A nice weekend saw Mrs WJ & I down on the Alley, with some of the regular residents keeping us amused. For fun, I experimented with the slo-mo video, whilst Mrs WJ stuck to the more traditional images.
Beewolves were quite active, with this little lady providing semaphore based air traffic control
Cleared for landing, the Beewolf circling overhead dropped in
Those already at home sat guarding their burrows
hunkering down well to avoid the breeze
Jewel wasps were searching for unattended burrows
and the Green Eyed Flower Bees were whizzing around as always, especially the males like this one
Pantaloon Bees were starting their burrows
They have a lot to learn from the Beewolves though
Yes, she did fill the lens!
Grasshoppers
and strange Squashbugs
were scurrying around, but the final word is from the Beewolves again, showing the polite way to apologise for trying to enter the wrong burrow
More of the regular inhabitants have appeared - the Fly Stabbing Oxybelus Uniglumis was spotted by Mrs WJ
Along with this rather horrible looking Robber Fly
Mysterious shieldbugs sat on the path
and tiny little burrow watching flies flitted about
A new species (for us) has appeared - this little red & black wasp is taking grasshoppers (Tachysphex pompiliformis I believe)
and of course the Beewolves are still bringing back their prey
Finally, a couple of video clips - a Beewolf digging its burrow, interesting to see their scoop-a-handful and flick-behind method
and compare it to the Pantaloon Bee