During Sunday’s wander around the boundaries of some local horse fields (minus the nosey horses, this time), the sun wasn’t shining or warm enough for any butterflies to be found on the thick hedges and scrubby edges. This lovely female Red admiral was the one exception, appearing suddenly from behind a large bramble patch.

How do I know it was a female? Well, instead of flying off to patrol the bushes, she floated above and around the abundant, fresh Stinging nettles, looking for the best places to lay her eggs. How do I know they were Stinging nettles? Well, despite wrapping my fingers in the layers of my scarf, I still got stung on a couple of fingers while getting my first ever sighting and photographs of one of her eggs, a magnificent little ribbed barrel that should produce a tiny caterpillar in a week or so.