Saturday forecasted stunningly lovely, Mrs PB at work, and me with a necessary trip into town equalled only one thing....a quick wander along my old stomping ground!
Greeted by a bee with a white tail... a White Tailed Bee?
The clarity of the water along this stretch of river is fabulous....
Across the river, high up a tree a small group of Long Tailed Tits were going about the chirruping business
On a tree this side of the river, a strange bulbous growth approximately 2 inches in diameter, if not larger... presumably some wasp or bee created it
I saw a lot of Banded Demoiselle about, of differing shades, depending on where the sun was!
There were a few Black Headed Gulls milling about, in full summer gear at last
A shadowy movement caught my eye on the far bank... Grey Wagtail... looks a bit "fluffy", so could be juvenile
The glorious tones of a Blackbird atop a tree rang out
Not just male, but female Banded Demoiselle were out in number
A Buzzard lumbered by overhead
Soaring high, before being harassed by a couple of gulls, and coming lower again
I don't always look into the flower heads, but this time I did, and spotted something slightly reminiscent of a hand grenade!!
A solo Swallow was briefly darting about over the pond a short distance from the river
Another female Banded Demoiselle
And a little way away, a Million Spot Ladybird
And (possibly) a Dark Bush Cricket
A couple of iffy damsels now.... male White Legged, or Common Blue
Followed by female Azure or Variable
A Gold Hairy Bummed Fly
Cygnets.... 9 two years ago, I think, followed by 8, and now 6... not sure if it's the same parents, but same stretch of river
Looks similar to the Soldier Beetle the other week, but different habitat entirely, so maybe not
I'd seen a couple of Kingfishers whizzing by "peeping" as they went, and one fortunately enough landed just over the river from me, for about 10 seconds
Just below the Kingie, 4 Grey Wagtails loitered, I couldn't decide on 4 juveniles, or a combination of juveniles and parents, but I've never seen them not hunting, just lounging about!
There'd been a Little Egret, mooching for a while, and he then decided to come a bit closer
It was definitely a Demoiselle kind of day!
On the stalk below the Demoiselle's leaf....a single spot ladybird
A couple of white butterflies finally deigned to appear
And I finally tracked down the intensely irritating non stop singing Chiffchaff!!
And then I realised time had caught me up, and I had a job or two to do, so I did!!
And thus ended an impromptu river meander, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed :o)
Stay Safe All
(Pardon the Scottish Accent)