NORTH DOWNS & BEYOND

A few weeks ago, while this blog was knee-deep in the #BWKM0 challenge, this Painted Lady alighted on a Choisya bush in the front garden. At the time there had been very few reported nationally, which made the sighting all the more notable. What was also arresting about this particular butterfly was how fresh it appeared, with hardly a scale out of place. I have seen just one more since.

A family and friends gathering, mid-morning coffee and mince pies. The day was mild, the sun weakly shining. I looked out of the window and was warmed by the sight of a Red Admiral, flitting along the outside of the windows, then off into the December air. My latest ever.

The first butterfly of the year is always a highlight, so this short post is just to share with you my first for 2013 - a slightly tatty Red Admiral that was nectaring on a neighbour's cultivated heather, on-and-off, for a couple of hours early this afternoon. It was too flighty to allow a photograph. With a return to colder continental air promised by Wednesday that might be the only one I'll get to see for a while.