It has been quite warm today, 18.5 oC! A great day to start spring, the garden was buzzing and there was a lot of "firsts" of the year. One of those days it is hard to choose what to blog about. I saw my first butterflies of the year, a
Red Admiral Peacock (in flight), a Small Tortoiseshell feeding on willow and a male Brimstone; first queen wasp; first pair of 7 spots mating and my first photo of a ladybird taking off. Also, first
Bombus hypnorum,
B. hortorum and first female
Anthophora plumipes. The following shots are the best of the day.
A fortunate consequence of 7 spot ladybird
communal hibernation is that you don't have to look far for a partner when you wake up!
A groggy queen wasp landed on yellow plastic
And a hyperparasitoid flightless wasp, possibly Gelis sp. which looks rather like an ant walks on the blue bin
Philodromus spider sunbathing
The first female Anthophora plumipes leaves a daffodil, which has marked her back with yellow pollen
A male A. plumipes briefly resting on a buddleia trunk. Males look velvety this early in the year. They have been patrolling the garden since the 11th of March
A Pholcus spider on the outside toilet looks much fatter than yesterday, after enjoying her spiderly meal.
A Harlequin and a 7 spot look like they are playing peek-a-boo
B. hortorum visiting Hyacinths
1 comment:
Thanks for the comment on my post. I can see you've been busy with the bees as well! I find them fascinating - but infuriating. They're so fast! Jane
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