It is unusual to write about butterflies on the last day of January, but today I shall. We first noticed this small tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) in the second bedroom back in October I think. We were moving the curtains which rarely are closed and there clinging inside a dark fold was our link back to the long hot summer of 2013. As our climate warms overwintering butterflies in the UK are becoming a more common sight, so as that room is cold and above all safe from predators or damp, we left it there. And so it stayed until about 2 weeks ago when it appeared in the lounge, flying about, which was nice to see but not good as it will be using up precious energy reserves. We fed it a 50:50 sugar and water solution and put it back in the spare room. The proper thing really would be to put this out into the shed (who's roof leaks so not good) or the garage (now housing rats it seems) so as it was just when that cold snap began, back into the spare room it went and back to hibernation. This morning the heating was on quite high as Julie is in bed resting on doctors orders, so 'our' butterfly was once again gambolling about the house. It's in beautiful condition as this photo shows, but should not be up and flying. I know on probability it won't make it but that's not the point, I feel responsible for its survival to March and to pass on its genes. And so to put it back into stasis it is now in a box in the greenhouse, not ideal but my only option. What this morning did allow me however was a very close up view of it pumping its wings to fly as it sat on my finger, and later closing down into stasis in the box in the cold greenhouse. Wildlife observation is always fascinating.
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