Yesterday afternoon I was pleasantly surprised to see a large Monarch butterfly flitting around in our front garden outside the kitchen window. The Times used to publish letters from readers who claimed to have heard the first cuckoo of the year, and it occurred to me to inaugurate a “First Monarch of the Year” in NZ — early onset of spring and all that. So I was mildly disappointed to read of Danaus plexippus in my copy of Collins’ Field Guide to New Zealand Wildlife by Terence Lindsey and Rod Morris that, “through the winter the butterflies often fly around on unusually mild and sunny days”; sadly having been overlooked by me until yesterday. Today, the early morning gloom has returned and a light drizzle is falling. However, the sky is blue over Cornwall Park, the mist is lifting and it looks as though it might yet be a fine day on which to be a butterfly. “Feather-footed through the plashy fen passes the questing vole”! (Check that link if you’re wondering why I’ve gone all ‘Nature watch’ on your asses.)