15/07/2024 Trying to catch up with the second blog this month......

 The maximum temperature in the Charente today is 24⁰C, minimum 16⁰C.  Drizzle this morning but not enough for the garden.  South/West wind of 25km/h with gusts up to 55km/h.

Photos from the beginning of June - so many more still to catch up with,

Bee-Beetle (Trichius fasciatus)...

As above

Love in the Mist (Nigella).

Buff-tailed Bumble Bee (Bombus terrestris).

I think it is a Ichneumonidae but which one,  maybe Pseudoamblyteles homocerus.

Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina)...

As above.

A cricket nymph chomping away at the flowers pretending it is not guilty.

Hover Fly (Eristalis tenax or Eristalis similis) I am not sure.

Hover Fly (Genus Myathropa). 

Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus).

Small False Greenbottle (Neomyia cornicina).

Soldier Beetle (Rhagonycha fulva) with Varied Carpet Beetles (Anthrenus verbasci).

Christmas cactus flowering in June! 

Lavendar.

Wildflower - Pink Sorrel (Oxalis articulata).

A wide-angle shot of the garden proving that there really is still a sun up there!!

Eurasian Jay (Garrulus glandarius).

Caterpillar of the Hummingbird hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum) .

Broad-bordered Bee Hawk-Moth (Hemaris fuciformis)...

As above...

As above...

As above...

As above,  I am making up for lost time as I do not often see the Bee Hawk-moth!

Have a good week everyone I will be back with the rest of June sometime this year!!

Any ideas or changes in ID please let me know.

01/07/2024 Oh dear I am not keeping up, another month has gone by!

 The maximum temperature in the Charente today is 22⁰C, minimum 11⁰C.  Rain is forecast but no sign of it yet!  North/West wind of 14km/h with gusts up to 33km/h.  

Just a few random photos from around the house and garden and this is only May!!

Brimstone moth (Opisthograptis luteolata).

Caterpillar Lackey moth (Malacosoma neustria)...

As above.

Robber fly probably (Empis tessellata).

Garden Weevil (Phlyctinus callosus).

Shield Bug (Graphosoma-Italicum).

Bee-Beetle (Trichius fasciatus).

Greenfinch (Chloris chloris).

As above.

Leopard Slug (Limax maximus).

Hornet Mimic Hover Fly (Volucella zonaria).

As above with a tiny carpet beetle.

Varied Carpet Beetle (Anthrenus verbasci).

Spotted Cranefly (Nephrotoma appendiculata).

A Holly Blue looking a little bedraggled. ((Celastrina argiolus).

Early Bumble Bee (Bombus pratorum).

Western honey bee or European honey bee (Apis mellifera).

Dotted Fruit Chafers (Subgenus Oxythyrea).

Shield Bug (Graphosoma-Italicum).

Fly Genus (Chloromyia).

Froghopper, (family Cercopidae).

Green shield bug (Palomena prasina).

Hover Fly (Eristalis tenax / Eristalis similis).

Varied Carpet Beetle (Anthrenus verbasci).

Western honey bee or European honey bee (Apis mellifera).

Nymph of a great green bush cricket (Tettigonia viridissima).

Bee Orchid (Ophrys apifera).

As above with a pollen sac.

Scabious flower with one of the Furrow Bees.

Six-spot Burnet (Zygaena filipendulae).

European common blue (Polyommatus icarus).

Dotted Fruit Chafers (Subgenus Oxythyrea).

Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina).

As above.

Lizard Orchid (Himantoglossum hircinum).

Poppies seen while out for a drive,

The Pyramidal Orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis).

Tongue Orchid (Serapias lingua).

Bee Orchid (Ophrys apifera).

Woodcock orchid (Ophrys scolopax).

I will try to visit you all soon but so much going on here and spare time is at a minimum.  You are not forgotten.