The winter challenge

Three brimstones were the first butterflies I saw this year in March when I was gardening with my dad. And we were gardening again in this lovely high-pressure weather when a female brimstone flew into view.

In bright sunshine, it swooped into a thicket of ivy and vanished. Butterflies don't usually avoid sunshine, so I took a look. There it sat, deep in the ivy, on the underside of a leaf, hidden from the sun - and rain, frost and snow to come.