The hornet mimic hoverfly

Perhaps. Not entirely convinced but these guys are very present at the moment.

A busy day clearing and cleaning the piazzale. Another walnut foray. A fire. Gathering up some veg- the fennel is superb. Two zooms. The Boss in the galley making klafouti, Carrara’s and coriander soup, a farinatta di ceci and getting the sea bass going.

Rain now at 23.40 and forecast for the night through. A soft day with Atlantic light, cool and clear showing the leaf change creeping down Fslterona’s flank. No hobbies heard although house martins skittering about.

I wondered if hobbies, with their raked back wings, might prefer a head on wind, like salmon and sea trout need a spate to work against. If I were right the steady southerlies and south westerlies would be ideal for flying south.

The BTO website entry says, ‘ Unfettered by the broad wings and heavy wing loading of larger birds of prey, Hobbies don’t need to use thermals to undertake sea crossings, and as a result probably migrate on a much broader front.‘

Very limited as yet satellite tracking of hobbies showed migration over the Sahara and equatorial rain forest to Angola - a journey of 10,000km http://www.raptor-research.de/pdfs/a_sp100p/a_sp140.pdf