Marvellous meadows

Mad dogs and Englishman time - its midday and Bill Oddie is out on a hot summer day in a dry meadow. It is a sea of yellows and purples - creeping thistle, buttercups and tufted vetch. Gardeners either love or hate tufted vetch. There are bees and butterflies everywhere, especially meadow browns. A male meadow brown hasn't got much going for it, but has a good name - it lives in a meadow and it is brown! They have a false eye marking on the wings, as do many butterflies to fool a predator into attacking the wrong part of its body.