Sowing the seeds of love

I thought this was a harlequin having its wicked way with one of our native ladybirds. But, happily, after spotting two almost identical ones a couple of metres away and a bit of research, I've discovered they're two colour morphs of the declining British two-spot ladybird.

Our cherry tree has  been infested with cherry black fly as usual at this time of year and I've been eagerly awaiting the ladybirds coming in.  They've arrived!  There's eggs everywhere including all over the fence so hopefully, they'll be short-lived.  

This year, I've given up on the plant netting to stop the birds eating the cherries (it doesn't stop them and I worry that they'll get caught). Instead, I'm pioneering a new method of using organza wedding favour bags - tightly sealed but the sun gets through.  I haven't bagged all of them - some for me and some for the birds!

Last year I had one lone cherry (the birds seem less willing to share!).  I've bagged about 40 this year - fingers crossed!