Tag: Early Bumblebee

Posted in Allotment, nature

‘March’ing into Spring

Posted on by BITM

As with the first of March, this week ended with sunshine; although there have been moments of heavy rain as well. Meteorological Spring has begun and things are certainly waking up in the gardens. My Scilla have started to bloom and the Anemone blanda are looking magestic too.

Scilla
Anemone blanda

Wild flowers are starting to grow now as well; particularly Hairy bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta) and Common chickweed (Stellaria media).

When the sun was out, I noticed bees foraging. I have seen an Early bumblebee (Bombus pratorum) and a few Buff-tailed bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) visiting flowers. Early bumblebees are one of the smallest in the uk and emerge from hibernation in March, before many other species are seen.

A Bombus terrestris visiting a
Spring crocus (Crocus vernus)

I managed to spend Saturday at the allotment. It’s only the second week on a new plot. After an initial viewing the previous Saturday, my partner and I spent five productive hours this weekend; pruning the apple tree, removing grass from the weedsheet covered beds and sorting the compost bins. No Robins (Erithacus rubecula) visited as earth was disturbed but we did have some friendly Jackdaws (Corvus monedula).

Our allotment helpers

I also treated myself, and pollinators, to a Fuji cherry (Prunus incisa) ‘Kojo-no-mai’. It is the only thing flowering on the allotment at the moment (until we start growing cut flowers, fruit, herbs and vegetables) so it looked wonderful blooming in the sun.

Posted in nature

Working with Insects can be Frustrating

Posted on by BITM

More colour is showing up along the road as the purple of the Common mallow (Malva sylvestris) blooms amongst Common Poppies (Papaver rhoeas) and Ox-eye daisies (Leucanthemum vulgare); a lovely sight as I travel on the bus.

Another plant that is flowering on the verges and lawns now is White Clover (Trifolium repens).

I first saw it on Monday, at the bus stop, as I listened to a Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis).

The Goldfinch can just be heard singing above the drone of the traffic.

A group of Goldfinches is a ‘Charm’ from the old English word c’irm, referring to their singing.

Last monday was the day for noticing Goldfinch as later in the morning I watched a couple of Goldfinch on a nest in a Buddleia (Buddleja davidii).

They weren’t the only birds I noticed that day. In the afternoon a Robin (Erithacus rubecula) kept me company as I weeded. It was quite fearless, frequently getting close to me to collect food as I worked.

I noticed some Scarlet Pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis) flowering too. Other common names for it include Poor man’s Barometer or Shepherd’s clock because the flowers open in sunny weather and close when it is dull.

As it was a a warm sunny day lots of bees were out. On the Catmint (Nepeta) there were Early Bumblebees (Bombus pratorum), White-tailed Bumblebees (Bombus lucorum), Tree Bumblebees (Bombus hypnorum) and Honey Bees (Apis mellifera).

A White-tailed bumblebee busy working.

As the week went on I continued to notice a greater variety of bees visiting the garden;

– Tree Bumblebees, Early Bumblebees, White-tailed Bumblebees as well as female Red tailed bumblebees (Bombus lapidarius) on a weigela.

-Early Bumblebees and White-tailed Bumblebees on some Pale Garlic (Allium paniculatum).

This is the best photo I managed to obtain. The saying about not working with children or animals (or in this case insects) came to mind on Tuesday and Wednesday; descent photos were severely lacking midweek.

On Thursday, as I undertook more weeding, I unfortunately disturbed a beautiful White plume moth (Pterophorus pentadactyla) in the border. The caterpillars, which are green and yellow, feed on bindweed so this was a welcome sighting.

Posted in nature

Summer is Nearly Here (plus a belated Mental Health Awareness Week special)

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Mental health awareness week was 13-19th May this year. I didn’t get round to writing a piece for it then; better late than never.

I think it is important to talk about mental health and I am open about my own experiences when the subject is mentioned.

I have dealt with Social anxiety and Seasonal Affective Disorder for a long time, although my mental health has improved over the years. Through medication, Cognitive behavioural therapy, healthy eating, exercise, mindfulness, along with getting outdoors and immersing myself in nature I manage these conditions. I started this blog to help give me focus too.

Thankfully I am at a stage where I can manage these conditions without them causing much disruption to my life. However some days are more difficult to deal with than others, Tuesday started out as one of those days. For some reason my anxiety level was high first thing. After forcing myself to open the curtains I noticed a Great Tit (Parus major) fledgling, with an adult, in the Rowan tree (Sorbus). They were feeding on insects before they flew onto a neighboring Rowan tree. This start to the day reminded me to be in the moment and enabled me to work on my thoughts and face the day ahead.

