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solitary bees emerging

The first solitary bee of the year seen the other day, shortly after followed by the first swallow.  The bee is a chestnut and black bee, quite possibly Andrena clarkella.  There are over 50 species of Andrena in the UK, so this one genus of solitary bee has more than twice the number of species than there are bumblebees in the UK! Check out the photo gallery at the Bees, Wasps and Ants Recording Society.  Identification to species generally requires confirmation under a microscope, but many solitaries - easily overlooked - are decidedly 'cute' and worth keeping an eye out for.  It is still around today but continues to be unapproachable, unlike the year's first red mason bee Osmia rufa which was at winter heather.  This is the same day as the first last year (2nd Saturday in April).  There has been a bee fly Bombylius major around too - this parasitises solitary bees.  Life's rich tapestry!

 

There have been a couple of common carder bees out too (Bombus pascuorum) but still slow going for bumblebees. There were nest-searching queens of three species seen today in the lovely weather, but still none collecting pollen.  Still seems to be only sallow catkins available from the local native flora, and at night these are visited by a number of moths, including an assortment of quakers, plus the more distinctive Hebrew character and (below, caught last night) early grey.

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The Sunday Times Scottish University of the Year 2009/2010

The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159.

spring - wherefore art thou?

Despite a flurry of bumblebees around 20th March, including several early bumblebees Bombus pratorum, since then spring seems largely to have stalled.

 

That this year flowering is much later than last year is evident from the fact that in early April 2009, 32 flower species were in flower in the garden, while on the same date this year the total was a mere 13.  And this is not simply due to flowers dying off in the winter.  Also, of those flowering, lungwort (Pulmonaria) was all but finished in early April last year, whereas this year it has only just got going.  However, in the news today is that average flowering times of many flowers are earlier in the last 25 years than they have been over the last 250 years!  The importance of catkins of willows, particularly pussy willow Salix caprea cannot be understated at this time of year.  There are few, if any, other native flowers just now, hence most bumblebees are visiting ornamental species in parks and gardens. 

 

Still, we are seeing the occasional bumblebee, including a first nest-searching queen buff-tailed the other day.  None seen collecting pollen yet.  And there are other signs of spring, with a trickle of black-headed gulls and meadow pipits northwards, and a highlight last night was a pair of frogs and some fresh spawn in the pond.  There is great activity from our dunnock 'pair', while the blackbird eggs must be due to hatch soon, all being well.  A pair of robins were indulged in courtship, for which (robins being robins) the postures involved are indistinguishable from threat displays! For courtship, however, it seems that male threatens female, male retreats, female advances, and so on.

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The Sunday Times Scottish University of the Year 2009/2010

The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159.

more insect activity!

On Saturday two buff-tailed bumblebees were seen at Edinburgh Botanic Gardens by David Adamson, with two hoverflies and a seven-spot ladybird there too.  On Mother’s Day, our garden was graced by a queen common wasp Vespula vulgaris (a useful pollinator in summer, e.g. of violet helleborine!) and the first mosquito of the year.  The previous day a buff-tailed bumblebee queen visited the flowers of winter hazel.

 

Bumblebees finally emerge in Stirling!

The last week has seen, at last, some bumblebee activity in the Central Belt!  Cath Scott in Glasgow was first last Sunday, with Norman Storie finding 2 queen buff-tailed bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) nearby  at crocuses the next day.  Both Natasha and Chrissie from the BBCT office saw fly-by queens during the week and today, having seen honeybees active at winter heather on the campus on Wednesday, there were at least five bumblebee queens at lunchtime.  One just flew by (the queens can really move around in spring), three were buff-tailed bumblebees, and the other a  queen ‘cryptic bumblebee’ (Bombus cryptarum) – one of the three species that comprise the white-tailed bumblebee (‘Bombus lucorum’) complex.  This was a very well-marked queen, with the black ‘S’ at each end of the yellow collar looking like it had been drawn in by a marker pen! Other individuals may not be very well marked at all though.   It is quite possible there are other species to discover in this complex, so very confusing!   At the moment, queens of this group are identified according to the collar pattern, but even this may not be reliable!  Still, a beautiful wee beastie all the same – spring is here!!  Also, a report from RSPB of a ‘white-tailed bumblebee’ on Colonsay.  It is thought that the ‘cryptic’ is the earliest to emerge in spring of the white-tailed bumblebee complex, so quite likely that this island bumblebee was one of these.

 

Vote to help the Shrill Carder Bee in Wales!

A great opportunity to help the rare Shrill Carder Bee in a special part of Wales, by voting for a project proposed by BBCT Conservation Officer Pippa Rayner.  You can vote online under ‘most worthy eco project’ at www.livefortheoutdoors.com!  But hurry, voting closes in a week or so.

 

First bumblebee of the year reported!

The cold snap over and suddenly, a report of a bumblebee flying along near Edinburgh Zoo at 14:30 on Sunday 17th January, from David Adamson.  The expectation is that this was a queen buff-tailed bumblebee.  I have seen this species in early February near Stirling, but this is a remarkable record.  Could the cold spell have influenced this queen's emergence in some way? David's sighting encouraged me to look at the winter heathers on the university campus in the sunshine at lunchtime.  There were some flowers, but not too surprisingly, no bees.