Obviously an early garden visitor, I was about to dismiss this butterfly as one of the ‘whites’ I spotted last summer, when I noticed a flash of orange! It flew into our neighbour’s garden, and I got a blurred and distant snap, but promised myself I’d go back down to the watermeadow later on. Luckily for me, the sun was still out at 5pm and Orange-tip came back to feast on this herb Robert.
I love the camouflage effect on the undersides of its wings – a bit like the green-veined white but a much bolder pattern. This is a male, as the females do not have the orange tip. However, both have the striking green patterning on their flip-side. They like cuckoo-flowers, and bittercresses. I spotted them on herb Robert, red campion, and three-cornered garlic.