Sparrows with orange heads

..weve had fewer butterflies but masses of moths in the evening..lots of bees..fewer ladybirds..LOTS of slugs/snails

Yes, plenty of bees! I have some resident wild honey bees in an old porch which seem to be doing really well this year. Interestingly they don't appear to stay in my flowery garden, which they leave to the various types of bumble bee, but fly off purposefully into the distance..

There are lots of bees though

That is sad if there are fewer insects.

I wondered about a shortage of insects too, vq, as we have far fewer martins & swallows about this year, plus veritable queues of birds at the feeders. Plenty of horrid horse flies though, sadly...

I don't have New Zealand flax but my sparrows have gone a bit insane this summer. They're eating so much compared to previous years and staying at the feeding station much longer than they used to. Usually they eat insects at this time of year so I wonder if there is a shortage of live food and they're having to eat other things instead. Perhaps the New Zealand flax has a particularly sweet nectar.