Thanks all for the comments, it is always good to see the first Specklies back in my garden each year
Just out of interest I have looked back at the dates I have first seen them in my garden since I first started taking note;
- 07.04.2017
– 04.05.2016
- 09.04.2015
– 11.04.2014
– 07.05.2013
– 25.03.2012
– 06.04.2011
This shows that despite the long winter and some significant periods of cold and snow, this year - 22.04.2018 - is by no means the latest.
Thursday 26th April
After the brief taste of summer we had the other week it almost feels like we have quickly moved on into autumn around here with an almost constant succession of dull wet and windy days. In actual truth it has returned to what are more normal conditions for this time of year with typical April showers interspersed with brief sunny spells albeit with a cool wind on most days keeping temperatures down.
Looking at the forecast earlier this week, Thursday had seemed to be the best day before more bands of rain would be heading in for the weekend, so I decided to take a flyer and book the day off.
Monday to Wednesday were mostly dull and wet with temperatures struggling into low double figures and some heavy rain showers. Thursday arrived and the forecast was looking to be fairly accurate with a drier but nippy morning and some longer sunny spells that slowly began to make it feel quite pleasant. I spent the first couple of hours pottering about in the garden and was pleased to see a male Speckled Wood had taken up residence in one of the usual corners.
- Speckled Wood male - Coverdale 26.04.2018
By early afternoon the temperature had reached 14 degrees although it was still feeling a bit nippy when the sun was covered by a cloud for any length of time. My purpose in taking the day off was to get out to one of my local spots and hopefully see some Orange-tips and I figured the mix of sun and cloud would mean that they would be flying but settling often enough for some photo opportunities.
Anyway, I decided to try my local spot at Castle Hills near Solihull and soon after parking up and heading down the first path I spotted an Orange-tip heading towards me along the hedgerow. Just before he reached me the sun disappeared behind a cloud and sure enough he settled about a dozen feet in front of me with wings still spread to catch whatever warmth he could. This enabled me to sneak up and take a couple of photos before the sun reappeared and he was off again.
- Orange-tip - Castle Hills 26.04.18
Over the next couple of hours as I wandered along the paths here, there was a mix of approximately 50/50 cloud and sun which gave me the opportunities to get a few photos of the Orange-tips using the tried and tested method of watching where one settled when a cloud covered the sun and waiting for the sun to reappear when they would open their wings briefly before taking off again.
- Orange-tip - Castle Hills 26.04.18
- Orange-tip - Castle Hills 26.04.18
It is always nice to see an Orange-tip on a blue flower and a couple of patches of forget-me-nots along one stretch gave me the chance for the shot below.
- Orange-tip - Castle Hills 26.04.18
I was watching one particular Orange-tip when a large dark cloud covered the sun for ten minutes and I felt a few drops of rain in the air which luckily didn't develop into much. I did however, see the OT settle on a blackthorn where he immediately closed his wings to sit it out until the sun reappeared which gave me the chance for a nice underside shot.
- Orange-tip - Castle Hills 26.04.18
I kept watch on him hoping for an open wing shot when the sun reappeared but just as that happened a gust of wind hit him and he took off straight away.
Most of the Orange-tips seen were males with just one female spotted who seemed to be more interested in feeding than egg laying. In fact I checked numerous cuckoo flower and garlic mustard plants without finding a single egg which seems to indicate that it is still early days for these here.
- Orange-tip female - Castle Hills 26.04.18
- Orange-tip female - Castle Hills 26.04.18
Along with the Orange-tips, I was hoping to see a Green-veined White or two which I had not yet managed to see this year. In the end I managed to find a couple of these, both males that looked like they had not been out for long.
- Green-veined White male - Castle Hills 26.04.2018
- Green-veined White male - Castle Hills 26.04.2018
Just like the Orange-tip mentioned above, I was watching one of the GVWs when a cloud covered the sun and he went up onto a nearby blackthorn to sit it out until the sun reappeared.
- Green-veined White male - Castle Hills 26.04.2018
There is an area here with some large nettle beds which were playing host to some Small Tortoiseshells, I counted at least 4 and suspect there was a couple more but as they were all moving between the different nettle beds I cannot be certain.
- Small Tortoiseshell - Castle Hills 26.04.2018
- Small Tortoiseshell - Castle Hills 26.04.2018
A couple of Commas were also spotted, one of which I was almost on top of as he was settled low down at the side of the path during one of the cloudier spells.
- Comma - Castle Hills 26.04.2018
- Comma - Castle Hills 26.04.2018
All in all, not that many butterflies were seen during my couple of hours here, maybe 7-8 Orange-tips, 2 Green-veined Whites, 4-6 Small Tortoiseshells, 2 Commas and a single Speckled Wood, but given the wet and cool weather we have had most of this week that is probably not surprising. In any case it was just good to get out and see those that were around.
Today (Friday) has been another awful day with almost constant rain until late afternoon and the weekend is not looking much better...glad I took the chance and took my day off on Thursday
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Bye for now,
Neil.
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I too placed all my money on Thursday and so watched the weather very carefully during the week - it was quite worrying as it was getting worse as the week went on but then it all came good - and for you too! If only we could get some settled weather 
. At least images like yours are some compensation for not seeing them with my own eyes!
Some lovely shots there - those OT's are so sharp and vibrant they look like they are about to fly out of the PC 
