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HOVERFLIES are the most abundant insects visiting the marigolds and Scarlet Runner Beans on the patio.  The beans are worth growing. We are getting a good crop from a plant pot no bigger than a bucket, in fact the plants on the patio are doing better than those in the garden. Probably this is because they get watered more often, they get the warmth of the brick wall and shelter from the wind. The peat free compost in the pot must be warmer than the garden soil.Beans are sell for a pound a bunch at the supermarket, but they're not as fresh as the ones you can pick as you walk out the back door.
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A large amber dragonfly, probably the Brown Hawker or Large Aeshna, Aeshna grandis, zooms purposefully over the pond, across the lawn, the patio and the hedge. We've seen it (assuming it's the same individual) patrol this beat before, at a similar time of day, around lunch time.
A goat feeds in a woodland edge clearing that is gradually taking shape as a garden. A great deal of effort with a lawn mower, the nibbling of a couple of rabbits and now the caprious efforts of the goat, are keeping the woodland at bay.
A small- to medium-sized bat appreciates the clearing. It circles close to the surrounding willows.