The hot weather has certainly brought out a few delightful examples of our local wildlife. The Scarlet Tiger is a most striking moth and I’ve already seen seven of these in my garden over the last few weeks. With its silky black wings, spotted with white and yellow and tinged with green, and its vibrant scarlet underwings flashing as it flies away, it is unlikely to be confused with anything else. It is a day-flying species and although it used to be confined to southern parts of the country it has recently spread north and is now common throughout Leicestershire. The larvae are found mainly feeding on Comfrey whilst the adults will take nectar from various flowers. The young caterpillars will spend the winter hiding away, before emerging again in March to continue their development by feeding on a wider variety of plants including brambles and various trees. They are usually active well into July so their is plenty of time to see them.

Something else that I look out for each summer are dragonflies. These are mostly colourful, very active insects that take their prey (various other flying insects) on the wing. They are amongst the fastest and most manoeuvrable of all insects. The dragonfly shown here is a Four-spotted Chaser which is on the wing from April to September. It is a uniformly brown species, but if you see it on a sunny day the wings and abdomen look golden in colour. It has two black spots on each wing and the tip of the abdomen is also black. The males are highly territorial and will perch on vegetation to keep an eye out for any prey or females within their territory – always ready to see off any intruding males. Although widespread throughout the country, they only thrive in ponds, lakes and canals with plenty of vegetation. This habitat requirement means that you will not see them everywhere – the one shown here was at Bagworth Heath.

There are many species of migratory birds around in the summer, and one species that can also readily be seen around Bagworth Heath is the Sand Martin. These are closely related to Swallows and House Martins that used to be so abundant around our villages, but all of these species are now much rarer due to the reduced numbers of flying insects around. Sand Martins are dark brown above with much paler brown undersides. They are found along river banks and around lakes and gravel pits, where they dig nest tunnels into the banks, usually nesting close to others. They readily use artificial nest banks, such as the one shown in the background to this picture, forming large colonies.

There is no doubt that summer produces more wildlife than any other time of the year, but you still need to get out and find them. Although I see a few butterflies each day in my garden (when the weather is good), there are so many more to be seen in our local parks and nature reserves. A walk around Fosse Meadows last week resulted in me seeing 122 butterflies in around 90 minutes. Operating a moth trap overnight in my garden has produced more than 1,000 moths over the last 5 nights. You may not wish to get involved with using a trap (which does not harm the moths in any way) but there are things you can do in your garden to improve the numbers of insects around. The main attractions are a wide variety of flowering plants, a garden pond, and leaving some areas of the garden less cultivated so the animals have somewhere to hide. The additional benefits are that you have a ready supply of pollinators to keep your garden healthy and productive.