What's buzzing or flying near you 2024 ?

We get them in the house in winter @DiggersJo - not a problem except when I'm reading my kindle in bed and they buzz me.

 

Yeah we got them in their 100s in the house in Italy even with screens on every window. The problem is that they can decimate Toms and peppers and other veg....

 

Not here so far but I'll keep an eye out for them getting pesky @DiggersJo

 

We have had loads overwintering in the house, really annoying when you want to read in bed at night and they land on you. Haven't noticed any damage to produce in the garden though.

 

This is the type of damage they can do to most of the crop


They inject into the tomato and it softens the flesh whereby they can drink more from it... I suspect it will be worse the hotter the weather is...

 

Holly Blue is also a possibility for the butterfly. I get them in the garden sometimes.

 

I was intrigued by this little fellow in the garden yesterday as it was hovering rather like a hummingbird whilst drinking from the Erysimum and the Muscari. I think it is likely a Hairy Footed Flower Bee, from the white face, though you can't see the feet in order to confirm!

 

Our native shield bugs aren't a problem for gardens it's the invading species from southern Europe which is a pest on some vegetables. I'm not clever enough to tell them apart but it is suggested they don't make it over here in sufficient numbers, or don't arrive until late summer, so aren't much of a concern.

There is a little info here Green shield bugs / RHS Gardening


We have had shield bugs in the garden for a couple of months now which have obviously overwintered. At the end of summer our silver birch usually has massive population of them and I must admit I quite like them.

 

We’re very fond of the native Shield bugs we get in this garden. They’ve never caused a problem here

 

Taken through the window a few days ago.

 

American Gold Finch.

 

Black-Capped Chickadee.

 

They're lovely photos @hydrogardener - are they both small birds ? The goldfinch is rather different from our goldfinches over here [2 in my rather blurred pic above yours] but he/she's a stunning colour.
The chickadee is quite like our coal and marsh tits.

 

'Get away', I yelled as I tried to bat at a weird little creature which flew straight at me.
Turns out to be a piece of fluff, blown upwards into the air from my vacuum cleaner just now...

 

Lovely sight this morning, it was a flock of a couple dozen swans flying over. What a din , delightful! Think they must be on the way or leaving the Swan sanctuary at Welney which isn't far from me (supposedly 9k swans there in January). The flock was split into two perfect V formations. I'll have to do some research to see if they are migrating or immigrating, or just having a fly around for the fun of it!