14 Apr 20 - Bumblebees In The Garden #BWKM0

I've been writing the recent Blog Posts since the lockdown based up the wildlife highlight of the day. Today's wildlife highlight was in the five or ten minutes I had at lunchtime to see what I can find in the garden. I saw three different species of Bumblebees in that time feeding on my extensive patch of Bluebells. The only lockdown species that was missing, was the erratically visiting & relatively scarce Tree Bumblebee.

Buff-tailed Bumblebee: Old Harry (4 May 15)

Large Red-tailed Bumblebee: Photographed in the garden on some of my white Red Valerian (22 Jun 10)

I've been trying to get my head around the identification of Bumblebees in the last few years. This has been a lot easier with the excellent Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland by Steven Falk & Richard Lewington. As a result, I have identified a number of my commoner resident Bumblebees in my garden. With the current lockdown, I've been able to spend more time looking at the Bumblebees in the garden this year. Currently, the lockdown list is on four species.

Tree Bumblebee: My only record so far this year has been one on 2 Apr 20. This individual was photographed at Goring-on-Thames, when I failed to find any Club-tailed Dragonflies (13 Jun 14)

Common Carder Bee: Doing its best to pollinate one of my Bluebells (10 Apr 20)

Common Carder Bee: Another individual (10 Apr 20)

I've also seen Garden Bumblebee, Early Bumblebee & White-tailed Bumblebee in the garden in previous years, but I've not seen any of these species yet this year. I generally only have a few minutes at lunchtime to see what I can find. But at least I'm likely to have quite a few more opportunities in the forthcoming weeks before the lockdown is lifted & I have to return to work.

Check tomorrow to see the next day's wildlife sighting at #BWKM0.

25 Mar 20 - Red-bummed Bumble #BWKM0

I saw my first Bumblebee sp. in the garden for the Year on 20 Jan. The next was 8 Mar & I've seen several flying through the garden from the study fairly regularly since we were all told to stay indoors. But the recent views have always been brief & I've not managed to get a decent look to identify them. All this changed today, when I popped outside for a brief spot of fresh air, whilst making a cuppa of tea. There was a queen Large Red-tailed Bumblebee flying around. She didn't hang around for long & I had to get back to work. So, no photos. It's a fairly common species, but given the current circumstances, it's nice to spend a bit more time enjoying what I can see in the garden at #BWKM0.

Large Red-tailed Bumblebee: Win Green, Wilts (28 Jun 14)

Given we are all confined at home these days: why not buy a new field guide & see what you can discover in your garden or local park whilst out on a daily walk. A few years ago, the excellent Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland by Steven Falk and Richard Lewington was published. I'm still at the beginner level on many of the Bee species, but it's a great source of information. Alternatively, there are some good websites on line with information & photos to get you started on Bumblebees.

Ironically, I had taken the camera upstairs in the hope of something flying over while I was in the study. In fact, I did get my second flyover migrant Red Kite in two days. But it went over when I was on another works call and I could hardly try taking photos, given as I had an open mic & was talking at the time.

Check tomorrow to see the next day's wildlife sighting at #BWKM0.

28 June 14 - The Best Of The Rest On The Chalk

In the last post I covered some of the birds seen on a drive around the Cranborne Chase border of Dorset & Wiltshire. But I also saw some other interesting wildlife.

Brown Hare: Near Sixpenny Handley is a small area of set aside close to the road, allowing excellent views of these great Brown Hares

Brown Hare: A second animal trying to dry itself after a heavy downpour. Note, the long black tipped ears, long legs and overall bulky appearance. I had always assumed they were native to the UK, but it is believed they were introduced in Iron Age times to the UK

Rabbit: A common species that all UK residents will immediately recognise. This is a young Rabbit just over half size. Note, the small ears, gentler face, smaller build & shorter legs compared to the Brown Hare. They are also smaller & prefer areas of short grassland as well as arable fields, whereas, Brown Hares are predominantly found in or near arable fields. Rabbits were introduced into the UK by the Normans & for several centuries were a delicacy of the nobility with strict penalties for any commoners found poaching them. I always assumed they were native to Western Europe, but was surprised to read they are native to the Iberian Peninsula & Southern France, and introduced by man elsewhere in Western Europe

I found a great small roadside quarry just to the North of Win Green. This had a good selection of Butterflies in it.

Marbled White: A very distinctive rough grassland & downland Butterfly

Ringlet

Large Skipper on a Pyramidal Orchid: Female. Large Skippers have this bright mottling markings on the upperwing, whereas the other common Skippers, Small Skipper & Essex Skipper, have a plainer orange upper wing. This is female as it doesn't have a broad black line in the upperwing which the males show

Large Skipper: Another view of the same female

Large Skipper: Male. This shots shows the distinctive black line in the upper wing. This is a sex brand of specialist scent scales (Crowle Moor, Yorkshire, 1 July 12)

Large Red-tailed Bumblebee: One of my favourite Bumblebees & one that seems to regularly come to light if I run a moth trap in my garden

Pyramidal Orchid: There were about 10 of these in this small quarry

Pyramidal Orchid: A close up of the flowers. The tight head of flowers in a pyramidal shape makes this a distinctive Orchid to identify. Apparently, the flowers are shaped to only be pollinated by Butterflies proboscis