Thursday 9 August 2012

Some welcome wildlife

I'm finally beginning to see a fair number of bees in the garden, probably attracted by all the flowers on my herbs, such as this magnificent Greek Oregano.




If you want a picture of a bee on an Oregano flower, you won't have to wait very long!


Here's a bee of some sort visiting a bean flower. I'm afraid I'm not much good at bee-recognition, so I can't say what type of bee it is.


And here's a sequence showing a different type of bee foraging amongst the Asparagus flowers.








The Ladybirds are quite numerous too this year, and they are earning their keep by grazing on the aphids.




Oops, be careful!


Most of the butterflies I have seen this year have been Small Whites, with the occasional bright yellow Brimstone - and this solitary Gatekeeper:


How many Hoverflies have you seen this year? Normally during August my garden would be full of them, but this year I have only seen a very small number of them.

12 comments:

  1. Lovely pictures Mark Pic Monkey has been a winner for you

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  2. I was looking at the bees on my very own oregano flowers today. It's all just beautiful isn't it? Stunning pics as usual!

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  3. Hi Mark, not an expert by a long way but do you reckon the ladybird in the pic is in fact a harlequin ladybird? Check out this page and compare: Www.harlequin-survey.org (recognition and distinction). Thanks btw for a great blog! Sarah from Sweden

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  4. Your hoverflies are probably all in my garden; we have hundreds and hundreds of them, and I normally never see any...

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  5. Love the shots where the pollen baskets are full of orange pollen

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  6. Beautiful. I love the butterfly.

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  7. Lovely pics Mark - especially the ladybird! Mother Nature at her best.x

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  8. Oh to see a bee of any kind :$ (sigh)
    I'm struggling using my son's camera at the moment and am completely mesmerized with your photo's.
    The Bee honey armbands (weights) and the balancing ladybird (gymnastics) made me laugh...is it the Insect Olympics?
    Have a great weekend...enjoy!

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  9. Lovely pics. I do like insects (well beneficial ones anyway) - so pretty.

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  10. Amazing how much pollen the bees carry around with them. Not so many ladybirds in my garden, but loads of hoverflies, especially on the hebe which is flowering at the moment.

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    Replies
    1. I'll swap some of my Ladybirds for some of your Hoverflies. Deal?

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