Arty Bee

This bee paused for a breather on my brick path, and was good enough to stick around for a few photos. I assume it’s a mining bee of some sort, though I’m not going to try to identify exactly which one. This is about the extent of what a plain iPhone 6 can manage for close-up work.

Mining Bee On Path

Wasp nest building

Time to emerge from winter hibernation, somewhat belatedly, as it’s already been a warm, dry spring in the UK, hitting 25c at one point and doing a passable impression of summer.

This is the most exciting time of the year for nature lovers, at least in my opinion, as new life bursts all around. Also, I find myself spending a lot of time in the garden, and so I’m well placed to notice what’s going on outside.

  • A wasp started building a nest on the ceiling of my shed, which was fascinating to watch, but realistically couldn’t be allowed to continue as I use the shed a lot. You can see it pictured above, with the beginnings of the central set of hexagonal cells handing from the centre of the outer shell.
  • Plenty of butterflies are about, with the bright yellow/green Brimstones being particularly noticeable.
  • Ants never seem to let up. How can there be about 3 nests (all different colours and sizes) per square metre in my garden! Do they all survive the winter or have they grown up from nothing in just a very short time? A little reading suggests they just go deeper underground below the frost line.
  • Jays and Magpies are everywhere and very noticeable. Just that time of year.