This hoverfly was so busy gathering nectar from the umbellifers in Barley Field that it let me get really close. Some grains of pollen are sticking to its body, and my reflection can just about be made out in its eye.
Author: David
Pools, Pendeford Mill Reserve
The Pendeford Mill Local Nature Reserve lies by the river Penk as it leaves Wolverhampton.
There’s an open day every July, and the place is well worth a visit.
This year the foul summer meant that it was extremely wet underfoot, and the insects making the best of the conditions were mosquitoes. I came away with more bites than pictures.
The first two views are of the same large pool, the first beyond the entrance to the reserve. The balsam which is present in the second picture is spreading in much of the site.
The weed covering the surface of the pool in the final picture is something else which seems to have taken advantage of this year’s conditions.