Hover-flies

Today thistles and brambles were buzzing with bees and hover-flies in the sun. A huge variety of hover-flies were active - too active to photograph, except this large and beautiful one on a thistle. Unfortunately it has no common English name but deserves one - look at the patterned wings.

Hover-fly  VOLUCELLA  PELLUCENS

Meadowsweet is at its best now along the river banks - a wonderful mixture of scents

Seven-spot ladybird trying to hide on a thistle, one of many hundreds out today

.......together with many Speckled Woods under the trees and about 45 Gatekeeper

 butterflies patrolling along the bramble and thistle fence - out in numbers again after the rain.

There were also good numbers of Holly Blue butterflies chasing high and low amongst

the riverside trees and thickets.

A quick look at birds - lots of juvenile house sparrows in the rosa canina and brambles still 

being fed by adults performing their 'flycatcher' act along the fence, darting out to catch

insects on the wing. Overhead above the river a few swifts were feeding, together with

a small group of about 15 house martins