Red admiral linking Ireland to Cuba, siempre

Last week I was putting up a new peanut feeder on our wooden balcony so as to enjoy watching the winter parade of birds from our dining table, when I disturbed a red admiral butterfly roosting under the balcony railing alongside a spindle, a sensible location unlikely to catch frost, but catching the early morning sun, writes Damien Enright.

I was sorry to have done so. Semi-torpid, it half fell, half fluttered to the decking and stood there, immobile, wings closed.

It was already five in the evening, and a cold, cloudless night with possible frost was forecast.