There has been no shortage of Peacock butterflies this summer! People have been commenting on social media about the large numbers of this species in many parts of the country. Given that it is, in my opinion, the most beautiful butterfly that we have in the UK, that is great news.  I actually think that the Peacock is one of the most beautiful butterflies in the world.

My first sighting this year was during lockdown. This individual was enjoying the sun on a warm afternoon on 23 April 2020.

Despite having, no doubt, spent the winter hibernating somewhere, the beautiful violet scales on the hindwing eyespots (below) were still dazzling!

I started seeing caterpillars in July in chilly Scarborough (North Yorkshire), but they appeared much earlier in southern England. Images of Peacock caterpillars were being posted on Twitter by mid June from some places.

The next generation usually emerges around the end of July, or in August, but I can’t help thinking that this has been brought forward a good few weeks this year (2020), at least in southern England. I came across this gorgeous individual in Fermyn woods,  on 22 July (below).  There were hundreds, probably thousands of Peacocks at this site in Northamptonshire in late July.

Here is another, not quite so pristine individual from Fermyn woods on 22 July. It has suffered the indignity of a small tear, or peck, on the left hindwing!

But those eyespots are there for a reason: to intimidate and/or deflect. A peck from a bird in the wrong place can kill you (if you are a butterfly!). A peck deflected, is a life saved. Here is one individual with a very large chunk missing (below). It looks to me like the eyespot did its job in this case?

The following butterfly looks as though it has also received a small peck, right on the same left hindwing eyespot! A bullseye.

When temperatures drop, butterflies often hunker down in the vegetation, like this peacock I came across on a cool afternoon in a grassy field on Felmersham gravel pits SSSI, on 22 July 2020 (below).

We are blessed to have these butterflies in such abundance. They did not evolve for us to admire, but it sure is a miracle of sorts that their adaptive appearance, and colourful attire, spark a moment of joy when we come across one.