I was sitting in my garden when a large, wasp-like insect zoomed into view. It dropped into the skimmia and began nectaring on the flowers.
‘Hornet!’ I called out, but trying to be quiet enough not to spook the insect. I captured these images, convinced it was a hornet, the first I had ever seen in my garden.
When I popped a crude phone photo (not the world class images above) onto iNaturalist I began to have second thoughts. The first suggestions were for a species of wasp, the median wasp. That is now the consensus, and so my hornet drought goes on. But it is a beautiful thing.
My house is quite old, built in the 1840s. The path outside our door is known as a ‘twitten’, a Sussex colloquial name for a little footpath. The path is bricked (like many of them are) and always flushes with spring flowers. Lesser celandine and grape hyacinth are two of the species that enjoy the margins.
Does this rose regrowth remind you of a certain American President?
A few holes have appeared in the lawn. I haven’t seen who created these mini-bunkers but I am confident they’re mining bees of some kind.
The red mason bees have been rather slow to appear this year and many of the bamboo slots are still sealed. Some of the bees have been hovering around the entrances, as above.
I took this photo of two – yes, two – collared doves with my macro lens. Macro lenses usually often can act as a telephoto lens because you need space between you and the thing you’re photographing to ensure you don’t spook the subject. The flag isn’t mine, as you may have guessed if you’ve ever met me or read this blog before 😉
The pansies are doing well in the milk churns, a good place to end.
Thanks for reading.
Unlocking Landscapes 
I knew an old man who lived in a cottage on Dartmoor. About this time of the year he’d say “the old hornet will be back tomorrow, just like every year.” And he was right. Precisely to the date, a hornet would fly around his cottage for some time on that exact date. I used to spend a lot of time staying at that cottage, and can confirm that the hornet only ever appeared on that date. Clearly not the same hornet year from year, but dead on the date. I can’t explain it!
I absolutely love that story John! Wow. I wonder if the stranger seasons we now have will have changed the hornet’s arrival time. Thanks so much for sharing.
It baffled me. I do sometimes wonder if the present residents get the visit.