Wolves Wild

A bee so tiny it kept almost disappearing behind the stamens of the St John’s wort flower it was collecting pollen from. Possibly a bronze furrow bee [Halictus tumulorum].

Another butterfly taking advantage of the flowers of a buddleia bush. This time it was a red admiral, undisturbed even though I was only a few feet away with a camera.

Around here, meadow brown butterflies normally stay in the environment implied in their name: meadows and areas of long grass with wildflowers. So do their somewhat more reclusive relatives, gatekeepers.

This year, both species have been visiting some suburban gardens, admittedly only a few hundred yards direct flying distance from places they hang out every year.

This meadow brown is feeding from the flowers on a buddleia bush in one such garden. It’s a very short clip before the insect decided my mobile was getting to close, so it retreated to a higher flower out of range of filming distance. There had been a gatekeeper around, but it had adopted the more cautious strategy from the start.

A tiny caterpillar, something around half an inch long. It had somehow arrived on the back of a plastic garden chair, under cover, and was slowly making its way along the top of the chair back.

The species is normally a denizen of heathland. Perhaps it’s insinuating suburban gardens in areas where heather is popular.

A painted lady giving prolonged attention to the individual flowers on one of the flower-heads of a buddleia bush, opening and closing its wings as it shifted position.

Bumblebees gathering pollen from lavender flowers. Filmed on a hand-held mobile phone. The bees were so busy with their task, that I could get within a few inches of them.