Kilpeck, a tiny village (barely a hamlet, really) in the depths of rural Herefordshire, has a church, also tiny, with magnificent medieval stone carvings as corbels just under the roof. Alongside them a couple of weeks ago house martins were still nesting. The adults were busy catching insects, and bringing them back to feed chicks which looked almost full grown. By now they may have already begun their first long journey to southern Africa, to catch trhe summer there.
One of the summer generation of small tortoiseshell butterfly, spreading its wings while resting on the ground, warming itself in the rays of the sun.
Hornet mimic hover fly, was huge for a hover fly, and a convicting imitation of a hornet, feeding on buddleia flowers.
These are the more showy flowers on a courgette plant, so I assume the male ones. If so, they won’t produce any fruit themselves, but are sometimes eaten as flowers.
Young heron standing on the canal footpath, taking off when it noticed I was about to pass too close by it.
Buddleia, known as the butterfly bush from the numbers attracted to its flowers. Here one living up to its name. Painted lady, red admiral and peacock butterflies all feeding at the same time