Third bumblebee of the year

A funny title you'd think. Well, I saw my first bumblebee on the 10th, then another on the 13th (both flying over and unidentified) and today, finally I saw one close enough for identification: a Buff-Tailed bumblebee or Bombus terrestris on a pot. Flew quickly away before I could take out my camera (the photo on top is from october 2008) but at least I got a clear ID. It hasn't been particularly sunny today, but it is noticebly milder, around 10 oC, and things are quickly changing in the garden. The Grape Hyacinth flower spears are pushing through the leaves, box buds are bursting. The two last dormant ladybirds on the monkey puzzle have finally broken their long sleep and are moving about.

Sweet Snowdrops

I cannot get enough of the sunny weather we are having during March. Today, Honey Bees were foraging on Snowdrops and Crocuses. The one on the top photo was clearly collecting pollen, retreating after entering each bloom and hovering while rubbing their legs together. A full pollen basket is clearly visible.

There were two honey bees at the same time in this crocus.

I also saw my first bumblebee today, flying high over my garden, so I couldn't ID it. I was a bit surprised Anthophora wasn't the first bee of the year.

A glimpse of Spring

We've had a wonderful sunny start of March. Mornings are still frosty, but - compared to the past three long, cold, cloudy and gloomy months - spring seems to be on its way. The first Grape Hyacinths (Muscari racemosum) of the year have opened, joining Snowdrops, Crocuses and Primroses. Today I've been tidying up in the garden. There have been many plant casualties of this unusually cold winter, but the survivors have started to grow, buds are thickening and leaves slowly unfurling.

A Wolf Spider (above) walked on a white wall and settled on an Ivy leaf to sunbathe.
 The pair of 7-spotted ladybirds, of which I wrote before, are still nestled together amongst the spiky leaves of the monkey puzzle tree. They have been there since early November. In contrast, I have seen active ladybirds in more sunny positions in the garden, enjoying the sunshine and hiding again afterwards.

A 7 spot ladybird enjoying the sun

A Bluebottle feeding on an Ivy leaf

Unidentified fly

Sleeping Snails

A sunny day like a jewel in a dull, cold winter. For the first time in months I venture out to do some gardening. There are little signs of bug activity. A few 7-spot ladybirds sunbathing; a cloud of winter gnats; a bluebottle which rapidly gets into the house through the back door...I moved an old tile left leaning against a south-facing wall and found a gathering of overwintering snails stuck to the tile and the wall. A few small ones, but mostly of them grown up snails, shell against shell. In this spot they keep relatively warm and dry during the winter. The snail secretes a specially tough mucus to seal its shell opening which can glue it to walls, or other snails.

A dormant snail operculum.

More on Garden Snails at BugBlog:

Darts for love on the strange mating tactics of your garden Snails.

Wasp nest

Wasps nests have been described as 'human head' shape and size and it's not far from the truth. I photographed this old abandoned nest in November, under the eaves of an Edwardian house. I bet that the owners couldn't open the windows in the summer without getting a stream of wasps in! All the wasps from this nest, except the new queens, are now dead. The queens will hibernate and come out in March, where there are often seen sunbathing, to start new nests. Most of the wasps we see in the summer are worker wasps.