Takeoff

A 'Footballer' Hoverfly (Helophilus pendulus) taking off from a Common Knapweed (Centaurea nigra) flower on the Sussex Wildlife Trust's Brickfield Meadow Nature Reserve, on a visit there this afternoon with Mrs Catspaw.

We were both very reassured by the variety of insect species and the numbers of insects to be seen there, given that the year so far has been a rather disappointing (not to say worrying) one for its overall lack of insects.