Quick! Somebody find him a blue flower with red thorns!

I lose track of who I've told this, but one appeared on the family dinghy in Cornwall when I was 8 or so and I was convinced it was a madagascan Giraffe Weevil brought in on a cargo ship! One of my favourite insects as a kid. I suppose the Giraffe Weevil is just one of these with extensions.

Sepedon sphegea live around still water bodies, where they breed on aquatic 🐌 🐌. The adults usually feed on dead insects and perch on reeds, irises, sedges etc having you swearing at the autofocus. This one went straight for my pasty crumb then climbed up my trouser leg like some street kitten!

Very handsome though!

Actually smaller than I was expecting 😅. Took me a second to realise what it was.

I coaxed an ichneumonid off the conservatory window onto my hand today by offering her a wetted finger and she started drinking off it 🥰

I slipped up! Falcons are not hawks of course.

Yes 'heron hawking' was a sport. There are several historic illustrations of it, including this painting by Edward Landseer at Kenwood House. Apparently sometimes a heron managed to injure the hawk with its beak.

Local bumblebees: hungry

I found one randomly on the streets of Worcester as an undergrad, presumably from an older person's well-worn wallet.

Really cheery flowers and I love listening to the Bees 'sonicate' in them to gather the pollen.