hoverfly

...when the temperature soared to something near normal yesterday, we thought we were seeing an end to this year's barmy (not balmy) weather. Alas, we awoke to a grey sultry sky and a return to the coolness that has been so typical of late.

A morning of half-hearted rain gradually developed into thunderstorms and left me scrabbling around for a blip subject. During one dry period, we were able to watch our pair of red-backed shrikes catching insects for their young. Unfortunately, they were far too far away for the short focal length lenses that I brought on this trip.

By this evening I was getting desperate because there wasn't even any activity around the lavender! The day was saved when this diminutive hoverfly rested on a young lavender leaf. The sharpness is not perfect as there was a moderate breeze, but it is good enough and may help someone to confirm my attempt at identifying it as a male Sphaerophoria scripta...