Most of the year the long straggly patch between two local fields on one of our walks is a bit nondescript and weedy. We bemoan the poor state of the hedge. But at this time of year comes a profusion of thistles into flower, some quite beautiful.

Look closely, and you see tiny insects on the leaves and flowers, with body length of just a few mm.

Looking further, there are tiny insects everywhere, black, yellow, green/brown…

I haven’t managed to identify these yet, even whether they are flies or beetles. Of course, there were also plenty of bumblebees incessantly probing the flowers, and several sorts of butterfly, but that’s another story. Nature is prolific at the time of flowering!

My Panasonic TZ200 superzoom is very versatile, but such small creatures present an enormous challenge!