IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Guildford Road, DORKING, RH5 6QG

We found this butterfly warming itself among the November leaf-litter. Shade temperature at the time (10.32 am) was only about 8C, and the butterfly did not move when I approached more closely. What is clear is that this is a fresh individual, showing none of the wear and tear that a butterfly sustains in the course of a few weeks on the wing. Could it in fact be a newly emerged individual, just out of the chrysalis? I don't know enough about the creature's life-cycle to be able to say. Seconds later I took a closer photo - but one which shows less of the autumnal context: http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5594044 As I suggest in the caption to that photo, this butterfly was - in all likelihood - about to migrate south. Before doing so it might well need to feed up - in previous autumns I have seen this species feeding on rotten fruit. I'm left wondering how far a red admiral can travel between feeds - and hoping that it made it across the Channel!

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

View down West Lane from the A25.