Two weeks between visits at this time of year makes a huge difference. The grass is almost twice as high. Much of the hogweed is now my height and going to seed already. The grassland has a profusion of yellow flowers – buttercups, St John’s Worts, Lady’s Bedstraw, Rock Rose, Horseshoe Vetch and various yellow composites – interspersed with the violets of Betony, Small Scabious and Wild Marjoram.

There were plenty of butterflies about, with Gatekeeper the most abundant. Good numbers too of Marbled White, Meadow Brown and Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus). The species list was boosted to 12 with a few Brimstone, Small Copper, Common Blue, first of the season for me (but they must have been around in the 2 weeks I have been absent) Chalk Hill Blue (Polyommatus coridon) and Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris), plus single Small White, Peacock and Dark Green Fritillary (Speyeria aglaja).

I came across a leaf mine on the upper surface of a Rowan leaf caused by the larva of the Hawthorn Leaf-miner (Phyllonorycter corylifoliella). Despite its name it can be found on many trees and shrubs of the rose family (Rosaceae).

It was also a day for hoverflies. On one patch of Common Hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium) I found four different species, a male Tapered Drone Fly (Eristalis pertinax), a female Common Banded Hoverfly (Syrphus ribesii), the hornet-mimicking Hornet Hoverfly (Volucella zonaria) and a female Batman Hoverfly (Myathropa florea) with my clearest example yet of the ‘Batman’ logo on the thorax.

The Rowan on which I found the leaf mine is already displaying many clusters of berries, still ripening, but beyond the initial green stage. Two flowers which I noted for the first time are Spiny Bear’s Breeches (Acanthus spinosus) and Betony (Stachys officinalis).

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