A walk round the pond - Week 13

Every time I arrive at the pond the heron takes one look at me and flies off.  This time it was reluctant to leave, perhaps because it was busy eating frogs or frogspawn on the far bank.

The swans are back to four, one adult and three youngsters, so the new arrival from last week has been seen off.  Here the adult is walking from the smaller to the larger pond.

At first I could see only one Canada goose and I was half hoping the fox had had another good dinner.

Then I spotted Mrs CG on the island, already incubating a clutch of eggs.

This was time to do my first bumblebee walk of the year for the Bumblebee Conservation Trust.  I saw only three bees, all buff-tailed bumblebee queens (Bombus terrestris).  This one was searching for a nest hole.

I saw several peacock butterflies but they were all rather frantic and I didn't manage a decent photo.  I also saw the first bee fly (Bombylius major) of the year.  It mimics a bee but is a parasitic fly, targeting solitary bees and wasps.