I would like to explain how I became interested in butterflies,

and why I started photographing them.

Whilst bird watching at Gibraltar Point one day, I saw a butterfly

land on a bush and close its wings. It was green, I had never heard

of green butterflies, so I looked it up when I got home, and found

it was a Green Hairstreak .

When I had photographed everything in my garden and locally I travelled further away, and have now 'captured' 45 of the 57 British butterflies, including the elusive

Purple Emperor, and Swallowtail.

I now need to visit, Dorset, Devon, the Isle of Wight, Kent , Lake District high ground, and Scotland , but maybe I will not find them all.

Green Hairstreak small, brown but always closes on landing, is then green, with a white line, or streak.

 

From February

(in a warm spring!)

In gardens and in the countryside, look out for:

Comma : orange, the only butterfly with frilly edges.

 

Peacock after hibernating in corners of sheds, outhouses, etc, the Peacock is one of the earliest butterflies to be seen.

Easily recognisable because of its four false eyes, meant to deter birds, the underside is almost black

Brimstone: yellow, but always closes wings on landing to give the appearance of a leaf.

Red Admiral used to migrate, now winters here, in sheds and corners.

Red bands and white markings on black background make it easily recognizable

Holly Blue , small blue butterfly, male and female both blue, the underside is pale blue with black dots. It can be confused with the common blue.

Small/ Large White need no description, or photo, both called Cabbage White.

 

Orange Tip : male, white with orange edges to wings.

Female could be confused with small white as she has no orange on her, both have a mottled underside.

Painted Lady : is a large, powerful flier, which migrates to Britain from the Continent in May and June. Easily recognisable, with it's bold orange and black pattern, white markings on the wing distinguish it from the Tortoiseshell butterfly.

Common Blue : a small blue butterfly, can be confused with other blues, but has a different pattern on the underside, male is blue, female can be any combination of brown and blue.

Female underside, brown, male, blue.

Britain 's commonest butterfly is the Meadow Brown. It is seen, mostly

 in the countryside and only occasionally in the garden.

The female is larger, and brighter, with more orange than the male.

They both have false eyes on the wings with a single dot inside.  

Small Tortoiseshell, one of the most familiar butterflies, in the garden and in the countryside.

It's black, orange and yellow pattern with blue half moons is easily recognisable.

The Small Tortoiseshell hibernates

and lives through the winter as a butterfly.

Ringlet, a small, dark butterfly of damp, grassy places.

The string of false eyes on the underside give the butterfly its name.

Gatekeeper, also called the

Hedge Brown, a small orange butterfly of hedgerows and sometimes gardens, has two dots in the false eyes, and 3 or 4 white dots on the underside of the wings.

Speckled Wood, a common butterfly of woodland margins, hedgerows and paths.

 A dark brown butterfly with buff spots, it has a false eye on the forewing with a white centre and three false eyes on the hind wing.

 It basks on leaves in the sunshine.

Purple Emperor (Very Rare) 

Only in a very few woodland sites in southern and central England

This spectacular butterfly, is rarely seen because it flies around the highest braches of oak trees.

The males occasionally come down to drink the moisture from a path or leaf. Only the males have the distinctive purple sheen on the wings, and this varies with the light.

Females are brown and larger.     

Swallowtail (Very rare)

This large black and yellow butterfly with its red and blue false eyes is now found only in the Norfolk Broads.

The name refers to the extensions on the hind wings which give the appearance of a swallow's tail.