Small Tortoiseshell ( Aglais urticae )

Another hot sunny day.  So gardening had an appeal, I have decided that all the local birds have finished breeding and so I can start the task of cutting the hedge.  The buddleia is still alive with butterflies, to the extent that at times there were two per flower.

The main species were Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell with the odd Peacock and fly-bys by a few small whites.  The tortoiseshell were the most helpful in where they posed and for how long.  So as you have seen it was a Small Tortoiseshell that won the day.  To many the small Tortoiseshell is the only Tortoiseshell butterfly.  However there is another interestingly called the Large Tortoiseshell.  It was wide spread and eventually declared extinct in the UK.  In recent years there have been sightings these have been believed to be captive bred releases.  Recently however a resurgence of sightings is starting to suggest at least some are of natural origin.