Thank you for your comments, Buzzard, David and Goldie. Yes, there is snow on my local mountains but it has mostly melted below about 2000m in the recent sun.
I didn't feel superhuman as I cycled down the hill this morning. The temperature was below freezing and my hands were completely numb by the time I reached the bottom. Poor old Minnie in the backpack - but she had me as a windbreak ahead of her and I didn't feel her shivering. It was definitely worth the trip, though, with at least 17 species of butterfly still on the wing on what turned out to be a truly beautiful day. This picture was taken in the afternoon, when I climbed back out of the valley to see what was flying on the higher slopes:
I'm fairly confident I found all three of the clouded yellows: clouded, pale clouded and Berger's. It's never easy to be sure with pale clouded, which isn't resident here, but both this week and last I noticed the individuals flying around a clover field were all of the shape and colour of pale clouded. This is one of them:
This one, from higher up the slopes (about 900m) is Berger's:
And here, for good measure, is a clouded yellow:
Unlike last week, I saw two skippers today - one each of mallow skipper and rosy grizzled skipper. The mallow skipper was enjoying the company of the big boys ...
... and the little boys:
The rosy grizzly, which I didn't find until I was on the way back to the bike, was all alone:
This is an aberrant wall - f.
quadriocellata:
Compare that with these typical females, also photographed today:
There were lots of Queen of Spain fritillaries around - as always - including this rather distinguished individual:
Here is another:
Adonis blues vary from worn to quite fresh and will still be on the wing for a while if the weather holds:
The chalkhills, on the other hand, will not:
Here is a common blue:
Tree graylings are still flying but I saw no normal graylings today.
Lots of small coppers about. This one was not only
caerulopunctata but had golden shadows on the blue spots:
It flew off before I could get better pictures.
Here is a northern brown argus:
And perhaps the last painted lady I will see this year (or perhaps not):
Over the hills, ravens were constantly circling, flying out, gathering and dispersing. They seem to be in pairs still - and one was even flying with straw, as if nest-building.
These ravens were clearly a pair:
And to close, one of my favourite insects ...
![Image](http://www.guypadfield.com/images2016/mantis22oct2016a.jpg)
('Who are you looking at?')
Guy
Other species flying were small white, holly blue and brimstone.