Snappy Dresser

This black and white ichneumonid wasp visited the Angelica flowers today. It is possibly a Lymeon orbus, and a male because it has no ovipositor. It was about 18mm long, and very slim, so slim that with the black and white stripes it is not easy to see in the vegetation.

I took this photo with my old SX1 because I was out taking “through a glass bowl” shots to compensate for trying to get a blip in a gale. The SX1 is best for this job. So that was the camera I had when I spotted the wasp. I had to hold the flower still to get the shot.

This morning I found a little nest on the ground. It was neatly made from grass, sheep’s wool, feathers and ragged strips of facial tissue. Scattered and broken were four tiny eggs, very pale grey with greyish brown marks. The nest was too tidy to belong to house sparrows. I fear it might be the goldfinches’ nest. If so I am very sad as it is some years since I had them nesting in the garden and I love having them around. If they start again it will probably be elsewhere.

The nor’wester is a lot stronger than the forecast predicted. But it is a warm one.