Red admiral

[Monika]

I have just been told of a red admiral butterfly sighting in north Leeds. Now, red admirals did not used to overwinter in England, they came in spring from the continent, bred here, spread out and then died or returned southwards. Not having had very sunny weather here recently (although mild), I assume this butterfly MUST have overwintered here rather than flown in. Has anybody else noticed overwintering red admirals, particularly in the north?

[Colin_M]

I don't know about Red Admirals specifically, but we've had various bumble bees and butterflies in our garden for the last few weeks (I've never seen a butterfly at Christmas before!).

I'm still finding ladybirds on a regular basis too.

Colin