Busy

I've had one of those days when you work pretty much flat out, but don't feel you have much to show at the end for all the effort. I'll just have to console myself that I can see the difference between where I started and where I finished, even if it wouldn't be obvious to anyone else.

What with one thing and another I didn't find much time for photography, though I did grab the nearest camera and scuttle outside after R appeared in my study and enquired, "What kind of dragonfly is thin, and sort of tan coloured?" Shown a photo of a female Common Darter, he said "That's it," leaving me cursing that I'd missed the opportunity to add a 20th species to this year's Odonata list. Needless to say, by the time I reached the garden there was no sign of it, because life is currently like that - I still haven't had set eyes on the Wool Carder bees again, since seeing them twice on Wednesday during the short time I was camera-free.

At about 2pm I finished one of my projects, and stomped wearily out for a quick walk around the village - more so I could say I'd done some steps than because I actually wanted to take exercise in the afternoon's heat and humidity. Still, I was glad afterwards that I'd made the effort, because I saw both Marbled Whites and Six-spot Burnets in the hay meadow everyone here still calls Tilly's field, after a long-dead horse that used to live there. I'm also pretty sure I saw a Silver-washed Fritillary on a hedgerow at the bottom of the field, but I can't be absolutely certain because it was already moving when I spotted it, and rapidly fluttered away out of sight. It wouldn't be outwith the bounds of possibility though: I've recorded this species in the garden on a couple of occasions.

A hay meadow Burnet and a garden Banded Demoiselle notwithstanding, this photo of a male Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum) on stachys is my favourite of the day. Roughly translated, its Latin name means "buzzing noise of the meadows", which is interesting, because although it's found in a wide range of habitats, most authorities say that it prefers to avoid open spaces. It's one of our commonest garden species, and I also see it a lot in woodland glades. It's a relatively unfussy feeder, but it has a short tongue and prefers shallow flowers such as spring blossoms, ground ivy, dandelions, and brambles. It will also forage from the plant family known as lamiates - that is, the mints, sages and dead-nettles - of which this stachys is an example.