The arrival of the mayflies – those famously short-lived river dwellers – is one of the most dramatic events in early summer.

Their appearance is of interest to many more species than just ourselves – for a few days the fish and birds gorge themselves on this plentiful food supply. Over the weekend in Salisbury, we watched trout jumping to catch them from the air, mallards chasing them down and today a robin plucked one right in front of us.

For Day 2 of 30 Days Wild, I got to know one better, watched it climb upon my finger to find the highest spot with the best breeze, then take to the air.

There are many different mayfly species as well as other riverflies such as caddis and alder flies. You can read more about them in this excellent blogpost.