Bees, Bee Flies and Birds

The weather is slowly deteriorating but a break in the clouds mean't we could finally get outdoors to the Isabella Plantations; a great little garden in Richmond Park.

Spring is now well underway and bees were happily feeding in the evening sun...

I then decided to get a MEGA close up to see how and what bees are actually feeding from; it's quite graphic so if you don't like close ups of hairy, sticky, insecty insects, look away now- oops, too late!

Feeding alongside these bees was this alien creature; a Bee Fly. This is a first for me but after reading about it recently in a field guide, I could ID it straight away. It looks a bit like a Hedgehog with wings... no? Nah, actually it looks nothing like a Hedgehog with wings.

Now for some bird life. A pair of Treecreeper were... well, creeping up a tree with what looked like nesting material in their mouths- I'll be keeping an eye out for them as spring progresses...

This Goldcrest was singing from a nearby Alder giving great long views to all who watched it...

But by far the wierdest thing that happened today was spotting this Mandarin Duck perched up a large Oak tree!!