I spent the weekend camping at Chiddingly in East Sussex. It was beautiful with blue skies at temperatures well into the 30s. There were Meadow Browns (Maniola jurtina) everywhere.

I was really keen to see and photograph Silver-studded blues (Plebejus argus) – they’re a rare butterfly in UK with just a few colonies on some specific heathland and coastal sites, mostly in Southern England.

I thought this was a water boatman until I looked it up. It’s actually a backswimmer (Notonecta glauca). It’s a predator which can dive, and surrounds itself with a film of air for respiration. It can also fly between ponds (!).

Wall  © Harry Mole 2017

This wall was at Castle Hill National Nature Reserve today. It’s an beautiful place. We saw a Silver Y, loads of beetles, a Painted Lady, Small Copper and a Common Blue. This Wall (Lasiommata megera) was a bit tricky to identify because some of the hind wing is missing making it look a bit odd. According to The Butterflies of Sussex, they are “notoriously difficult to photograph” – this is the first time I’ve tried.