Caithness farm visit

Last Tuesday had a really interesting visit, with Phyllida Sayles of the Caithness LBAP, to a farm near Thurso where I saw a Great Yellow Bumblebee last August.  This is an interesting area where there is good, flower-rich habitat, and existing agri-environment management, so very encouraged with regard to the bee's fortunes here this year.  It is one of four areas in Caithness identified for monitoring this year under the Species Action Framework project for Great Yellow Bumblebee (funded by Scottish Natural Heritage), for which BBCT is a partner.

 

The previous day, it had been invaluable to meet the intrepid band of volunteers that Phyllida has recruited for the monitoring, and with some early Great Yellow records already things are really moving forward.  Caithness has a fair amount of arable land, so we are exploring pollen and nectar rich options in this agricultural landscape that may help the Great Yellow - more on that at a later date.  The photo shows a view across the fields near the coast, with the island of Hoy (Orkney) in the distance.  A quick bite to eat, and then a look at the bumblebees in Phyllida's garden where we were very pleasantly surprised to see a queen Buff-tailed Bumblebee basking on a stone. This is common further south but very few have been seen north of the Dornoch Firth.  We think this is the furthest north on the UK mainland one has ever been seen!