My first butterfly of the year

This year is unlikely to be a brilliant butterfly summer because 2016 was so poor. But insects can rapidly bounce back

Spring is an unquenchably optimistic time, and two weeks of plentiful sunshine - in the south, at least - has brought out the first butterflies of the year. My first, like last year, was a male brimstone, bobbing beside the old ivy-covered hedge beyond my garden.

On the next sunny March day came the small tortoiseshells and peacocks, which also hibernate as adult butterflies. It wasn't until 2 April that I saw my first orange tip and holly blue - species which burst afresh from their chrysalises with the warming weather.