In March, the tide of insect life begins to rise. As daylight hours lengthen and temperatures rise, more and more species become active.

Bumblebees home in on pussy willow blossom. Queen wasps just out of hibernation begin the complex task of constructing nests. On sunny days it is possible to watch and actually hear the queens rasping away on fence posts to chew off tiny pieces of timber. Next, after a visit to the pond to take in water she will mix a paper paste to begin, on her own, the first stages of nest building and lay a clutch of eggs within.

Of all the insects around now, butterflies are of course the most showy and easily spotted. The yellow brimstone of which many have been seen during the last ten days of sunshine was called by our ancesters the butter-coloured fly, the origin of the modern day title 'butterfly'. They look to me like animated daffodils as they flutter along hedgerows.

Other hibernated butterflies now on the wing include the comma (pictured) that has spent the winter in the open either on tree branches or in leaf litter, its ragged wing pattern rendering it difficult for predators to detect,mistaking it for a dead withered leaf.

The beautiful peacock butterfly is another spring species as is the red admiral.

The small tortoiseshell, super-abundant twenty years ago is now quite scarce as a result of a parasitic fly laying eggs on the caterpillars which are eaten alive.

Our regular five hibernating species listed above are now being joined on occasions by a sixth, namely the painted lady which is adapting to our winters since climate change began to make its mark a few years ago.