The blues

When I see a bird, plant or insect, and try to identify it in a book or on the web, I generally assume that if there's a choice, it'll be the most common option. Hence, when I saw a blue butterfly, and found that there is a Common Blue, the commonest blue found in the British Isles, I thought that would probably have been the one. Until I looked at the annual cycle: "In good years, adults may be seen as early as the middle of May on more southerly sites." Probably not in the middle of April in the midlands, then. Of all the blues, the only one that is usually adult in April is the Holly Blue, which is still pretty common, but has a nice name so is more interesting. The blue of its wings reflected the cloudless spring sky. And close-up in the photos, they really are incredibly beautiful, with fine feathery outlines to their wings, and zebra-crossing legs and antenae.

In the early evening, the linnets were going a bit mental in the cut, which is probably acting fairly normally. The grass seemed serene, until I caught some movement out of the corner of my binocular lenses. And focusing, I could catch all sorts of raucous goings on: domestics, stealthy trespassing, neighbours' disputes, sudden eruptions, nipping off for a pint. I looked away for a few minutes, researching the blues, and when I looked back, I thought the three new specimen trees had grown large brown autumnal leaves. The branches were heaving with linnets, and what looked like a reed bunting hanging out with them. And then they were as suddenly off, exeunt right.