considerable hope for a good summer emergence. The first fresh summer examples were seen flying before the end of May and by early June it was apparent that they were emerging in very good numbers. During June and into July, some of my walks to my local spot at Wagon Lane produced 40-50 plus each time, and this is a pretty small site consisting of a couple of small areas of waste ground to the side of a local city park.
![Sheldon Country Park 02.06.2020 005 resize.JPG (596.93 KiB) Viewed 2861 times Small Tortoiseshell - Sheldon Country Park 02.06.2020](./files/thumb_10101_4a573d424bcdbf3affec85c789c5802a)
- Small Tortoiseshell - Sheldon Country Park 02.06.2020
![Sheldon Country Park 02.06.2020 095 resize.JPG (600.18 KiB) Viewed 2861 times Small Tortoiseshell - Sheldon Country Park 02.06.2020](./files/thumb_10101_78b253d2f54a6e517bb3f3ed90449670)
- Small Tortoiseshell - Sheldon Country Park 02.06.2020
![Wagon Lane 13.06.2020 036 resize.JPG (635.85 KiB) Viewed 2861 times Small Tortoiseshell - Wagon Lane 13.06.2020](./files/thumb_10101_46d0ed334eb638e46c01a3d7d7da16a2)
- Small Tortoiseshell - Wagon Lane 13.06.2020
![Wagon Lane 13.06.2020 058 resize.JPG (610.78 KiB) Viewed 2861 times Small Tortoiseshell - Wagon Lane 13.06.2020](./files/thumb_10101_19b5d32843d6e4a7c7695a2cf5cfb392)
- Small Tortoiseshell - Wagon Lane 13.06.2020
![Wagon Lane 30.06.2020 144 resize.JPG (562.15 KiB) Viewed 2861 times Small Tortoiseshell - Wagon Lane 30.06.2020](./files/thumb_10101_1454aeee8a468692db040e61689aabee)
- Small Tortoiseshell - Wagon Lane 30.06.2020
![Wagon Lane 14.07.2020 029 resize.JPG (551.05 KiB) Viewed 2861 times Small Tortoiseshell - Wagon Lane 14.07.2020](./files/thumb_10101_65b869f0f62d63c465af46a8bb417001)
- Small Tortoiseshell - Wagon Lane 14.07.2020
Apart from those seen within walking distance from home, I also saw plenty at my other local spots around Solihull and at other sites around Warwickshire.
The only times that I went further south last year was to Cornwall in early August where I saw a few (approx. half a dozen) and then to Dorset in early September where I only saw one.
Fingers crossed for the coming year and hoping that we see plenty again this spring.
Cheers,
Neil