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Sighting of rare Swallowtail butterfly in Sevenoaks saves trip to the Norfolk Broads

A keen lepidopterist had a delightful surprise when he was visited by a rare butterfly.

Nigel Stapley of Castle Drive, Kemsing, near Sevenoaks , still had four UK butterflies left on his bucket-list of butterflies he would love to see - the Purple Emperor, the White Admiral, the Camberwell Beauty and the Swallowtail.

He was expecting to have to travel to the Norfolk Broads to see the Swallowtail - the only place in the UK where they are thought to breed, when unexpectedly he found one on the buddleia bush in his garden.

Nigel Stapley: so happy
Nigel Stapley: so happy

He said: "Instead of my going to the Norfolk Broads to try to find it, it came and found me - I am one happiest, luckiest person in Kemsing!"

Mr Stapley is now retired, but for most of his working life of over 50 years, he was a golf-course greenkeeper.

He said: "I basically worked outside most of my life.

"Ever since I was a young boy, I have always been interested in birds and butterflies, well more or less all forms of wildlife and nature."

He is a long-distance walker, which is how he makes most of his observations now.

The swallowtail has landed - Mr Stapley's one good photo of his rare visitor
The swallowtail has landed - Mr Stapley's one good photo of his rare visitor

He said: "When my wife Val said to me there was a rather large butterfly fluttering around our buddleia bush and then when I saw it was a Swallowtail, I can honestly say my heart missed a beat.

"I was shaking with excitement so much that when I tried to take photos of it, most came out blurred."

Read more: All the latest news from Sevenoaks

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