Flatford RSPB Wildlife Garden - Birds and Bees (and Biodiversity)

Flatford, on the River Stour

We visited Flatford at the weekend, with its RSPB Wildlife Garden and NT tearoom - not forgetting all the buildings and scenes that are linked to Constable, of course.

We saw these rather attractive bee bungalows ...

... which, as you can see, had already been put ot good use by masonry bees, and had therefore been withdrawn from sale.

It was rather grey, but mild enough (at last) for numerous insects to emerge. I think the butterfly below is a Green-veined White.

It was a joy to see my first damselflies of 2016 ...

They were hiding in the umbelliferous foliage by the riverbank. 

It is always a particular delight to see a Demoiselle - female Banded Demoiselle, in this case.

I have been waiting patiently for my first caterpillar sighting of the year - and here it is, the impressive Drinker-moth larva ...

I saw a couple of Ladybirds mating (for another post, perhaps), and these creatures below ...

It was also the day on which a huge number of Mayfly larvae had hatched, so the short-lived adults were busy leaping up and down in the air and 'making hay' while the sun shone over their short adult lives. 

We kept an eye out for other creatures. There was a nest of Blue tits, but it seemed very much to be the day of the insects. Oh, and I mustn't forget this creature, lurking in the border ...

The photo below shows Willy Lott's cottage and the iconic bridge. It also shows people (like us!) enjoying scones and cream and coffee cake by the Stour.

The wildflowers were magnificent and doubtless a key factor in the biodiversity we observed during the course of a casual afternoon. We also heard our first Cuckoo of the season.

And don't forget, it will be National Insect Week in a month's time ...