The National Trust's annual audit of the UK's flora and fauna has found most species did well in 2013.
The good weather of July and August proved helpful for insects that thrive in the warm, such as butterflies, moths, bees, crickets and grasshoppers.
And the National Trust highlighted the success of the tree bumblebee, which only started to colonise the UK in 2001 and has expanded its range considerably, even creeping into Scotland.
This year’s boost marked a distinct change for many insects which had become generally very scarce in 2012 due to the poor weather.
Matthew Oates, the National Trust's naturalist, said: "We were more than overdue a good summer, and eventually we got a real cracker.
"The way our butterflies and other sun-loving insects bounced back in July was utterly amazing, showing nature's powers of recovery at their best. We have seen more winners than losers in our wildlife year, which is a tremendous result, considering where we were last year."
There was also good news for a range of mammals, birds and flowers from pine martens to puffins and orchids.
The National Trust looked back over the year, noting:
January
- A mild first half of the month, followed by a 10 day cold, snowy spell.
- A wonderful winter for Waxwings, making it the best for many years. Bird of the winter.
February
- A dry but cold and grey February, causing the land to dry out.
- Snowdrops continued to flower for an unusually long period, slowed down by the cold weather.
- Rooks started building mid-month and went on to have a hugely successful nesting season, despite the weather.
- Although, unfortunately, it was a poor breeding year for chough on the Lizard and on the Welsh coast.
- A survey of 54 gardens at National Trust properties revealed that the cold, snowy weather put a pause on spring as flowering plants and bulbs held off for warmer weather. There was a reduction of nearly 46 per cent of plants in bloom compared to last year.
March
- The coldest March on record since 1962 and colder than December, January or February.
- The extreme cold weather caused frogs to fail to breed in many ponds.
- Badgers and hedgehogs suffered from a shortage of worms and there was little food around for dormice coming out of hibernation, although these recovered later in the year and mostly went on to have successful breeding seasons.
- A disastrous month for owls, especially barn owls, and many seabirds died off the North East coast from starvation.
April
- April began with a cold drought, then became pleasant towards the middle of the month, but finished with a cool ending.
- Spring was running late, with dandelions reaching their peak only at the end of the month, two to three weeks late, and trees were leafing three weeks late.
- A difficult time for nesting birds and returning summer migrants, which arrived on time, as food was in short supply due to the late spring.
- A really challenging start to the season for bats due to the shortage of nocturnal flying insects.
May
- The month started and ended well, but it was otherwise cool and grey with many cold nights. Spring was by now even further behind.
- A record year for puffins nesting on the Farne Islands and Lundy.
- The first ever record of a tawny owl on the island of Ireland at Castle Ward, Co Down attracted many bird watchers.
- Bluebells were delayed by almost a month, not reaching their peak flowering until mid-May, whilst daffodils persisted well into May.
June
- A welcome break to the cold, with a 10 day fine spell early on, although thereafter the weather was mixed.
- A record year for nesting sandwich terns on Blakeney Point, Norfolk and for eider duck at Strangford Lough, Co Down.
- Bitterns discovered nesting at Wicken Fen for the first time ever.
- An orchid population explosion at Plas Newydd, Anglesey, from 20 in 2007 to almost 150,000 this year.
July
- The sun returned at last with hot and sunny weather throughout July. The first hot summer month since 2006.
- Butterflies appeared from nowhere, with a spectacular emergence of Purple Emperor in the woods. At the end of the month there were huge population explosions of Chalkhill blues on many downs, notably at Denbies Hillside, Surrey.
- Tree bumblebees were visible everywhere, even in Borrowdale, North Cumbria.
- Good numbers of rare Moss Carder bumblebee at Cwm Soden, Ceredigion.
- The hot weather led to a dramatic increase in wasp numbers following last year’s lull
August
- After an unsettled start, the highest temperatures of the year were recorded across South East England.
- A very rare migrant butterfly, the Long-tailed Blue, established breeding colonies along the South East coast, particularly on the White Cliffs of Dover.
- Cabbages were riddled with holes from myriad Cabbage White caterpillars.
- Only a few 7-spot Ladybirds around.
- Lots of crickets & grasshoppers with a record count of Wart-biter bush cricket on North Wiltshire downs.
September
- A combination of an abundance of the common autumn cranefly (daddy long legs), Tipula paludosa, and many moths was good news for hungry bats who feed up before mating and hibernation.
- A good year for blackberries, although they arrived late as a knock-on from the cold spring.
- The seal pupping season was a couple of weeks late because of the cold spring on the Farne Islands.
- The cold spring and hot summer helped to produce some of the sweetest and most colourful apples for years, although it was the latest crop since 1985.
October
- October was an unsettled month, concluding with the St Jude storm which hit southern parts of England and Wales on the 28th, ranking as one of the top ten most powerful storms in Southern England over the last 40 years.
- Yellow-rumped warbler on Lundy brought over from North America by the storm.
- A fantastic year for fungi in woods and rough fields, particularly in Saltram, Plymouth where a field full of mushrooms was the best in more than 40 years.
- Dog’s Vomit Fungus (a slime mould) prominent in many woods and particularly common at Giant’s Causeway, North Antrim.
- Fieldfares and redwing appeared early, on the 12th/13th in southern England, brought in by north-easterly gales.
November
- A late but colourful autumn.
- There was an abundance of most autumn berries, fruits, seeds and nuts in November, especially rowan berries. Good acorns, conkers, sloes & sweet chestnuts too.
- Deer in parks entered into the rut and winter well fed.
- A good year for many mammals after a difficult start, especially for the pine marten which is spreading well in Northern Ireland and Scotland.
December
- The biggest North Sea storm surge for 60 years breached sea walls around wildlife sites, including at Blakeney, Norfolk, although most seal pups survived.
- Plenty of Holly berries for Christmas.
- A great year for mistletoe with an abundance of berries.
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