Hoverfly - August 2019

It was a bit of a drab grey day for my photo shoot in dad's garden this week, with a lack of both bird and insect activity. So, I decided to initially concentrate on the Fly (Diptera) family.

I don't often repeat subjects on consecutive weeks, but I was too fond of this Hoverfly (Syrphidae) shot not to make it my favourite for the week. I especially like the stripy eyes.

Greenbottle - August 2019

As one fly left, another one arrived, with this Greenbottle (Lucilia caesar) enjoying the Ragwort (Senecio) blooms just as much as the Hoverflies.

Small Fly - August 2019

Next I found this small Fly resting on a green leaf. I was particularly intrigued by the orange / yellow flecks along the back of the Fly, but have unfortunately failed to identify the species.

Gatekeeper - August 2019

The Gatekeeper Butterflies (Pyronia tithonus) had been abundant in the garden last week, but there were few of them around this week. I had been hoping to see a Painted Lady Butterfly (Vanessa cardui), as they had been reported to be visiting the UK in their millions this week, but, alas, none were seen.

Dianthus - August 2019

Moving onto new flowers this week, and first up were these unusual looking Carnations (Dianthus chinensis var heddewigii). They are of variety 'Black and White Minstrels', and are obviously supposed to be black and white, but I see more purple than black.

Spikes - August 2019

It was nice to see the Coneflowers (Echinacea) return, although most of them had bites out of their petals, so were obviously making a tasty treat for something.

Gladiola - August 2019

I always find it hard to photograph Gladiolus blooms, especially when they're red, and this specimen was no different!

Purple Bracts - August 2019

This Mophead Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla) piqued my interest, as the bush usually has red bracts, and this year it has returned with purple ones. I know they change their colour based on the acidity / alkalinity of the soil, but this has been in the garden for decades, and the soil hasn't changed!

Trailing Begonia - August 2019

It was nice to see the trailing Begonia in full bloom. The flowers were enormous when compared to their smaller cousins (below).

Beacon - August 2019

I liked how the centre of this one seemed to glow.

Lupin Blues - August 2019

The Lupins (Lupinus) continued to impress with multiple flower spikes on each plant. My favourite this week was this lovely blue coloured specimen.

Wheat - August 2019

Finally, I came across this. I believe it's a stem of Wheat (Triticum) that has made its way to the garden via some bird seed. It made an interesting subject, whatever it is!

So this week I went with Hoverfly as my Image of the Week simply because I really liked the beast's stripy eyes...