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| This month's images - May 2018 |
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 Six mute swan cygnets on the canal at Linslade, 21 May 2018. |
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 It looks like a furry bee at first glance, but it's not - it's a fly - the antennae are too short and the eyes too big for a bee. It is a hoverfly (Merodon equestris) in a garden in Rotshchild Road, Linslade, 21 May 2018. |
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 Banded demoiselles attempting to mate, Tiddenfoot WP, 20 May 2018. |
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 Cardinal beetle at Tiddenfoot WP, 20 May 2018. |
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 Hedgehog in our garden, Alwins Field, 18 May 2018, choosing to eat dried mealworms in preference to the special hedgehog food. |
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 One of the many varieties of harlequin ladybird in close-up. This one was in Linslade Woods on 18 May 2018. |
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 A female ichneumon wasp in Linslade Woods on 18 May 2018. The long black pointy thing at the back end is not a stinger, it is an ovipositor - it drills into wood and lays eggs into a beetle larva if it can find one. Its body was about 25mm long, and the ovipositor the same. |
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 Grey heron fishing in the old Stockgrove lake at Rushmere CP. It seems to be a young bird. 15 May 2018. |
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 Herb bennet (wood avens) in flower in Linslade woods, 13 May 2018. |
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 A crucifer shield bug on Jack-by-the-hedge in Linslade Woods on 13 May 2018. |
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 A hairy shieldbug in Linslade Woods, 13 May 2018. |
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 This young downy emerald dragonfly landed on my hat at Sandhouse Lane NR, 9 May 2018. It is a male and as it matures its eyes and most of the rest of it will become green. |
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 One of many four-spotted chaser dragonflies at Sandhouse Lane NR on 9 May 2018. |
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 A large red damselfly at Sandhouse Lane NR on 9 May 2018. |
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 One of a pair of carrion crows that terrorise all the other birds in our garden (except for the ducks), Alwins Field, 8 May 2018. (He's rather handsome with his raised crest.) |
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 A juvenile robin (no red breast feathers yet) waiting to be fed in our garden, Alwins Field, 8 May 2018. (Look out for the crow!) |
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 A common tern patrolling the canal at Grove Church, 6 May 2018. |
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 A grey wagtail near Grove Church, Leighton Buzzard, 6 May 2018. |
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 A honey bee worker on green alkanet in the churchyard at All Saints, Leighton Buzzard, 5 May 2018. Honey bees have had a hard winter and many colonies have died. |
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 A holly blue butterfly, All Saints LB, 5 May 2018. The upperside is quite blue, but the underside of the wings are greyish and it looks like a grey butterfly on the wing. |
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 A buff-tailed bumblebee queen in Linslade Woods, 4 May 2018. |
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 A large white butterfly in Linslade Woods, 4 May 2018. |
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 Plenty of bluebells in Linslade Woods now - 3 May 2018. |
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 A nomad bee in Linslade Woods, 3 May 2018. These bees are like cuckoos - they lay their eggs in other bees' nests. |
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 One of the treats of Spring - an orange-tip butterfly. Linslade Woods, 3 May 2018. |
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 A flower bee about to alight on ground ivy. Alwins Field, 1 May 2018. |
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 One of the robins nesting nearby about to take another seed from the feeder in our garden, Alwins Field, 1 May 2018. The fledglings (hidden around the garden) need feeding all the time. |
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 Mrs Blackbird on our garden fence, Alwins Field, 1 May 2018. She's the one with the scraggy tail and we guess that it's the same bird that we saw here last year. |
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