More butterflies, fewer horseflies, please

Estonian summer is intense. Not just by the temperature degrees, which have stayed above 30 for the last month, but in all dimensions. While in South East Asia you have vegetation season all year round, in Estonia it's much shorter and intense. It's not just that all the fruits and berries are ripe up in a short window, but also that the animals and insects activity is peaking in the same timeframe.

So, while you'd like to pick some fresh cherries, raspberries, blackcurrant or gooseberries in your garden, you'll likely need to confront mosquitoes and horseflies as well, for whom you are the delicious bloody meal.

When for the mosquitoes you can use different sprays to keep them away, horseflies seem to be rebellious kind and digging into your skin regardless of your attempts at protective measures. And the hotter weather, the more aggressive they seem to be.

On the other hand, butterflies are a delight to look at and take pictures of. Now I wish that there could be a way of taking the butterfly pictures without being bitten by the horseflies at the same time. If you know a trick that works, feel free to share it with me at timo@uustal.com