Butterfly gives hope that spring is near Country Notebook

RESPLENDENT in the midwinter sunshine, I was pleasantly surprised to come across a handsome red admiral (pictured right) while out walking the dog last week.

A flash of vibrant colour within what is currently a bleak hedgerow waiting like many of us for the arrival of spring before flourishing with fresh green shoots of life - this fairly large and strong-flying butterfly had clearly immersed itself in soaking up the sun’s warmth, allowing me the opportunity to lean in close and take a quick photo on my phone. Even then it remained firmly in place, wings spread to full extension and antennae on alert.

This has got me thinking ... I don’t remember ever seeing a red admiral (or any butterfly for that matter) so early in the year. Come May and June I’ll be rescuing admirals and cottage whites on almost a daily basis from the glass prison of the greenhouse, poised ready to lightly pinch their closed wings and release them back in the direction of the flowerbeds.

And rescues often have to be dealt with as a matter of urgency, as our two cats find the flapping of wings very enticing indeed.

However ,according to the Wildlife Trusts, “adults may be seen flying on warm days throughout the year”, although the charity says they are “most common in the summer and early autumn”.

Butterfly Conservation adds that there is “an indication that numbers have increased in recent years”, and that “overwintering has occurred in the far south of England”. While there’s no specific mention of the Tamar Valley in Cornwall, I’m pretty sure “far south” includes us!

So perhaps my sighting isn’t quite as unusual as first thought? If the sunshine we’ve all been enjoying recently sticks around for a little while longer, that’s sure to increase my chances of spotting another red admiral. Or even the same one from last week, lapping up those Cornish rays - a sure sign that spring is on the way, together with the snowdrops now flowering in the garden.