Brimstone. Steven Cheshire
On Monday I found 5 Brimstone butterflies which - believe it or not - is an all time record for me, not being a butterfly hunter the only ones I see are those encountered on my birding days and the Brimstone has always been a species which has escaped me, though I do have some quite good butterfly records over the years, like the 100+ number of Painted Lady from the Allan Hide path a Leighton Moss a few years ago now, the other memorable count of this species was made during the mega influx in 2009 when I counted 149 on Clougha/Birk Bank on 30 May, another two excellent records - void of searching my records - were both of the Clouded Yellow seen in numbers in the mid-teens in different years at Cockersands and along the coastal path from Fluke Hall towards Cockers Dyke. In Britain, any bright yellow butterfly seen in early spring is likely to be the male the Brimstone butterfly, the female may catch you off guard and think it's a 'white'....one did me for a moment on Monday. It is a common belief that the Brimstone was once known as the 'butter-coloured fly' a description which gave rise to the word 'butterfly'.
A brilliant photograph of the Red Admiral showing to excellent effect the pattern of this beautiful butterfly's under-wing. The Red Admiral at rest is unmistakable, with its red and black wings outspread, it is a strong migrant and may appear anywhere in Europe, it moves north in the spring from its breeding grounds in the south, but few - if any - survive the northern winter.
The Green Hairstreak is the butterfly I usually find on my upland birding days during April-June in places like Clougha and Birk Bank though it occurs in a wide range of habitats, if this creature lands on the greenery of any of its many suitable food-plants it is then perfectly camouflaged and easily overlooked.
I'D SOONER BE BIRDING!....but thanks for the photographs to fill the gap Steven/Linda.
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