Brimstone - Gonepteryx rhamni

I found this lady today, in the hot sun taking the last of the nectar from the thistles.

The problem is she should be hibernating by now!

G. rhamni is one of the longest lived butterflies, living up to thirteen months, although most of this time is spent in hibernation. As it is often the first butterfly to be seen in the spring, sometimes as early as January when hibernating adults are awoken on a sunny day, there is a popular myth that it is this butterfly which gave us the word butterfly, a corruption of butter-coloured fly.
The eggs are laid singly on the leaves of either Common Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) or Alder Buckthorn (Rhamnus frangula) ? the only two food plants ? and females will wander far and wide in search for these particular shrubs. The larvae and Pupae are both green and very well camouflaged making them difficult to find in the wild. Upon emerging from the pupae, Brimstone butterflies spend the summer feeding on nectar to build up energy reserves for the winter and by the end of August they are already beginning their long sleep. They seek out evergreen scrub, a favourite being dense, old ivy growth. The brimstone usually hides until early spring, although a warm January day will occasionally wake an eager male. There is only one brood a year.

They are cutting down the ash tree [Seen in the earlier blip after half of it fell through a neighbours fence] I suppose she may have been hibernating in it when the tree-felling started.

I hope she finds a new place to sleep in the next couple of days, the weather forecast is hot and sunny!