SPOT THE BEE FLY ETC. ETC. UPDATE 8th OCTOBER 2023
Hello again, we hope you are making the most of this unique October weather, we have spent a couple of days’ full time tidying up in the garden (well, at least, Jenny has!). Our current highlights in the garden are our large Ivy bushes covered in flowers, they are literally alive with insects, mostly various kinds of Bees and Hoverflies, but also Red Admiral butterflies, - we counted seven of them at one time in the bush. I also managed to photograph a Speckled Wood. On top of all that we have had action round the pond with some nice views of a Southern Hawker dragonfly egg laying all around the edges. I thought I caught a glimpse of a Broad Bodied Chaser, but it turned out to be a very large Hornet, - managed a photo in the Ivy a couple of days later. To round off we had a few Fungi and some wild Strawberries!
Our first contributor to this update is/are Ian and Viv, to whom I owe an apology as I should have included it in our last update, - sorry both! They were holidaying in Donana in Spain hoping for some birds, they got this strange looking insect as a starter! Does anyone have any idea what it might be?
17th September: Strange insect. This insect scuttled out from under the rim of our sink here in southern Spain. It is about 4mm long. Can anyone identify it? Ian and Viv
Next up a lovely sequence from Roger Hoyle taken when he and Jean visited a Donkey Sanctuary on the IoW:
5th October: Dear Mike. Here are some images for the Bee Fly. Jean and I spent a few days on the Isle of Wight recently and visited a donkey sanctuary - a wonderful place with more than 100 donkeys. While we were there one of the donkeys was having some dental treatment from a vet. We were amazed to see the donkey so calm when it was fitted with a brace to keep its mouth open. The donkey obviously trusted its keeper and it had another donkey as a 'friend' that it was leaning against - you can just see the other donkey in one of the images. Best wishes, Roger
A few photos from me:
An alternative, underside view of a Red Admiral Speckled Wood
Ivy Bee Hornet
Wild Strawberries and maybe The Brown-tail Moth, Euproctis chrysorrhoea, plus Southern Hawker:
That’s all we have for this update, please keep your contributions coming.
Regards to all, Mike and Jenny