This morning, 12th January, I saw my first butterfly of the year, a Red Admiral basking on a larch trunk in Stansted Forest, West Sussex. When I returned to the same spot 2 hours later it had been joined by another Red Admiral, sharing the same tree trunk.Moments later a female Brimstone flew past me. In the past I've found hibernating Brimstones on 1st January, but today's sighting is my earliest ever date for an active flying Brimstone. Normally the males come out of hibernation at least 2 or 3 weeks before the first females, so this is an extremely early date for a female.
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