BUTTERFLIES did much better this summer than last, and I was excited to see for the first time ever a Jersey Tiger moth, writes Hazel Wedlake.

Originally from Jersey it is spreading south and west with warmer conditions. Quite different to anything else with black and gold stripes on its wings and bright orange underneath. It even posed for some time on the Buddlia for me to photograph!

However, I did wonder about other creatures that relied on insects for their food. The sight of a frog in the middle of the lawn in bright sunshine looked ominous and I thought perhaps the dog had caught it. It eyed me with its beady eyes, but didn’t move immediately and since then I’ve read they do like to sunbathe sometimes. However, I’ve hardly seen a slug since spring so food may be short.

There were plenty of ladybirds, but again I wondered what they were feeding on as there seemed to be no aphids around. I forgot to protect the Brussel Sprouts from Cabbage White butterfly and there was some damage from caterpillars, but after that I was able to pick off the few that remained.

The Robin was always around, bold as they are, and I wondered fancifully whether he was helping out with the caterpillar picking. More likely to have been Bluetits if at all. One evening, it was delightful to see two Robin fledglings tucking in to some mealworms I’d put out, though the adult didn’t seem that keen on sharing!

This was a rather bedraggled and scruffy adult Robin for sometime without a tail though plenty of attitude, who appeared as soon as I approached the greenhouse. There is another robin I feed up by the house, and I have wondered if like the old school photograph line-up, he quickly flies up to the other end of the garden to appear again as a different Robin in need. The house Robin was in better condition though, and scruffy robin has at last re grown his tail. Another lovely moment was as I went into one of the upstairs rooms and saw two baby blue tits on the window sill about to venture in!

Amongst the foliage in a flower container, sits a hen’s egg. It has been there some weeks. Left by a stoat perhaps who hasn’t felt the need to come back for it and I imagine its pretty unpalatable by now.

Masses of apples on our trees, but very small. I have thinned some on a dwarf Gala tree, but others are out of reach. Bees enjoyed the blackberry flowers as some of the last blossom of the summer. They will start to slow down now and soon bees hatched will be winter bees that, with a slower metabolism, can survive for six months over the colder winter months, rather than the summer bees that can live for just six weeks.