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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