Photos from a walk on September 10th from Buscot and Lechlade

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I’m injured again, so I sent the group off with a map, and hobbled down to Buscot Lock and also drove over to Lechlade.

 

So, first, Halfpenny Bridge at Letchlade.  Built 1792 and called the Halfpenny bridge because that was the toll charged for pedestrians to cross it, until the toll was done away with in 1839. (Toll house photo in the gallery)

 

At Buscot, just off the A417, is a field of sunflowers, presumably grown for the seeds

 

However a few flowers could be found

 

And even some buds, looking more like brussel sprouts

 

A ditch in the Riverside, Lechlade

 

Back in Buscot there was a Hairy Shieldbug sitting on a Teasel

 

I guess this is the view it might have had looking straight down on the teasel head

 

The river banks are covered with Himalayan Balsam. Via human introduction it is now present across much of the Northern Hemisphere and is considered an invasive species. One common name is kiss-me-on-the-mountain which refers to the plant’s native Himalayan mountains. The flower shape has been compared to a policeman’s helmet. Maybe.

 

Down by Buscot Lock there was a patch of ivy buzzing with activity – bees (2 sorts), bumble bees, wasps (x2), flies (x3) and a ladybird. Full collection in the gallery. One creature I did not recognise, and discovered afterwards that Nigel had been out specifically looking for them. Turns out they are Ivy Cellophane Bees (Colletes hederae), a solitary ground-nesting insect that times its late-summer and autumn emergence to coincide exclusively with flowering ivy. It is is a new arrival to the UK, first recorded in 2001. They are solitary bees, but when conditions are suitable, there may be thousands of nests in the same area. These are males – the females have not yet emerged. Watch out for them over the next few week.

 

 

 

 

These bees are in the same family as the early cellophane bee (Colletes cunicularius) which we saw at Center Parcs at the end of March.

 

 

Flying sheep?

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