After a rainy grey morning the sun broke through. I was surprised to glimpse a Red Admiral sunning itself among the leaves of a Fig Tree. 2024 has been a bad summer for butterflies, cool and wet in June particularly.

 I haven't seen many Red Admirals but perhaps they have been helped somewhat by being a comparatively late emerging butterfly? During spring and summer there are migrations from North Africa and continental Europe. The females lay eggs here and the brood emerges from July onwards. They will be on the wing into autumn, sometimes as late as November.