Sunday, October 13, 2013
A Taplow garden
A couple of days ago this wasp settled quietly in front of me, seeming fairly docile and laid-back. It looked slightly different from the wasps I've seen all summer, with a longer abdomen and longer antennae. Could it be a German or Saxon Wasp? But after lots of research I'll settle for Common Wasp male, which looks less harassed than the female workers as all he has to do is mate with the queen.
Another noticeable individual taking the sun on the beauty bush leaves was a Bog Hoverfly - new for the garden list.
And a smaller hoverfly on the wall is a Sunfly (Helophilus pendulus). The stripe in the centre of the face is diagnostic (from Wikipedia and other sites).
This was interesting because back in June I snapped this similar hoverfly. I can't tell from the photos whether it has a black stripe on the face, but the larger size and more lemony yellow point to it being Helophilus trivittatus (naturespot.org.uk and other sites). It doesn't seem to have a common name.
It's nice to get three new hoverflies in my last summer here, and I've had plenty of time to research them thanks to flu. We left it too late to get our flu jabs and I became ill on the second day into our Scottish trip. By the time we got home again, Greger had caught it. I just hope to goodness I haven't left a trail of flu-smitten people behind me north of the border.
We did no walking. From the chalet I saw goosanders and a little grebe in Loch Canaird, both Ardmair ticks, while a robin strutted and postured one morning in front of a newly landed wheatear. Three rock pipits flew onto the roof of the neighbouring chalet. And on the beach at Poolewe was a single Brent goose. There were plenty of stonechats everywhere, and a foraging dipper kept us entertained at the bone caves car park.
// posted by Christine @ 8:44 AM 
