Williamson's Weekly Nature Notes November 5 2008

They were just not going to give up on summery weather, however brief the hours of warmth.

I myself did not see so many peacocks, or small tortoiseshells, at the same time. Even though these are cousins of the red admiral, in the same family. There were a few commas though, feasting on the end of the blackberry crop.

Thirty years ago red admirals always used to migrate by mid October. But today quite a lot do not bother.

Why go all that way down to Spain or the South of France if the British winters are nowadays warm, they think to themselves.

I did find a red admiral hibernating near Chichester in January 1976 and it caused quite a stir in entomological circles at the time as this was considered unusual though not unknown.

Then in that year occurred one of the most amazing sights I and many thousands of others witnessed, only to compare with the mass migration of locusts.

Red admirals swarmed across southern England in unbelievable numbers. At Chilgrove we all saw a drunken party of admirals who had been imbibing fermenting sap weeping from a damaged turkey oak.

Scores of the bright red, black and white butterflies were fighting to get at the booze, treading over each other and angrily flicking their wings into each other's faces.

Scores more were lying about on the grass verge and some even in the middle of the road, where they were squashed by cars.

They were insensible for days, and while some vaguely tried to hold a course south, others just flew round in circles. The admirals had the biggest party of their lives and why not if it was obviously going to be their last? Millions more made it to the north Devon and Welsh coasts where they were seen almost to darken the sky as they headed out over the sea. It seems doubtful that they got further than Ireland, if at all.

Normally, ours leave the south coast at places like Pagham. They wait a few minutes on the tide-line then rise high with determination to flight south.

Some say this big butterfly was named after a British naval flag, the red admiral. Others that old Moses Harris called it the admirable in 1766.

It certainly is an admirable insect alright and worth encouraging in your garden with nettles for the caterpillars.