Flying visitor takes winter refuge

IT would seem a small thing to be concerned about, with the country in the state it’s in, but a beautiful butterfly which has been peacefully sleeping in my workroom for two months has suddenly woken up and now, on this bright, frosty morning, is beating its wings against my window, wanting to get out.

If it does so, it will certainly perish unless it can return to this refuge or find a new one.

A combination of a rise in temperature –I switched on the radiator earlier – and the brilliant winter light signalled that spring has arrived and it should be off mating and laying eggs to produce another generation with wings as gloriously patterned as its own.