Day 208 - Summertime

umm, a butterfly?

Having met so many caterpillars in recent weeks, the season appears to have turned...and the butterflies are coming out in force.

Wandering down the lane tonight, one of the first really warm, summery evenings we've had, I was ruing a missed opportunity a couple of days ago.  I'd got the snail photo early in the morning, so didn't bother taking the camera on our evening stroll.   

Typically, we were then treated to a brilliant display of a pair of crows pestering and generally annoying a large buzzard.   This has been a common sight over recent months, but rarely so close and never when I've been free to take a photo. 

As it was, if I'd had the camera in my hand as I usually do these days, I would have had a great chance of getting an interesting action shot.

But then we started to notice the butterflies...

red admiral

We soon realised they were all out...red admirals sunning themselves on broad bramble leaves, others collecting nectar from flowers, or courting, as with this white (there were several of these, circling and spinning around each other in the warm, hazy sunlght).  

white, of some description

I've no idea what this last one is, and unfortunately I haven't got the time or energy to go researching...

erm, a brown?

Perhaps one of you friendly readers might chip in, in the comments section below?

Go on, you know you want to! ;-)

Anyway, I was struck by how the presence of so many butterflies within a few metres of each other really brought home the feeling that Summer is here...and we should all spend more time basking, and flitting, and flirting...spend more time living, and less time working!

After all, we all know that Winter is Coming, a time for struggle and work and huddling indoors...

So we should make the most of this season, for all the warmth and life that it brings, and be thankful that we're here to live through it.

:-)