blip 500!!!!! Yay!

I had plans for something really special for today, but as the saying goes 'The best laid plans.......'
To start with my remaining 3 Death's head hawk moths hatched, but two managed to push their way out of my flight cage and escape! ....since then I haven't seen either of them :-( The tiny fanlight was open when the first one escaped, but not the second, and the door has been closed all day so I have no idea!I really hope they haven't somehow escaped, but if you do find a Death's head hawk moth in the Horsham area, it is probably one of mine!
Mr U&l spent the day at a toy and collectors fair at the Bluebell railway, so I spent the day blitzing the kitchen.
When he came home, I went for a quick trip to Southwater woods, and found this lovely hoverfly Volucella inanis feeding on the wild mint.
Volucella inanis is primarily a southern species, found from Kent to Cornwall, and to Oxfordshire in the north. It is found most often in Sussex, Kent, Surrey Middleesex and Essex and is listed as Notable.
The larvae are ectoparasites of social wasp larvae, including Hornets.
This excellent Hornet mimic is very similar to Volucella zonaria but can be easily identified as all the abdominal stripes are yellow (the first one is chestnut brown in V. zonaria), and the 2nd tergite (2nd plate nearest thorax) is black in V.zonaria and all yellow in V. inanis. It is also a little smaller, with a wingspan of 15 - 17 mm.
This one was a bit chilly and readily hopped onto my finger for a brush up!
On another note entirely I can't believe this is my 500th consecutive blip!!
I am having such great fun on here, and you are all so lovely I can't wait to be planning my 1,000th
Car MOT tomorrow! so very worried tonight!