Stylopised
I spent much of the day in the garden, doing a rough tidy of the long border at the front of the house. There was a definite feel of spring in the air, and noticeably more invertebrates out and about. … Continued
Feather-footed
I don’t know why the Romans felt that they needed a word to describe the state of being feather-footed, but apparently they did, and ‘plumipes’ was it. ‘Anthophora’, I think, is a Greek term for flowering plants. So this little … Continued
Contortionist
One of the earliest invertebrate arrivals in the garden this spring was a male Eristalis pertinax which was fond of basking on the aucuba, so it seems fitting that another male of that species should appear on the same shrub … Continued
Embracing the grey
Bee of the day: Andrena cineraria, the ashy mining bee. I heard someone asking an “expert” on a television programme yesterday if it was time for women whose hairdressers have closed for the duration of the CV crisis to stop … Continued
Transition
A very busy day: A trip to Stratford this morning for blood tests (sigh). Back at home, an hour’s gardening (eeurgh) with R. Some bug photography (yay!). A quick late-afternoon visit to the owl field (brrrrr). Choir practice in Pershore … Continued