Thanks, Pete. I agree - it doesn't look like any butterfly that feeds on blackthorn. At the time, I thought it might be a fritillary, but so far as I can see there are no transverse ridges, only longitudinal. So I guess it must be a moth. Perhaps someone knows what moth it might be...
Whatever the other things are/were, it looks as though they've fled the nest!!
It was indeed a good day, but very cold! This is Martigny in the Rhône Valley, viewed from near where I was hunting eggs:
And this is in the woods at the same place:
Gloves on between pictures!
Guy