Blue

I had ten minutes between trains at Shipley on my way home, so I popped into the Station Meadow butterfly reserve. It wasn't exactly sunny, but I did find a female (extra) and male (main image) Common Blue, my first of the year, as well as a Cinnabar Moth (extra) and Narrow-bordered 5-spot Burnet caterpillar (extra).

Earlier, after days and days of rain, it had brightened up around lunchtime and I stumbled across a single Painted Lady nectaring on daisies on Woodhouse Moor. A lot of migrantswere spotted arriving on the east coast a few days ago so it's good to see some making their way inland.

Hopefully there will be a bit of sunshine this weekend as I go looking for my first Small Heath, Meadow Brown and Ringlets of the year.

Ooh, and I almost forgot to mention that it looks like we'll be seeing a lot more of Nephew #3 over the coming year.

Butterfly Journal 2019

18. 14/06/19 Common Blue, Station Meadow, Shipley