Hanging on

Looking at this, you'd be forgiven for thinking that it was a nice day, but it was not. The ferocious wind and periodic bouts of lashing rain have had me almost at screaming pitch, and by this afternoon I was talking about selling my gear and taking up an indoor hobby instead. Given which, I was surprised and relieved to find that this, which was the first photo I took today that was worth keeping (out of only a handful in total), is not only in focus but actually has quite a summery feel about it.

The BWARS people aren't keen on identifying Lasioglossum specimens to species from photos, but this is likely to be Lasioglossum calceatum, the Common Furrow-bee, rather than the very similar L. alpibes, which according to Falk presents as duller, hairier and greyer. Very much like myself. Both species are very common throughout England and Wales, and feed from a wide variety of flowers.

The thing I like most about this photo is the tidy way the bee is curling herself around the geranium stamens. This is a common habit among these little bees, but they're very quick and restless, and usually when I try to capture the pose, the resulting images are spoiled by motion blur. I can't swear to it, but I think this female might actually be biting the anther in front of her - or possibly just anchoring herself to it, so as not to be dislodged from the flower by the gale before she's finished eating and collecting pollen.