A November Red Admiral
Introduction
The photograph on this page of A November Red Admiral by Stefan Czapski as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
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A November Red Admiral
Image: © Stefan Czapski Taken: 5 Nov 2017
In my own experience it's not that unusual to see this species (Vanessa atalanta) on the wing in early November - migrating south at top speed. But I counted myself lucky to find this one warming itself in the sunshine at 10.32 on November 5th. The shade temperature at the time was about 8C and the insect didn't budge when I approached to within a few feet - so I imagine it still had some warming left to do. At the time of taking the photo I thought a November 5th sighting would equal my own latest record. But - dipping into the little Mitchell Beazley book that doubles up as my butterfly notebook - I find that my latest record was on November 10th 2001, in Richmond Park. Photo taken close to the entrance to Manor Farm, Wotton. A photo taken a few seconds earlier shows a bit more of the autumnal context: http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5600702
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Image Location
Latitude
51.214482
Longitude
-0.398849