What is buzzing or flying near you today??

Your right Mike it's a Hawthorn shield bug (acanthosoma haemorrhoidale) the mother of the species protects its eggs hence the name shield bug.

 

With a name like that I bet it's a real pain in the .. xxxx err butt

 

:D Mike!!!

We don't get as many shield bugs in Scotland as when we lived in Herefordshire. First time one buzzed past me, I go a huge fright! Theyre totally harmless to humans though - don't know if they do damage to plants? They are lovely though, some are very bright!

 

...Decided to find out for myself!

Quite intersting info here , suggests our native species is virtually harmless, though an invader from the continent may be more of a pest.

 

Hi JarBax
Thanks for the info, after I took the photo it flew off across the field. We get a lot of strange critters here I think it must be because we are surrounded by woodland and have a small river near the bottom of our garden

Cheers

Alfie

 

Wonderful group photo of the different birds on the feeder, JarBax. I'd be thrilled if I managed to catch just one of them, and here you go and capture so many at once. Very well done!

Ace - your pics are fantastic, especially the third one of the house martin. All the detail that shows up, also on the shield bug.....I'm drooling over here.

I wonder if I get a new camera (the one I have now jams often)will I be able to take such pics too? :D:D

 

Hi Kedi
Thanks for the compliment,:o as you can see I like to take close up pics of insects etc. My camera is a Konica-minolta Dimage 7i which was bought on E-bay, it has a fixed lens with 7x optical zoom + 2x digital zoom and is quite good for close up work.
This bush in the corner of our garden is covered with bees hover flies etc so is ideal for this kind of photo.





Cheers:thumb:

Alfie

 

Ace I am used to seeing Swallows and Martins in reasonable numbers here(first and last stop on migration) but I have never seen so many as I did in Northumberland last year particularly around Beadnel and Seahouses. There was a Swallows nest inside a cafe at Lindesfarne just above head height. I have never seen so many nests so low.
Your pics are fantastic.:thumb:

 

Hi Strongy
Thats a bit of a coincidence we live about 6 miles from Seahouses and we're are going to lindisfarne tomorrow. We have quite a lot of nests under the eves of the house and one in the old coal shed, but not as many occupied by Swallows and House martins as usual as sparrows have laid claim to a couple of them.

Cheers

Alfie

 

Another great close-up, Ace!

Here are a few pics that I got yesterday -

A weeny insect on a margarite -




Two hoverflies and another tiny insect on a yellow margarite (I think) -

 

Like your last hoverfly pic Kedi! Looks like the sun's shining too!

 

Great shots Kedi and Ace.:thumb:

 

Lovely pics Kedi especially the 4th one brilliant colours