On a recent visit with the family to Aberystwyth, we visited the The Magic Butterfly House, which I did visit many years ago. It was very busy, hardly any room to move. Mind you the weather was not kind to us, so I guess many visitors to the area were also looking for something to do in doors. As you would expect, it was hot and humid inside the house, and the one mistake I made was not to acclimatise my camera, so as soon as soon as I stepped inside the lens clouded over.... silly mistake, but I have learnt by it......

The one butterfly i couldn't capture was the blue, which I have shot in the past, at Chester Zoo, and is pictured in the gallery below.

Butterflies have been a fascination to me since I was young. As a child I used to collect caterpilars in Sefton Park Liverpool. My brothers and I would take jam jars and fill them up. We didnt understand at that time that these creepy crawlys would end up being such beautiful creatures. Most of the caterpilars did sadly die, and some went into a pupae state. When I saw the pupae, I didn't realise that this was a natural progression for the life of a caterpilar.

The images below were taken in my garden and at Chester Zoo, where I was lucky enough to photograph a butterfly laying an egg.