I have a lot of pictures of insects, so it's time for another supplement.
First two familiar Buff-Tailed Bees, but it's worth noting the different flowers in the Rose Garden that they browse on. This one is on Comfrey ...
... and this one on the little mauve flowers of Lamb's Ears, Stachys byzantina, one of their favourites which is just coming into flower.
Duncan Campbell found two more bees. This may be a Grey-Banded Mining Bee, Andrena denticulata.
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We have no idea about this one. It looks quite like a male Hairy-Footed Flower Bee but doesn't have hairy enough feet.
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This hoverfly is a Large Narcissus Fly, Merodon equestris.
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Duncan also found two damselflies in the Italian Garden fountains, Blue-Tailed ...
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... and Red-Eyed.
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He alerted me to some peculiar insects upside down just below the water surface, rowing with their hind legs and moving in formation. They are Backswimmers, Notonecta glauca, and I shot a video of them.
It's worth noting that the main scene of action in the fountains, which in previous years has been the southeast pool, is now the northeast one. For some reason the usual algae haven't come up in the southeast pool to attract insects.
Tom was at Hutchinson's Bank in Croydon, famous for its butterflies. He found a Glanville Fritillary ...
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... a Grizzled Skipper ...
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... and three Small Blues.
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OMG, Bumblebees! Little flying teddy bears! (**making fangirl noises**)
ReplyDeleteTinúviel
I can't resist photographing them.
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ReplyDeleteIt's astonishing that you cannot tell from the wildlife whether the pictures are from Lesbos in the East or from, say, Málaga, in the uttermost West! The Mediterranean is such a large continuum.
We're having something of a baby boom, aren't we? Is it me, or does it appear that there are more chicks successfully fledged than in previous years?
Tinúviel
Yes, the geese in particular are having a far more productive year. The last couple of years I thought the big geese had given up trying to breed in the park because of the danger from the increasing number of Herring Gulls, but this year they are all at it and doing well in overall numbers despite heavy casualties. The number of gulls seems to be down, for reasons I can't explain. And the greater success of the two big Egyptian families (fingers crossed) is even harder to explain.
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