Summer buzz is now giving way to autumn

STILL A FEW BEAUTIFUL POLLINATORS TO SEE AS INSECT SEASON DRAWS TO CLOSE

- ALAN WRIGHT

WHEN you work in the wildlife sector you tend to spend your holidays doing "wildlifey" things - a busman's holiday.

I spent my two weeks off at home, often sitting on our bench in the garden watching the birds and insects twittering and buzzing around our plants and the big tree.

One day I spent an hour trying to identify our most common hoverfly, the deliciously named marmalade fly. I found one, then two on various flowers around the lawn.

It is so exciting that we have these beautiful pollinating insects, orange with black bands around their body, helping our garden to grow.

Most of the bees, wasps and hoverflies are great pollinators as they search for nectar.

Their larvae prey on aphids, a practice welcomed by gardeners.

Hoverflies are the little fellows who cause absolute panic when they hover in front of you, causing absolute terror in some softies, even though they are perfectly harmless.

Wasps are best avoided in late summer, as they are basically bored after finishing their summer's work and are looking for trouble.