I’d seen a second generation Dingy skipper; got close enough to a migrating Redstart for some reasonable photos; watched Whin- and Stonechats and a Tree pipit insect-catching in the tree plantation; spotted my first Migrant hawker of the year; and was just heading in to the woodland, hot and homeward bound, feeling very pleased with what the day’s walk had turned up, when this happened.

As if materialising from thin air, this Silver-washed fritillary floated along the path beside me, before settling on the ground almost at my feet. I was amazed! Singles of these butterflies have very occasionally been spotted in Cosmeston’s Cogan Wood but never before by me, despite my having walked every inch of the various paths that thread their way through the trees. It was the perfect end to a perfect day in Nature!