Spring Bees

After finding Bombus hypnorum (a.k.a Tree Bee) on the patch on Monday, I sat down and spent a bit of time that evening searching through various resources to brush up on my very limited knowledge of Bombus bees, ready for the spring time emerging species. I set out to Stokes Field yesterday armed with the newly purchased Field Guide to the Bumblebees of Great Britain & Ireland, a hand lens and a camera, on the off chance that there would be a few Bumblebees about to photograph.

Not surprisingly, given that we're now mid-way through April, there were a few things bumbling about, and by the end of the day I'd managed four of the typical spring species; all were feeding on Dandelion, or sunning themselves in leaf litter around a small woodland clearing.

Common Carter Bee Bombus pascuorum...

Early Bumblebee Bombus pratorum, with distinctive orange tail just visible...

Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris is by far the most abundant on the day, with queen bees now searching for potential nest sites throughout the patch...

Hairy-footed Flower Bee Anthophora plumipes with, not surprisingly, rather hairy feet...

Another nice evening out on the patch today, with the 1km square list increasing to 229 species. It was nice to get the first Ortoptera of the year, in the form of a Slender Groundhopper sunning itself in a damp meadow, and the first House Martin of the year flew over.

No.      Latin                                           Common name                        Date              Location              

219	Delichon urbicum	House Martin	17-Apr	Stokes Field	Bird
220	Arabidopsis thaliana	Thale Cress	17-Apr	Orchard Avenue	Plant
221	Pentaglottis sempervirens	Green Alkanet	17-Apr	Orchard Avenue	Plant
222	Tetrix subulata	Slender Groundhopper	17-Apr	Stokes Field	Orthoptera
223	Notostira elongata	N/A	17-Apr	Stokes Field	Hemiptera
224	Nabis ferus	Field Damsel Bug	17-Apr	Stokes Field	Hemiptera
225	Psylliodes affinis	N/A	17-Apr	Stokes Field	Coleoptera
226	Plantago media	Hoary Plantain	17-Apr	Stokes Field	Plant
227	Cardamine hirsuta	Hairy Bitter-cress	17-Apr	Garden	Plant
228	Glechoma hederacea	Ground-ivy	17-Apr	Stokes Field	Plant
229	Equisetum arvense	Field Horsetail	17-Apr	Stokes Field	Plant