Biodiversity Bonanza

The first cuckoos have started calling, and right on cue the beautiful cuckoo flower has begun to flower in the wet ditches that lead towards the river. The buds of the peach trees couldn’t wait any longer and have burst into pink wands everywhere you look, which against the blue sky gives a strangely Japanese effect.

As the spring rolls forward butterflies are everywhere, the different species marking the forward progress of the season. First it was brimstones, which seem larger than the UK species. Their sulphur yellow wings providing welcome relief from the muted colours of winter. Then over the last few days the orange -tips have appeared. There was huge excitement last week when the groups of black caterpillars with surprising red eyes which were dotted all over the meadow were confirmed to be those of Glanville fritillary butterflies. I had seen some fritillaries when I first came to look around the mill with an estate agent last year. They must have been the adults, and I could not have dreamt that they would turn out to be what in the UK is an incredibly rare butterfly. There was a bit of a flutter on Twitter about all of this as I couldn’t resist boasting about our find.