Dock Bug - April 2019

It was a beautiful warm and sunny Easter Sunday morning for my photo shoot in dad's garden this week, and the soaring temperatures had brought out my bug buddies.

This magnificent looking chap is a Dock Bug (Coreus marginatus), which I've only ever seen once before, and that was way back in June 2016.

Hiding Place - April 2019

For this shot, I was initially taking a picture of the beautiful blossom, but upon closer inspection, I noticed that there was a Varied Carpet Beetle (Anthrenus verbasci) sheltering in the centre of the bloom.

Garden Spider - April 2019

The Garden Spiders (Araneus diadematus) were out in force, seemingly all waking up together. They were still only tiny, but were weaving their webs all over the place.

Goldfinch - April 2019

Turning my camera towards the avian population, the Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) were flitting from treetop to treetop, seemingly enjoying the early morning sunshine.

Couple or Crows - April 2019

Crows (Corvid) seemed to be darting everywhere, no doubt looking for mates or nesting materials.

Female Blackbird - April 2019

A female Blackbird (Turdus merula) collected bread from the garden lawn, although wasn't eating it, which led me to believe that she already had the hungry mouths of chicks to feed.

Inquisitive Magpie - April 2019

Meanwhile a Magpie (Pica pica) watched over proceedings from a neighbouring garden.

Pittosporum - April 2019

New flowers to the garden this week included the unusual black blooms of the Pittosporum bush.

Berberis - April 2019

A dark leaved Barberry (Berberis) bush had also burst into bloom to join its green leaved cousin.

Spiraea - April 2019

Similarly, the flower buds of the Vanhoutte Spirea (Spiraea vanhouttei) bush were bursting open like popcorn kernels.

Cherry Tree Hangers - April 2019

The Cherry Tree (Prunus) continued to produce its beautiful pink tinged white blossom, but there weren't many buds left to open unfortunately.

Purple Pansy - April 2019

The Pansies (Viola tricolor) had returned, the majority of them being this dark purple colouration.

Erigeron Return - April 2019

Also returning were the daisy like blooms of the Erigeron (Erigeron karvinskianus), which only just seems to have ceased flowering!

So this week I'm going with Dock Bug as my Image of the Week, simply because I was excited to see one again after such a long time...