Country diary: The bees are exhausted, the butterflies frayed

Seaham coastal path, County Durham: It's the end of summer, and around the blackberry bush, all that was pristine and purposeful is now a little worse for wearWeekend blackberry pickers have trampled a sheltered cul?de?sac in this sprawling bramble patch, creating an arena for a territorial dispute between two male speckled wood butterflies. I'm almost sure I can hear the flick of clashing wings as they spiral upwards in a dogfight of ever?decreasing circles; scales are being shed. Then, suddenly, they separate and settle, to feed on the leaking juice of the over?ripe berries.There is an end-of-season air of decay about these bushes, with their worn and tattered foliage. On this thin, nutrient?poor limestone soil a few have already developed blazing yellow and crimson hues. There isn't a pristine leaf anywhere: some have been nibbled by caterpillars, others graffitied with meandering tunnels of leaf miners. All are speckled purple. Turning them over, I can see why: purple, finger?staining spores of bramble rust fungus. Continue reading...