Madame Butterfly

Or perhaps Mr Butterfly. I am unable to tell the sex of this beautiful butterfly, but I can say it is the Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae), which is commonly found all over the British Isles.

Up until today I haven't seen a butterfly this year, but today I saw four of them, all Small Toroiseshell butterflies. I saw two in my garden, (of which this is one) and two later on today while I was out. The two I saw this morning I spotted a minute apart, but the two I saw later on were flying around together in formation.

I was lucky to get a shot of this one as I just saw some movement out of the corner of my eye through the window while I was working. I thought it might have been a butterfly so I grabbed the camera and rushed outside and luckily I was right and it was still there.

It is early to see butterflies here, but I assume the last couple of days of warm weather has caused them to appear. If you want some additional info then use this link to the UK Butterflies website.