Another short walk this morning and very windy one, as the remnants of Hurricane Helene passed overhead, with gusts up to 48mph.
It was a quick walk, but fortunately all the highlights were on the Ivy flowers at the Observation Area at Rufus Castle
The best of the bunch were the Ivy Bees (Colletes hederae) battling the wind to get to the flowers. Also in amongst them were Honey Bees (Apis mellifera), Tree Bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum), Small Garden Bumblebee (Bombus hortorum), Common Wasps (Vespula vulgaris), Common Drone Flies (Eristalis tenax), Tapered Drone Flies (Eristalis pertinax), a Hornet Mimic Hoverfly (Volucella zonaria) and a Syrphus sp. hoverfly.
Here are a few images:
Stormy waters towards the south.
I'm afraid this is going to be a bit repetitive with all these photos of Ivy Bees.
It won't be forever as these are true Autumnal Bees and will all be gone by November.....
.........and returning next September.
One of our largest hoverflies.......
........the Hornet Mimic Hoverfly.