She bears Argus' eyes
with grace.
In bluer skies
She shines,
And although her flight
Like Icarus'
Is short lived
While it does
There are more eyes
upon her, than hers.
Hereby hangs a tail. I really like butterflies. It all began almost 20 years ago, when my youngest girls and I were walking uphill to a nearby park, where we used to live in another part of town. It was a beautifully hot day, and we saw several peacock butterflies. Of course, back then when the girls asked me what they were called, I didn't have a clue. So the next day we went together to the local library, found a book, and looked it up. That was the start of a summer of amateur butterfly spotting, and even though the girls grew out of their interest, I didn't, and joined Butterfly Conservation UK. The annual subscription is a very small price to play for something which has provided me with hours of innocent pleasure for almost two decades.
This time of year one of the things I always look forward to is seeing the butterflies. They've been very late this year due to the awful weather. I actually did see my first peacock in the middle of April, but that was in Lithuania. I haven't seen a Red Admiral yet - often you do see some individuals in the Spring that have overwintered, even though they're more common here in August through October. Neither have I seen a small tortoiseshell, another stunningly beautiful butterfly - and they are a Spring butterfly, although you do also get at least one later brood in a season.
Yesterday in South Wales it was a perfect day for Spring butterflies, and so was today, so I'm hoping that I'll soon be seeing them around.
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