Gavin and Gertrude Greenfly's family day out

The aphids in my garden are multiplying rapidly and I am going to try out a home-made garlic spray to discourage them from the patio roses, it will be interesting to see how effective or otherwise it is. I was photographing a lovely fresh Speckled Wood on part of the Test Way the other day because the dappled light was fabulous and was pleased with the results. I must admit I hadn't noticed the greenfly at the time, but I think they add rather than detract from the picture.
I know they are the scourge of gardeners, but aphids are an important basal link in the food chain at this time of year so I don't really want to use any sort of poison, especially one which may have adverse effects on the pond. There is always a bit of a lag at this time of year between aphids and their predators but largely I have to force myself to remember that natural control will balance out over the summer if left alone, although on some plants judicious squashing early on will prevent unsightly damage.

An interesting beetle a bit further down the path was the Wasp Beetle, here on a Comfrey leaf. If you didn't know its name then you would probably guess it (like I did)

unless of course you came up with Tiger Beetle which is something entirely different, and by coincidence here is a Green Tiger Beetle I snapped at Bentley Wood..

Finally getting round to posting up the best Osprey photos

I am so busy taking photographs for a couple of pet projects lately that I am not finding time to sort through everything and post up things of interest here. I am not yet over the Osprey excitement, and every time I start sorting the photos I find myself studying them more carefully. Anyway, the following are definitely the best in terms of clarity and detail that I managed to take over the week so I am going to just post these up and move on!

There is something mildly disturbing about a very close and very large bird of prey giving you a hard stare!

 

All that time spent standing around waiting for something to happen was worthwhile whenever I look back through these pictures, some truly memorable moments.

Crow attack!

Just a few shots of the now departed Fishlake Osprey attracting the attention of a local Carrion Crow - something it did on many occasions! Its not very often that a Crow gets top billing when co-starring with an Osprey but on this occasion I can't help feeling its the Crow that steals the show...

Flitting Fritillaries

A first trip to the famous Bentley Wood found the open rides awash with freshly painted Small Pearl-Bordered Fritillaries

This is the day flying moth Speckled Yellow which can be very numerous in some places of which this was one!

And another making a rather pleasing colour combination

The increasingly rare Duke of Burgandy

The underside of the Duke of Burgandy

Another day flying moth, the Burnet Companion

and another, the much less common Argent and Sable

Pearl-bordered Fritillary were fewer and already looking a little worn by comparison

Pearl-bordered Fritillary underside

Speckled Wood

Speckled Wood

This was my first "inflighter" Dragonfly, a Downy Emerald on the pond, one of several which all refused to land