What's buzzing or flying near you 2024 ?

Seen Cattle Egrets for the first time last place we lived. They were sitting on the back of the nearby grazing sheep.

 

Bee enjoying the Astrantia

And a bumble with huge pollen baskets on the Buddleia

 

Some peacock butterflies on the blue hydrangea. Juvenile GSW on the feeders. Different butterflies now being seen, speckled woods, gate keeper, large whites, red admirals, small heath and then those that are so quick you can't work out what they are.

 

I had that problem yesterday @On the Levels . I turned round just in time to see what I think was a Comma fluttering around, but no time to get a closer look. Not something we regularly see here, but I managed to get one on camera last year. Conditions/climate altering enough to support them perhaps? Every cloud....
The bees' favourite plant this year has definitely been the Welsh poppies. They're really enjoying the borage now too.

 

Peregrine, Durlston Castle cliffs.

 

Soggy Greenfinches and Goldfinches in th rain on the grass, can't call it a lawn as I left all the Hawkbit in.

 

Hummingbird Hawkmoth today...

 

How lovely. I call mine "grass" too. Front hasn't been cut since beginning of May and is full of ragwort and hawkbit. Back I cut every couple of weeks but it's very weedy and I leave the lovely patch of Yarrow that's come up.

 

While I've been working at the shed, the small birds, including all the youngsters, have been enjoying the nearby feeders in the cage. They're so used to me they don't really bother too much
about me being quite near them. I was about 6 feet away at this point

Note to self - before taking a pic, growhouse lid needed the wingnut tightened on the right hand side....

They like using the metal supports on the nearby sweet peas too


..and then there's this pair..sigh....
Bob has a 'pal' now. I'm going to have to start charging board and lodgings

 

I installed a small pond this year and the main thing it's attracted so far is the "footballer" hoverfly. There's always 2 or 3 of them buzzing around it.

 

Not sure what type of bumblebee this is but it looked beautiful on my dahlia. If anyone knows which one it is please let me know as I report which bees are in my garden along with birds every week to the BTO.

The first emperor dragonfly I've seen in my garden this year, so hard to photograph as they whizz around.

 

I have seen different species do this, on sand, gravel, grass, and wherever they see fit. Today, I decided to see what the purpose is, and this is what I found:

"The birds invariably adopt a posture in which the body feathers are fluffed up and one or both wings are held out from the body, with feathers spread. It is thought that using the sun in this way does two things. It both helps the preen oil to spread across the feathers and drives parasites out from within the plumage."

The bird is a gray catbird, a summer visitor. It is a small wonder that they don't go blind staring at the sun like that.

 

A long hoverfly.