No Newcomers

I've seen and recorded all these visitors before but thought they deserved a mention.

I like shield bugs. Pretty sure this is a common green shield bug, in its winter guise. As usual the British Bugs site is an excellent reference, with fabulous photos, but doesn't always help me get the right id because it's tricky.

When it flew its abdomen was revealed and was a really bright red, you can just see it peeping out under its wings above - I couldn't get a capture, so here's another pose instead.

Our compost bin was engulfed by these black flies on Sunday. It was warm and the black bin was definitely more popular than the green one so these tiny flies - I think they're fungus gnats (but a bit unsure because of the white marks and not-great photos!) - must have been drawn to the heat.

And here are a couple of pics of a bright line brown eye moth caterpillar as spotted a couple of weeks ago. It's pretty, so I thought I'd post this close-up shot of its little feet clinging onto my finger.