If the weather is sunny we could start seeing butterflies on the wing in February, but for any real variety you really have to wait until mid-April. Here is a selection of three rather lovely ones that you could see in your garden if it is not too manicured, and on walks that include habitat with bushes and brambles, or ditches and damp grassland.
Brimstone Gonepteryx rhamni (Fr. le Citron) - with wings shaped to look like leaves, males are lemon yellow, and females are pale yellow. They have an orange spot on each wing on their upperside and a pinky brown spot on the undersides, with carmine pink antennae. If they are threatened they can fall into a cataleptic state and appear to be dead. They hibernate as adult butterflies over winter, hidden in ivy or holly foliage. The caterpillars eat Buckthorn.
Orange Tip Anthocharis cardamines (Fr. l'Aurore) - males have orange tips to their forewings, females do not. This species overwinters as a chrysalis and can emerge as early as March. The caterpillars eat Brassicas, notably Garlic Mustard and Lady's Smock, but lots of others too.
Green Hairstreak Callophrys rubi (Fr. Thecle de la ronce) - males and females are almost identical, with green undersides and brown uppersides. They overwinter as chrysalises and can emerge as early as March. The caterpillars eat Birch, Brambles and many other plants.
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