weekend activity

The apple blossom at home is certainly getting attention, and I managed to get a photo of one of the very active early bumblebee workers.  The subtlety of courtship of the red mason bee was also demonstrated, by a male hurling himself onto a female.  They grappled for a while on the blossom before falling to the deadnettle below.  After about a minute the female reappeared, seemingly none the worse for her ordeal.  I suspect not a successful mating.  A passing snipe fly clearly thought I was a handy vantage point to watch out for prey, and then took up station above the front door.

 

Sadly, the bumblebee nest in the tit box has failed - the queen has succumbed to the spider also present in the box.  However, the one in the bumblebee box is doing well, though a female forest cuckoo bumblebee (Bombus sylvestris) has spent time nearby  The blackbird chicks departed the relative security of our garden and from the behaviour of the parents, it looks like these were immediately snuffed out, most likely by one or more of the many local moggies.  House sparrows also seem to be having a hard time.  Usually the first broods are pretty successful, but the adults seem to be finding it hard securing enough insect food for the chicks in this late spring.  Bread is being taken to nests, and at least two pairs were mating this morning, suggesting failed clutches.

 

Flower resources outside gardens are still thin on the ground.  The willow here is has finished, although sycamore blossom is just becoming available.  Bush vetch flowers are also nearly open, but the yellow comfrey has just started to flower.  A grasshopper warbler was an unusual vistor to an old walled garden, singing its peculiar song in short snatches from a low willow branch.

 

 

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