Male Orange-tips (Anthocharis cardamines) emerge first (and, indeed, that’s true for most butterfly species) and, in their search for females to mate with, they fly almost continuously up, down and around a defined territory, a frustrating activity, both for the butterflies as they wait for females to hatch and for the photographer trying to get shots of them. In fact, it’s exhausting just watching the constant activity of these little creatures and, though they do pause briefly to refuel and rest, you have to be in the right place at the right time to catch them. So far this year, my patient watching has not been rewarded; I’ve only managed to get blurry images of males as they zoom past.

Fortunately, the females are much less active, often staying in close proximity to the plants where they lay their eggs. I found the beautiful female shown here, sitting on a large pile of clippings of tall grasses and wildflowers. She wasn’t moving much, just gently quivering her wings, so I wonder if she had only just emerged from the pupa in which she would have over-wintered. Isn’t she gorgeous?