Michaelmas hoverfly
I debated with myself for some time this evening over which of these two photos to feature. The extra, taken with flash in the darkest corner of the wild garden, is much better-focused than the main image, but in the … Continued
Droning on
“Can you say ‘Eristalis tenax’?” I said to Baby B. He thought about this for several seconds, then said, “Uh.” And then a few seconds later, “Ay.” Good grief, I thought. The child is a genius! Is it too early … Continued
Interloper
This is the cuckoo in my shieldbug nursery – an analogy that promptly falls to the ground, I confess, because although it’s not yet fully grown it’s entirely independent. But anyway. I still have several dozen Woundwort Shieldbugs on the … Continued
Tachina fera
I’m finally getting on top of Baby B’s cold now, and after an undisturbed night’s sleep with no hideous coughing fits, I woke up this morning early(ish) and raring to go. So I got up and went, over to Trench … Continued
Ready to pop
R and I are currently suffering acutely from Baby B’s cold. In fact we were both so ill by yesterday evening that we started to wonder if we might actually have Covid, so we took lateral flow tests (please don’t … Continued
Unconvincing
She’s pretending to be a bumblebee, bless her, but it’s not a very accurate impersonation. She’s Cheilosia illustrata, a hoverfly found primarily on umbellifers, and especially hogweed, whose roots are the preferred larval foodplant. August is the latter end of … Continued
Bushy butterfly
I’m not a fan of the buddleja – it’s an ugly shrub, and although it professes to be good at attracting butterflies, in our garden it’s generally only visited by honey bees. Today though, it was hosting both a Small … Continued