Hornet power

There I was, sitting at the patio table, drinking coffee and gazing into the pond, when something large and yellow streaked past me with a deep, loud buzz. I instinctively flinched, but it wasn't interested in me. Instead, it settled on the fence where it began chewing wood into pulp for its nest.

We have had hornets on the garden for some years now. I named it the Lone Hornet, because I never saw more than one. It has marked out its own distintive hunting territory, down the side path where midges and moths, congregate, then across the lawn to hoover up some hover flies. One year I saw a pair mating by the pond, but I have never found a nest, though there are some old sheds down the bottom, so it could be in there somewhere.

I went indoors for the camera, approached as close as I dared, and took this photograph. What a handsome beast it is!