I went down to my local park yesterday

expecting my usual Mallards and

Canadian geese. But I also found

a pair of Gadwall.

And a pair of American Wigeon

I also went back to the shrubs for some more

wasps and bees.

The insect in the shots below
appears to be a Hover Fly.

"Tiny antennae and flattened abdomen."
Bugs of Alberta

"Hoverflies are harmless to most other animals
despite their mimicry of the black and yellow
stripes of wasps, which serves to ward off predators."

Wikipedia

The larva eat aphids and other pests so they are
used as a biocontrol.

"The insect world appealed to Fabre.

I find the insect world macabre.

In every hill of ants I see

A governed glimpse of what shall be"

                                     Creeps and Crawls                                 

               Ogen Nash

I went down to the park on Tuesday and there they

were finally, insects, a selection of bees and wasps.

Despite having most of  the books of J.H. Fabre and

Edwin Way Teale and spending part of my youth

with a jam jar ( catch and release only )

I am still not great with names, I am still looking

through Sibley for the tree as well. (hints welcome)

The first is a small bee or small wasp.

The next two photos are of a Western Yellow Jacket?

I have always just called these Bumble Bees

"Dear insects, my study of you has sustained

me and continues to sustain me in my heaviest

trials; I must take leave of you for to-day.

The ranks are thinning around me and the

long hopes have fled. Shall I be able to speak

of you again ? "

Bramble-Bees & Others

                        J.H. Fabre

The footnote mentions that after this passage

he wrote another seven volumes on insects.