Williamson's Weekly Nature Notes
They were just not going to give up on summery weather, however brief the hours of warmth.
I myself did not see so many peacocks, or small tortoiseshells, at the same time. Even though these are cousins of the red admiral, in the same family. There were a few commas though, feasting on the end of the blackberry crop.
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Hide AdThirty years ago red admirals always used to migrate by mid October. But today quite a lot do not bother.
Why go all that way down to Spain or the South of France if the British winters are nowadays warm, they think to themselves.
I did find a red admiral hibernating near Chichester in January 1976 and it caused quite a stir in entomological circles at the time as this was considered unusual though not unknown.
For full feature see West Sussex Gazette November 5