Country diary: a butterfly living in the now of a golden moment

Wenlock Edge, Shropshire: A fleeting sunspot in fallen leaves under the shelter of trees lay within the speckled wood's territory, which he alone defendedThe tattered pennant of a speckled wood butterfly remained still as the wind roared overhead. With bits of wing missing due to bird attacks or batterings from the weather, the butterfly had been beating the bounds of its own territory until the wind cut up rough.Speckled wood butterflies, Pararge aegeria tircis, have brown, leaf-like wings illuminated by yellow-cream patches that match the dappled shadows they inhabit. Before the early 20th century they were rare and localised, but here they have become the commonest butterflies of the woodland edge. Dryads are not much interested in flowers but are drinkers of honeydew produced by aphids feeding on leaves in the treetops. Continue reading...