One of the West Park magpies in a patch of long grass near the Conservatory. The greylag goslings, recently hatched and still tiny when these pictures were taken, were in the same patch of long grass being guarded by three adults.
I had my suspicions that the magpie was after bigger prey than insects hidden in the grass. So did the adult geese, who made sure the magpie never got too close to the young ones.
The first two pictures are of a bee which helpfully rested on a leaf, in clear view. I’m fairly sure it was a chocolate mining bee. The second one was busy flying from flower to flower. The whole time it was either flying fast and unpredictably, or half-hidden behind vegetation.
I think it was the same species; possibly the same individual.
A mass of white blossom on a flowering cherry at Bantock Park, hanging from branches arching over the path by the small pond.
Small flies warming themselves in the sun as they rested on leaves. There’s more than one species represented here.
The wildflower meadow area of Bantock Park doesn’t seem to me to have as diverse a range of wildflowers as it did a few years ago. But one species which is hanging on is cowslips.
A long-tailed tit, one of two or three which were flitting about high in one of the trees overhanging the lake in West Park. The tit seemed to be busy pecking at the lichen which was growing thickly on the branches of the tree. Perhaps it was gathering some. Moss and lichen are important building materials for long-tailed tit nests.