As the day continued, my anxiety wained. Being outdoors with nature helps.
In the afternoon I noticed a mature male Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula). I was able to identify it as male due to the red shoulder strips (they are yellow in immature males) and lack of yellow stripes on the segments of the abdomen, which the females exhibit. Plus the black legs identifies it as the Large Red Damselfly rather than the Small Red Damselfly (Ceriagrion tenellum) which has brown legs. The differences between a Damselfly and Dragonfly is the latter is larger, has thicker bodies and the wings are outstretched when they are resting. The Large Red Damselfly regularly visits garden ponds. However this one seemed happy on the window sill chomping on the insects in the cobweb.

On Wednesday I saw some
Cut-leaved Crane’s-bill (Geranium dissectum) in the lawn.

Then on Thursday I noticed this Early bumblebee (Bombus pratorum) on a Salvia (Salvia X sylvestris) plant.

Friday was quite muggy and rain was threatening to fall in the morning. However a Small Blood-vein moth (Scopula imitaria) was flying around as I worked.

I also saw some Creeping Cinquefoil (Potentilla reptans) flowering on the verge on my way home.

Astronomically summer starts on the summer solstice (21st June) however today (1st June) is the first day of summer meteorologically, as the calendar months are grouped into seasons (therefore summer is June, July and August). Whichever date you prefer to go with we are certainly experiencing summery temperatures this weekend and I was helping to water the garden. Unfortunately a few insects weren’t happy with the shower they suddenly experienced. One insect was a photo shy Hoverfly. I did capture a few insects though,
– a Tree bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum) resting.

-a White-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lucorum) on Purple toadflax (Linaria purpurea).

– and a Yellow-faced Bell moth (Notocelia cynosbatella).

Posted in nature

Blooms, Bees and Bugs

Posted on by BITM

There were lots of observations last week. As the weather continued to warm up further I saw even more bees and Seven-spot Ladybirds (Coccinella septempunctata).

I also noticed more wildflowers as I walked to work on Tuesday. This relaxed start to the day enabled me to observe;
– White Campion (Silene latifolia).

This flower is great for moths as the flower’s scent is obvious at night.

– Wood Avens (Geum urbanum)

– Cleavers (Galium aparine) with its tiny white flowers.

– Black medick (Medicago lupulina)

– and Annual honesty (Lunaria annua)

During my journey, I also heard a Coal Tit (Periparus ater) singing. Similar to the Great Tit’s (Parus major) song but faster and higher pitched, it is not a bird I hear often.

On Wednesday afternoon I observed lots of insects. Two that were camera shy were a Hawthorn Shield Bug (Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale) and Violet Ground Beetle (Carabus violaceus).

Other sightings which I managed to photograph were;

– Early Bumblebees (Bombus pratorum) on Rosemary
(Rosmarinus officinalis) and on Ajuga reptans ‘Atropurpurea’ (a cultivated variety of Bugle).

The Early Bumblebee is the UK’s smallest Bumblebee.

I also saw Rosemary Beetles (Chrysolina americana) on a few Rosemary plants.

This pest is beautiful when it glistens in the sun. Thankfully the amount I found didn’t warrant drastic intervention. The RHS is undertaking a survey to discover their advancement within the UK (see Royal Horticultural Society) so I uploaded my findings.

I also found an insect on some lavender (Lavandula) that I didn’t recognise.

This terrible photo is due to the constant movement of the plant in the breeze (it was the best one I managed to take). I only include it as a demonstration on the brilliance of the Natural History Museum. Occasionally I have difficulty in identifying my findings and at that point I rely on the Natural History Museum’s identification service. I was clutching at straws that they could see through the blurred image and be able to identify the bug. To my surprise they managed to tell me it was a Cinnamon bug (Corizus hyoscyami). If you ever need help identifying insects then I highly recommend this brilliant service (see Natural History Museum).

I saw yet more bees on Friday, including a Honey bee (Apis mellifera) on a Cornflower (Centaurea cyanus) plant

along with a
Buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) on Welsh poppy (Meconopsis cambrica)

Even yesterday, as I visited Shaw’s Corner (a lovely small National Trust house and garden) I noticed more wildlife;
-Common Bird’s-foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus)

-Red Clover (Trifolium pratense)

– and some wild Bugle (Ajuga Reptans) amongst the grass which had purposely been left long.

Plus I also noticed a Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus) and a Tree bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum) on some Dog rose (Rosa canina)

as well as a Red-headed Cardinal Beetle (Pyrochroa serraticornis) balancing precariously on a blade of grass.