Patchwork
I spotted this fresh bee on the bramble growing at the edge of the Orchard Ponds in the Cleeve Prior Community Orchard, where I’d gone on a fruitless search for dragonflies, and recognised it as a male leafcutter. I couldn’t … Continued
Garden Bumblebee
Bombus hortorum is one of the most common bumblebees in the UK. It’s also one of the biggest, with queens coming in at close to 2cm in length, and males and workers at around 1.5cm. It’s commonly called the Garden … Continued
Shooting through
Marbled Whites have been out at Cleeve Prior Community Orchard for a few days now, but today was the first time I managed to get one on camera. As with many fresh male insects they’re engaged on a near-frantic hunt … Continued
Featherlegs
At round 3.5cm long, the White-legged Damselfly is one of the UK’s largest damselflies. It’s also not readily mistaken for any other species: the pale, feathery legs with expanded tibiae, the paired thoracic stripes, the chestnut wing spots and the … Continued
White-faced Darters
I drove up to Staffordshire this morning, to join the Chartley Moss walk that’s run annually by Natural England (who lease the site from its current owner) and the British Dragonfly Society. The BDS are involved because this is one … Continued
Fork-tailed Flower Bee
Today was overcast and quite cold, and very few invertebrates seemed to want to be out and about. The black horehound along the old wall at Tilly’s field was empty of Wool Carders, but a few hardy Common Carders and … Continued
Marbled White
Tilly’s field has finally produced a reasonable number of butterflies, including about half a dozen Marbled Whites. Because of this year’s dearth of wild flowers, though, there’s quite steep competition for food among all the nectar-feeding insects, and the black … Continued