Compared to the rest of the week I've had a pretty easy day today. I manged to grab my camera and had a quick walk around the walled garden. In the walled garden we have a bed dedicated to several different types of Buddleia, at this time of year they are normally awash with butterflies and bees but today there was just a couple of Commas. I was about to head back when I caught a glimpse of something bright out of the corner of my eye. It was one of my favourite butterflies; the lovely sulphur-yellow Brimstone.
Although it is not especially unusual to see these in late August they are a much more common sight in early spring. They are one of the first butterflies to emerge from hibernation and can if the weather is mild enough can even be spotted as early as February. The males are often confused with the Large White as they are much paler and don't have the rich colouring of the females, being a more of creamy colour. They lay their eggs in spring, and are very choosy, only using a couple of species of Buckthorn. During the autumn the new adults will seek a place to hibernate, usually choosing nothing more protective than an evergreen shrub or tree. It is probably the hardiest, and certainly of the longest lived, of the butterflies indigenous to the UK, and can live for over a year.
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