Damp

Today we finally received at least some of the rain we so badly needed, along with some fierce winds - a combination that kept me at my desk, crunching digital files, until mid-afternoon. As soon as I was sure the rain had stopped I ventured out, and so did quite a few bees, but trying to photograph them on flowers or foliage was an absolute fool's errand, even with high-speed flash, as their perches were whipped back and forth by the gale. 

I'd resorted to trailing around in the wake of a Narcissus Fly (Merodon equestris) who prefers to rest on the bark mulch in the flowerbeds, waiting for him to settle; but even more than warm bark mulch he prefers not to be stalked by a large human, so there was a certain amount of bitterness and recrimination in the atmosphere when I happened to spot this male Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum), resting on the top of our old farm wall - and promptly forgot all about the Narcissus Fly. I was initially worried about the bumblebee, because it's not great for them to be caught out in the kind of fierce weather we'd had overnight and this morning, but as soon as I saw that his antennae were moving I was confident he'd be fine. Although damp he was already drying off in the wind, and shortly afterwards the sun emerged and finished the job. The next time I checked, he'd flown away to resume his one and only task, which is looking for a mate.

I wrote quite a bit about the Early Bumblebee when I posted one ten days ago, so I won't subject you to a reprise today.