To celebrate – or, perhaps, to mourn – the last calendar day of summer, here’s a tribute to some of the beautiful butterflies I’ve seen in recent days, just because, when they’re gone, I’m really going to miss their magic.

A Comma doing what they do so well when their wings are closed – blending in.

Most of the white butterflies I’ve seen lately have been Small whites so this Green-veined white stood out from the crowd.

Here’s another that stood out – an aberrant Meadow brown. There always has to be one!

The heat wave a couple of weeks ago seems to have brought in a small influx of Painted ladies, though nothing like the numbers we had last year.

Have you ever noticed how much Red admirals like blackberries? And their colours blend in to this background rather well.

Small tortoiseshells have been having a good year locally, which has been a real treat. I even found two feeding on Red valerian right at the edge of one of the local beaches this morning.

A delightful surprise from Saturday’s walk at Cosmeston, a pristine Small copper.