The Five-Year Butterfly Hunt: Five Summers Photographing our Native Butterflies

Description:

Most people know a Cabbage White when they see one and can even tell the difference between a Large and Small one. They may also be able to identify a Peacock Butterfly, Meadow Brown and the Brimstone, true herald of spring. But few people wish to distinguish all 58 British butterfly species, let alone travel to the four corners of our islands to see and photograph them. But the author, a businessman, and his young daughter Vicki decide to do just this. The quest started easily enough as a casual idea welling up in Vickie’s mind and she suggested it to her father Phil as something to aim for over the summer and perhaps the next year. As things turned out, it took five long years, and much travel, searching and persistence, to find all the species mentioned in this book and to record them. It is surely a tribute to their ‘true grit’ and spirit of adventure in seeking out and ultimately finding their insect quarry and as such makes a gripping, indeed delightful story. For those who like the natural world, especially the British countryside, and wish to know the whereabouts of the butterflies, often rare and elusive, that inhabit these islands, this is the book for you.