A host of yellow flag irises on a pond
The ox-eye daisies have been very good for all sorts of insects. Here is a shot of a mining bee, possibly one of the Andrena genus, but there are lots of similar species and I'm no expert. Some are relatively common, but they are quite small and often get overlooked. The bees are solitary, with the females making a nest underground and raising a few young They dig a burrow in bare,dry soil - my dad once had one set up home in a pot of cacti in his greenhouse.
Here is a bumblebee coming into land on a Heuchera flower in my garden and below the same species on an Astrantia. I think it is the early bumblebee Bombus pratorum, which have short lived colonies, lasting only 3 months or so, before the old queen dies and the new queen goes off to found a second colony.
