I spend most of my time outside peering up. My love of nature began with birds so I’m constantly checking tree canopies and rooftops for anyone perching or preening.

However, each summer my attention is snagged by a different kind of winged wildlife: butterflies. I consider myself pretty competent when it comes to bird ID but I’m very much at the floundering beginner stage with butterflies.

Still, I’ve found that by learning just a couple of new ones each summer, I can slowly build my knowledge. Luckily for me there are only about 30 regularly occurring butterfly species in Scotland, so at least I can’t get too confused.

During this week’s (very) hot spell, I headed out for a bit of butterfly spotting. I was lucky enough to see a few different species around my local area, including some teeny tiny beauties.

As well as butterflies, I also had close encounters with other insects this week. After consulting books and reaching out to more knowledgeable folk on Instagram and iNaturalist, I managed to identify some quirky finds!

Each summer I’m reminded that insect photography requires a very different skillset to capturing birds. There have been some exasperating moments, such as when a Common Blue just wouldn’t land and a Small Heath zipped away the second I got the focus right. Still, I’m chuffed with my results and looking forward to seeing some new players appear in the coming weeks.