This must be the most boring start of the butterfly season of the last decade. I am writing you this in great frustration: when will the butterflies show up??
As a butterfly photographer, all you long for in winter is the coming of spring, the lengthening of days, the awakening of nature. However, this “spring” looks more like autumn with pretty cold weather in April and lots and lots of rain.
Usually, there are dozens of Cabbage whites (Pieris rapae) signalling the start of the butterfly season. This year, they have been practically absent so far. The Dutch Butterfly Association thinks it is due to a combination of draught in last year’s autumn and the present cold weather.
Therefore, I decided to dedicate this blog to what I hope will be forthcoming soon: beautiful butterflies near our house in fine weather. As a reminder of how this used to look, I digged into my archive. How nice it would be to find a sleeping Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas)…
or a Brown argus (Aricia agestis)
Or even better, a pair of mating Green-veined whites (Pieris napi) as seen in the photo on the top of this blog. I just happened to stroll along a path when my eye fell on this lovely couple a few years ago.
Let’s hope the summer will make up for this lousy spring and the good times are still ahead. There is one advantage to all that rain: the caterpillars can eat their bellies full, so maybe we’ll see an abundant second generation in July. Fingers crossed!
Red admiral 
It’s the same here. I’m finding a few to keep my spirits up but numbers are so low. Friday we go to Corfu for a week but the forecast is for showers most days! This spring wants putting in the trash can!!!
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Rain or no rain, I wish you a very pleasant stay on Corfu!
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