Wasps, who’d ‘ave ‘em? Er me actually…For me there’s too
much hysteria connected with them (worse than the ‘Yuk, snakes are slimy I
don’t want to hold it’ misconception) because they are organised, striking,
brave, loyal and hard working and there are more than just the ones that take a
likely to your sugary pop on a summer day…solitary wasps for instance.
I guess most people who have swung by this blog (thank you
by the way) will have seen a wasp or indeed a bee nest, but I wonder how many
have seen a hornet nest? Not as many I suspect.
I live near Amwell lakes which is sandwiched between the river lea and river ash and is fairly well known for its smew and bittern visitors and there’s a prominent hide to the rear of the main lake which is reached by a long boarded path that ultimately runs between the lake and the afore mentioned River Ash (where I’ve seen Fergal Sharkey fishing but that’s another story) and there’s an old tree stump the other side of the wooden railings that hornets have made their nest in.
We went for a family bimble the other day and after a quick visit to a hide over the far side of the lake headed back and I noticed not one but two hornets flying towards the stump, I've only seen single hornets so two grabbed my attention. It was a moment or two before I noticed a couple more hornets at rest...and then realised that it was actually a nest...and then saw the prominent sign advising that it was there...that we'd managed to walk past first time!
I'd managed to forget my camera and of course fate had meant that I needed it on this occasion but I decided that this was worth another visit with it so I returned minus the family the next day. It was a rather cool and misty day and there were only a few hornets to be seen, both flying a resting so I stood a reasonable distance away to see if they accepted me standing there...they did and I watched for some time whilst taking pictures. The noise of them flying past your head sounds like a whooshing light sabre.
I decided to try taking a little movie footage on my camera and luckily they started to come out of the nest in some numbers when I did. Once I'd got the shots I wanted I decided to make my way home. It was well worth the return trip as they are magnificent.
Video footage of the hornets
