Fruit course

When I posted my first Andrena fulva of the season, a few days ago, I mentioned that they seem to have quite a broad palette, compared with some other species of bee which can be finicky about their food. Today I present another fresh female - or possibly even the same one - supporting my thesis by feeding from a tiny flower on one of the gooseberry bushes in the secret garden.

It was generally a brighter day than the forecast had predicted, but (this being England, where what's given with one hand tends to be taken away with the other) the wind picked up over the course of the morning, lowering the temperature, driving successive bands of cloud across the trench, and blowing all my subjects hither and yon. I have the feeling that this changeable weather is suppressing the numbers of bees and hoverflies, because even in the brightest and warmest parts of the day there weren't very many around. In particular, the male mining bees are noticeable by their absence, and this wasn't the only apparently unmated female Andrena I saw today.

During one of the darker sections of the afternoon, when I'd retreated to my desk with a cup of tea, I reminded myself of what a good time I had with the camera during my sunny Covid isolation, by choosing some favourite invertebrates from that week. I've posted them here, if you'd care to take a look.