Late flying butterflies enjoying the warm September weather.

This week I have seen six species of butterfly visiting my garden. The Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock (top and second down photos) and the Brimstone and Comma (bottom two photo) will probably survive the winter (predation and sufficient body fat stores permitting), whilst the Red Admiral and Speckled Wood (middle photo) will die once the wintery weather arrives. Speckled Woods overwinter as caterpillars or chrysalises whilst up until recently no stage of the Red Admiral life cycle has been able to tolerate British winters, however, with the advent of a warming climate it is expected that the adults will be able to survive our winters and become a resident breeding species. Indeed in recent years there have been occasional very early sightings of this species and these are thought to be individuals that have overwintered in Britain http://butterfly-conservation.org/679-823/red-admiral-.html. Up until this happens on a regular basis we rely on a regular supply of migrant Red Admirals to temporarily populate our islands every year.

by feeding on a sunny September day these butterflies are building up their fat stores that will enable them to survive the winter months.