Bee Identification

Not at all easy I find but I had a go today when I found separately two dead bees in the garden. I am pretty sure one is a social bumblebee and one a cuckoo bumblebee but I don't feel confident I have nailed down the species in either case. I think the social bumblebee (on the left above) is either Bombus pratorum or Bombus terrestris. The cuckoo bumblebee (so named because they steal the nests and worker bees of social bumblebees)looks like it is either Bombus bohemicus or Bombus vestalis. Thanks to Mike Edwards and Martin Jenner who wrote the Field Guide to Bumblebees used to try and ID these bees

Ducklings expected

There is plenty of mallard activity including at least two pairs around the moat. The social life of mallards is complex so I am not always up to speed with the situation and sometimes the ducklings arrival is unexpected. Today two males were sleeping on the lawn. I am not sure whether they are two expectant fathers killing time whilst their mates are on the nest or just two stray males hanging out. In any case I am hopeful of some ducklings , if not this month then early in May.

Sticklebacks

I saw some sticklebacks in the moat yesterday. Hopefully the kingfisher will also spot them and go back to the daily visits that are so good to watch. My last sighting of a kingfisher was last September so we are overdue a visit.

Spring is here (part 2)

I saw the first Brimstone butterfly of the season yesterday - another sign for me that spring has arrived. The Brimstone is the only butterfly of the twenty species that I have recorded on the site that I have never managed to photograph. They are strong flyers and always seem to be passing through rather than fluttering around.

Spring is here

The frogs are spawning and making their usual noise about it. I suspect the mallards eat the frogspawn - there were certainly a pair of mallards close to the spawnfest anyway.

Garden Birdwatch 2011

I was away during the RSPB birdwatch so I did mine a few days late, just so I had a comparison year-on-year. It was a surprising set of birds missing the almost everpresent moorhens that we see all the time and also missing a number of common and regular birds such as sparrows, chaffinches and blue tits. However I did see most of these later in the day so I think it was just a matter of the specific timing. The last three years have seen increasing numbers of species each year - from 11 to 14 to 16 species last year. This time there were 10 species and that included mallards who have been on the moat in numbers recently - six were seen on the birdwatch.

New Species - Common Snipe

It's always good to record a new bird species on site although it's much better if I actually spot the bird. This report comes from a reliable source however. During the cold snap when almost every bit of water locally was frozen, a couple of snipe were seen in the stream. Next time I hope I get the nod as well so I can take a photograph.