First stop of the day was in the garden with Julia. A Robin was singing its heart out, Goldfinches were flitting round the treetops, two Cormorants flew over and a Green Woodpecker was yaffling in the trees. (Later, the woodpecker would visit the garden and perch on top of the large polytunnel.)
It was too cool for insects, but we had a window to mend and various other things to do. The glass for the window is going to cost £24. We’d spend that if we had a meal while we were out, but when it has to come from fund-raising, and when you consider it was broken by the worst burglar in the world, it is extremely irksome.
I did manage to get a dragonfly picture.
At the end of the day, when I returned from Men in Sheds with the pieces of 16 nest boxes, there were a few more insects about, including a massive bee and a strange fly. The quality of photography was not good and I didn’t get much worth showing. The newly painted door has a frame now, and the planters have become white. The blue stripes are lengths of fabric from discarded blinds (skip-diving again) – it’s probably not a long-term solution but it saves paint.
Have to get Julia to work now, will add ID notes later.
The dragonfly is a Common Darter.
The fly is some species of the sarcopaga family – flesh flies. You have to examine the genitalia closely to tell what exact species it is and, frankly, I don’t care enough to do that.
The bumblebee was massive. In pre-metric measurements it’s about the size of the end of my thumb. I could see it from 20 yards away. It’s probably a queen Buff-tailed Bumblebee.
Nice set of photos! The common darter shot is excellent.
Thank you. I’d like to get more, as they are fascinating things. Maybe next year…
I am really interested in dragonflies and damselflies but have hardly seen any this year. Not because they aren’t around but because I’ve not been out and about so much. Some dragonflies continue flying well into October if the weather is mild enough, so there is still hope for both of us!
It just seems like the year has passed me by. I wonder if this is what old age is really about – short summers and long winters? I do hope not. 🙂
I hope not too! I am sure your multiple hospital visits have had something to do with your feeling of missing out on summer. I feel the same way, though I have been fortunate in not having to stay in hospital or have an operation. All of us – i.e. me, Richard, my daughter and my mother – have had multiple visits to the GP, clinic, hospital, dentist all through this summer. Not one week has gone by, except when we were away on holiday, without at least one appointment to keep. I think we have just gone from one visit to the next without being able to pause and appreciate the beauty (or otherwise) of our surroundings.
I hope your health improves so that you can savour the beauties of autumn and then look forward to next year without worry.
Thank you, I must also make more effort to get out. I hope you can escape from health-related visits too – they do seems to take so much time. I’m back in hospital tomorrow for a review then blood tests on Thursday. 🙂
Best of luck! I had a health review check and a blood test today with a nurse at the surgery and I have a bone density scan at the hospital on Thursday! What fun we have!
At least I’m only five minutes from the GP and one of the hospitals. That’s one good thing about living in town. 🙂
That is an impressive bumblebee. We didn’t see many of them here early in the summer. Now it is dry, and not much blooming except mint. Lots of honeybees now.
We seem to have a lot of honeybees too. Definitely not the variety of pollinators we had earlier in the season.
How did you get the dragonfly to keep still? There were myriads of them darting about Mat and Tess’s garden on Friday. I couldn’t catch any
Luck. It settled on a paving slab because they tend to hold the heat. I think it was also eating something off the ground. And more luck. I’ve been trying to get one for several weeks. 🙂
I love your little English robins and would be very pleased to see the green woodpecker! The fly is enormous…
The flies weren’t quite so big in real life – fortunately!
Good planter decoration.
I will pass your comment on to Julia. 🙂
We’ve starting getting a male Green Woodpecker this summer but Cormorants are pretty unusual.
Always nice to see – they can be quite elusive for a big, green, noisy bird. 🙂