Wings of spring

SIR – If Barbara Abercrombie’s sighting of a peacock butterfly on Saturday (Letters, March 27) was a record, I’m afraid she will have to share it.

I also saw a peacock butterfly in my garden on Saturday – and, as we live 280 miles apart, it’s not likely to be the same one. Keith Valentine Tunbridge Wells, Kent

SIR – Barbara Abercrombie should also look out for yellow brimstone butterflies – a herald of spring that I have enjoyed seeing on sunny days since the start of this month. John H Stephen Bisley, Gloucestershire

SIR – A peacock butterfly basking on a wall on a sunny day in late March is no longer unusual. Butterflies have been reported from many counties throughout the winter.

There were several comma butterflies in a garden in Ashford, Kent, on Saturday, and a peacock in Charlton, London, on Sunday. At least seven different species had been recorded elsewhere before last weekend. Keith Ferris Coxheath, Kent