Early sightings hold promise for butterfly spotters

Last summer was the fourth worst since scientific monitoring began in 1976, but let’s be delighted and count these small blessings
I don’t want to jinx it so I’m only whispering but, shhh, we may be blessed with a half-decent butterfly summer. Last week, I saw a purple emperor, tipsy on sap from an old oak, lurching around a meadow on a deeply overcast day that normally only brings out the ringlets and meadow browns.Like most of our 59 native butterflies, the midsummer-loving p