First butterflies of Spring
At last, real signs of Spring!
For many of us it’s the first butterflies that mean Spring is really here.
At the weekend Small Tortoiseshell Butterflies and Peacock Butterflies were seen both at Porthoustock on the Lizard and in a Falmouth garden.
It surely won’t be long before the overwintering Black Redstarts and Iceland Gull also seen at Porthoustock will depart.
These early butterflies are normally species that have overwintered in a dormant state as a butterfly.
Other overwintering butterflies that will hopefully be seen soon are The Comma Butterfly and The Brimstone Butterfly.
And the caterpillars of The Red Admiral overwinter in this part of Cornwall. Normally, that is! The recent exceptionally cold snap may well have wiped these out.
The first Holly Blue Butterfly will be one of the first species to be seen that’s emerged from an overwintering chrysalis.