The Butterfly Isles

I've just finished reading The Butterfly isles by Patrick Barkham - describing his (successful) attempt to see all 59 species of 'British' butterflies in one year. Its full of fascinating details about butterflies and lepidopterists but, to my mind, a very odd, almost self-defeating, thing to do. He drove thousands of miles, in one case taking a 560 mile trip to see the Scotch Argus. Forty-four of Britain's native butterflies occur in Sussex and I'm quite content to have seen 25 of them (including the purple emperor) on my transect, which is less than a mile from home, this year. If I travel a further five miles I can see at least five more species on the Downs.