I was trudging slowly along a muddy path, trying not to slip (it’s happened before), so I wasn’t paying attention when my first Orange-tip butterfly (Anthocharis cardamines) of the year flitted up in front of me, disturbed from feeding on a flower of Herb Robert. Typically, it flew back along the way I had come, meaning I had to retrace my slippery steps while trying to keep an eye on where it landed once, twice, three times. By the time I got to the start of the path, the butterfly had disappeared and, though I lingered a while, it didn’t reappear.

On my way home, I was more lucky and spotted my second Orange-tip of the year. I could easily have missed it, so well camouflaged was it amongst the lush new growth of Cow parsley plants, but the breeze had picked up and it was having to flap its wings just a little to hold on to its perch. The flash of its orange tips gave its location away.