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Tag Archives: winter butterfly

Last butterfly for 2025

03 Saturday Jan 2026

Posted by sconzani in insects

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Tags

British butterflies, butterfly, December butterfly, Red Admiral, winter butterfly

As my flat faces south, I’m sheltered from the often strong, always bitterly cold nor’easterlies that blew relentlessly every day for the final week of 2025, and so my window ledge was the perfect spot for a basking Red admiral to soak up the sun’s warmth, although I couldn’t get a clear shot without disturbing it. I think 27 December is by far the latest date in the year I’ve ever seen a butterfly, though those species that overwinter as adults frequently do emerge from their version of hibernation (called diapause) when the temperatures are warm enough.

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First butterfly of 2025

18 Saturday Jan 2025

Posted by sconzani in insects, winter

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Tags

British butterflies, butterfly, Red Admiral, winter butterfly

I might have dipped on seeing the Firecrests that have been residing in Cardiff’s Bute Park this winter and have frequently been seen in these Rhododendron bushes, but there can be no better consolation than seeing my first butterfly of 2025, this Red admiral, even if it was at some distance. Spring is coming!

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28/365 Red admiral

28 Monday Jan 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature, winter

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

#365DaysWild, British butterflies, butterfly in January, Red Admiral, winter butterfly

190128 red admiral

The sun may have been shining but it was frosty and very chilly when I spotted this Red admiral on the Penarth to Lavernock coastal path this morning. This is actually my second Red admiral for the year – I also saw one at Cathays Cemetery in Cardiff last week, but only managed a photo of a blurry red splotch high in a tree. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for this morning’s little butterfly, partly because of the cold – and it’s forecast to get much colder in the coming week – but also because there were no flowers to be seen anywhere today. If it doesn’t freeze to death, this little Red admiral might well die of hunger.

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About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

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