lamenting the lost butterflies

I can recall the summers of my youth, spotting seemingly thousands of caterpillars in my parents' garden, and then looking on in wonderment as they pupated into beautiful butterflies.

There were so many species to enjoy, but the most common of my younger days was the red admiral - an absolutely beautiful creature to behold.  Their flashes of colour as they sped past were a sure sign of hotter, sunnier days.

But today?  Well, I haven't seen one in years.

Yes, I see other species, predominantly speckled wood or meadow brown ones, the odd cabbage white and the elusive (to my camera and me at least) "common" blue.  

Fujifilm X-H2, Fujinon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 @ 400mm
1/450th of a second at f5.6, ISO 125
handheld

Earlier today though while on one of my nature walks, I saw that familiar flash of red fly by me and thought surely it must be a red admiral.  And to my great surprise, yes it was.  And to cap it off, it settled down for a portrait.  I thought I was going to explode! 

You can see more of that day's walk, and watch me get my red admirals and monarchs mixed up, just by clicking on this week's video: