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The butterflies and bees really seem to be doing well in our garden this year. I have seen plenty of them, and a couple of new varieties recently. Last week, I luckily spotted a small butterfly in the garden from the house. I went outside to find that it was a Common Blue, one that we haven't seen in our garden before...
Also seen around was the Gatekeeper butterfly, which we see most years (pictured below). Unfortunately, I didn't take a photo of it with its wings open.
Also seen were Large White and Red Admiral. Large White butterflies appear to be everywhere at the moment. Both butterflies pictured above particularly liked the Marjoram flowers. However, other flowers seem to be appearing everywhere (most of which were not planted by us). I took photos of some of them and they are below. The first photo shows a thistle flower which seems to be particularly popular with the bees.
I'm not sure what the flower in the photo below is but it really looked brilliant in the afternoon sun. In the background, you can see the red-orange flowers of the bean plants. 
The Veronica plant seems to be very healthy at the moment.
And finally, a quick note on the birds. The feeders have been very busy recently, especially with the tits and sparrows. Today, I saw 10 sparrows feeding on the lawn, which is the most we have ever seen in our garden. Also, Blue, Great, Long-tailed and Coal Tits have been seen frantically feeding. Maybe they are stocking up ready for when they moult? I will leave you with a photo of a pair of Blue Tits which were acrobatically feeding at the end of the garden.
Sunny or not, have a great week :)
Whilst we were away on holiday in Norfolk plants got, well a bit out of hand in our garden. Weeds had popped up everywhere. But there was one surprise waiting in the garden when we got back...
Yep, the Corncockles which I planted myself have sprung into flower. Even now as I look out into the fading light in the garden, the flowers are still showing their bright colours. I must admit that pink isn't my favourite colour, but they are really a fantastic feature in the garden. I planted quite a few of them in rows and they are very close together. I realise I should have thinned them out before they flowered, but they seem to be doing ok.
I love the way they sway in the wind, as in the photo below:
Some of the flowers were just emerging with the June sun.
I have already seen a couple of bees on the corncockles and hopefully we will see some more, as well as some butterflies over the coming summer months. Moving onto more June colours in the garden, my dad just planted a Lavender shrub and a Veronica shrub. Hopefully, when a bit bigger, they will look a bit more natural and will fit in better with its surroundings. Below is the Lavender:
And a close-up of the flower.
And the Veronica shrub:
Dad's veg seems to be doing well at the moment, despite the best efforts of the local slugs, snails and caterpillars. Lots of watering needed in this hot weather though!
I think its incredible how much our plants have grown in the week we've been away. Over the coming week, I will probably update on our garden birds. If you watched Springwatch today or watched the Springwatch webcams, you will have known that many of the chicks in the nests they were following fledged earlier to try and cool down. It seems that the same behaviour is taking place in our garden when the birds have been visiting our feeders in the evenings to avoid the warm midday sun.
Just a quick note- if you missed any of my Norfolk holiday posts and you would like to read any of them, please click on the links below:
Norfolk holiday birds
Norfolk holiday plants
Norfolk holiday extras
This week, I'm doing work experience out of school at a local ranger service, who help to maintain important wildlife habitats in our area. More on that soon, but for now, have a good week.
