Hey! Finally Summer is here - and it's wonderful to see the sun and feel its heat. As predicted, after a very late Spring here in the north, Summer came in like a lion.

We've had a real surge in Orange-tip butterflies courting and laying eggs on very late flowering Cuckoo Flower this year. Now Green-veined White butterflies are dominant, fluttering agitatedly everywhere. They can be distinguished from the very similar looking Small White butterfly (all of them, including the Large White, collectively known as Cabbage Whites) by the 'jizz' of its flight. The Small White is a lazier flier, not bothered too much while the Green-veined has places to go and people to meet...

Now you can look out for Small Heath, Meadow Brown and Ringlet amongst the flowering grasses. All of them rather dull in colour at first glance but have a closer look and marvel at their soft markings and pretty shades of grey, orange and brown.