First butterfly and first hoverfly of 2014

 

Today was a lovely early spring day. It was 12 degrees C on my thermometer in the shade and warmer in the afternoon sunshine. Not surprisingly I saw my first hoverfly of the year feeding on Coltsfoot in my garden. It is probably either Surphus vitripennis or S. ribesii. On Saturday 01/03/14, another fairly warm and sunny afternoon saw my first butterfly, a Small Tortoiseshell, of this spring flying near a hedge on a walk up to Brown Edge . Now the insects are starting to fly I will start to cut back last year's dead flower shoots that I had left as refuges for overwintering insects. 

The fist hoverfly I have seen this year feeding on Coltsfoot flowers.

 

Dead flower heads left overwinter as refuges for insects.