How about a quick rundown of miscellaneous things I've noticed recently:

• There are more species of butterfly on the wing compared to a month or two ago. I saw my first Painted lady of the year yesterday, not to be confused with the superficially similar Red admiral.
• Froghoppers have appeared in abundance on many plants in the garden – notably roses and honeysuckle in mine. What you actually notice is the blob of white froth in the crux of a stem, within which hides the green insect.
• Spiders are very active, with lots in the house, which surprises me as I usually notice that in the autumn.
• I've seen quite a lot of Jays about in the open, which again I wouldn't usually notice until later in the year. I have no idea why and it may be just happenstance.
• Ants have started building small crumbly towers in the middle of the lawn, and are pretty much everywhere I look. There seems to be one on every leaf of every plant sometimes!
• Most of the bees I see are bumble bees or other solitary species. I just don't see many honeybees, but there are loads of bees in general. I am also noticing a lot of dead or dying bumble bees on the ground. I presume it's just natural wastage, having no reason to suspect otherwise.