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Butterflies love summer. They're likely to be at the adult stage of their lifecycle, so more likely to be seen — especially on bright sunny days. And that's why the Big Butterfly Count

chooses this time of year to get a picture of how many butterflies we have; each year, over 100,000 people take part.

You can see more details (and download the app) at the Big Butterfly Count website, but here's how it works:

To increase your chances of spotting butterflies — rather than watching in dismay as they flutter around neighbours' gardens — wildlife expert Sean McMenemy has shared his tips for bringing

them to your garden:

Don't forget to keep an eye out for unusual behaviour as well. Butterflies are known to like fermented drinks or fruit, and they're actually surprisingly aggressive — at least among their

own kind. 'Butterflies are highly territorial,' adds Sean. 'Fights between males are common, although their graceful flight patterns look anything but aggressive.'

Enjoy the process, but beware: spotting butterflies can be addictive, as one man found out when he spent years trying to spot all 59 of Britain's native species — you can read that story

here.

Joel Aston — one half of the 'butterfly brothers', along with his sibling Jim — explains how rewilding gardens to attract

Once oblivious to butterflies, Robin Page became so entranced by their delicate beauty that he embarked on a year-long safari

Beautiful, delicate and harmful to no-one, our iconic butterflies are facing an increasingly perilous existence – that's the conclusion reached

Toby Keel is Country Life's Digital Director, and has been running the website and social media channels since 2016. A former sports journalist, he writes about property, cars, lifestyle,

travel, nature.