Yellow Ophion (Ophion luteus)

Well there was nobody more surprised than me to find this lovely creature flying around at the start of a very cold April in an area that had been washed away by winter flood waters in Stoneleigh Park. There were just a few nettles coming through the barren ground. At the same time last year I was taking pictures of honey bees on hawthorn flowers in full bloom. This year only the buds are showing now. So here it is, a Yellow Ophion parasitic wasp that should not be flying around usually until July. It flew onto my jacket so I quickly grabbed my camera from my pocket and started shooting. I was so pleased that I could keep it on my hand long enough to take this shot. You can tell it was cold as I had my gloves on even with the sun out.

Canon Ixus115 HS