Butterflywatch: could be worse – verdict for the 2017 season

A wet July and August in Britain put a dampener on our midsummer butterflies

I am still seeing butterflies almost daily, sunning themselves when they can and feasting on late-flowering ivy. Most are red admirals, a large, dark and powerful presence sailing through autumnal skies or feeding on rotten fruit in orchards.

It has been a vintage red admiral year, with numbers up by 75% on 2016 in Butterfly Conservation's Big Butterfly Count. But sadly it has not been a vintage butterfly summer.