Flash bang wallop

The Safari enjoyed a warm evening of Brownies, Garden Snails, Ladybirds including a 14-Spot Ladybird and Pill-bugs. As they were being dropped off by their parents we saw the light was shining on the pond lighting up one of the Water Lily flowers just nicely. Maybe a bit too nicely for the phone cam to capture - really must work out how to use the white balance on it properly.

All manner of Black Ants, Red Tailed Bumble Bees, Tree Bees, Damselfly nymphs, Greater Pond snails, Ramshorn Snails and 3-spined Sticklebacks were either potted or netted and thoroughly inspected.

Best find of the night was as we were finishing off. The Brownies had dispersed to the playground and we'd put away most of the gear when a Brimstone moth flew past - crikey they can't half go no chance of running after it and catching it up, had us well beat. A very common moth but a real rarity at work - actually it might not be as we're not there at that time of night all that often.

This morning we put an app on our phone for recording bumble bees - so easy to use don't even have to ID the trickier ones down to species level but it's still a great addition to citizen science and getting anyone with a smartphone involved.

We gave it a try round the work's garden and came up with a good tally of most of the main groups apart from Common Carder Bees, loads at Base Camp but not so many at work this year.

Several clusters of plants were festooned with bees, notably the Hebe bushes, our wild garden with its Borage and Perennial Cornflowers and the Meadow Cranesbills at the end of the raised beds.

Here's an Early Bumble Bee on the Meadow Cranesbills.

The warm morning gave way to heavy showers and at lunchtime we got out to Patch 2 to see precious little. A few Gannets were circling around in the distance doing not very much. The showers got heavier and more prolonged and the skies grew darker.

This black menace chased us all the way down the prom before it unleashed a couple of bolts of lightning but sadly not as many as we had hoped for.

Where to next? Last week's Brownies are back again tomorrow evening this time they're on the beach investigating the rockpools.

In the meantime let us know where Thor's hammer is being flung about with gay abandon in your outback.