Bernard Burton wrote:
You're not the only one surprised, Gianna. I saw a Red Admiral in the
garden in Wokingham this morning. The book says that they arrive in
May from the continent, but I wonder if this one over-wintered here.


Satellite images at:
www.woksat.info/wwp.html
or
www.btinternet.com/~wokingham.weather/wwp.html

Quite a few Red Admirals hve over-wintered and I have been told by an expert
on butterflys that they only hibernate lightly and therefore will appear if
the weather warms up slightly. If you visit
http://www.hertsmiddx-butterflies.or...tings-new.html you will see
they have been around in Hertfordforshire all winter and no doubt other
southern counties will be similar.

Alan