Italy

During Whitsun half-term I went on a school trip to Rome, Florence and Sienna. It was extremely busy and hot, but I managed to take a few photos.

All the gulls in Rome were Yellow-legged Gulls, bigger and meaner than the Herring Gull.

Hooded Crow from near the Coluseum.

High, hazy cloud generating a halo rainbow around the sun.

Italian Sparrow which was a lifetime first.

Awful photo of a Pallid Swift, another lifetime first.

The skies over the Italian cities were crowded with swifts. This contrasted strongly with the UK, where fewer have returned than I can remember.

Next to the Coluseum was a small patch of flower covered waste ground. I had a chance to have a good look while waiting for our booked entry time.

A pollen dusted bee on Common Mallow, Malva sylvestris.

Southern Small White, Artogeia mannii

A pollen covered beetle

Small Copper, a familiar species from the UK.

Another Southern Small White, Artogeia mannii. I also saw Eastern Bath White, Pontia edusa, and Eastern Dappled White Euchloe ausonia. All three were new species to me.

A female Mammoth Wasp, Megascolia maculata, which I saw investigating a tree stump looking for the larvae of  the European rhinoceros beetle. Oryctes nasicornis, which it uses as a host for its own larva.