GRAB every chance to immerse yourself in nature. It anchors us to the realities of life, outside the frantic and gizmo-dominated world we inhabit, and the pressures and stresses of daily living.

In the limited amount of ‘spare’ time I’ve had during the August parliamentary recess, I’ve taken opportunities to continue my own efforts to learn more about the remarkable lives of the creatures around us and to investigate the state of our local natural world. Here are two examples:

1. I've continued reviewing the resilience of the local glow worm population. I've surveyed them on the same transect over the last seven years. The results are mixed, but, worryingly in general decline. These incredible creatures exist as larvae for around three years, before pupating for 10 to 15 days, to then emerge as adults. Adult glow worms cannot feed (an astonishing example of selflessness in nature?) so only live for 14-21 days! Females (who do most of the glowing!) while in their unavoidable dying phase must glow, mate and lay 50-200 eggs before they expire.

2. I’ve also spent a couple of hours on some weekends checking out a butterfly transect; one surveyed for almost a couple of decades. A location where the internationally rare Silver-studded Blue (SSB) has a local stronghold. Like so many butterflies they have remarkable relationships with other creatures. Their caterpillars have a SPECIAL BOND with black ants, which protect them in their nests in exchange for a sweet fluid.

It's estimated (from these surveys) SSBs have experienced a 75 per cent decline since last year. We haven’t seen any these last two weeks, but then they complete being "on the wing" by late August. But we did see and recorded many Gatekeepers, Meadow Browns, Small Whites and a few Painted Ladies, a Red Admiral, Common Blue, Small Heath, Clouded Yellow and more. Many species have struggled this summer with limited nectar sources.

We've been fortunate this summer to have had unusually large swarms of African/ Mediterranean visitors - Painted Ladies, followed by Clouded Yellows. I'm always fascinated how the "offspring" of these visitors have in their nature the knowledge how to migrate back to their winter grounds thousands of miles to the south! Though not yet fully understood, they seem to be guided by genetically hard-wired behavioural responses to falling temperatures, shorter daylight hours, and the declining quality of their preferred host plants, to "pack their bags" and go! Much like their avian compatriots - cuckoos (how on earth do they know how to get back home?), swifts, sand martins, swallows, house martins etc.

The UK is one of the most nature-depleted nations on earth, but many people are fighting to restore our natural world. Spending time in the presence of nature helps us appreciate the foundational web of our own existence and perhaps to our biological origins. Many view these encounters as an essential source to reinvigorate their inner strength. At least they don't cause detriment!