Country diary: in the wink of a butterfly's wings

Claxton, Norfolk: The red admirals bring a touch of colour and life's heroic fortitude to our dust-coloured lawnBy happy accident our neighbour's lavender buddleia leans across the fence and almost touches our buddleia's blooms of imperial purple. As they sway in the breeze, the two perform a chromatic dance that enhances the maypole swirl of our gardens' shared butterfly population. It's primarily the plain sailing of large whites from one to the other but there is a lesser passage of meadow browns and gatekeepers, occasional brimstones or commas, but best of all are the red admirals. What is it about these butterflies that's so affecting? It's not just that I've enjoyed their scarlet branding-iron for half a century; nor is it that they offer such contrasting yet equally exquisite colour combinations, depending on which wing surface is uppermost. Open and they burn hot metal on coal; closed and the male reveals aquamarine marbling stained with lines of burgundy, beige, black or stippled in silver. Continue reading...