Oops! But better late.....

...than never, they say!  So much sunshine yesterday that we were out for ages, scoping out some exciting and some not-so-exciting survey sites.  Had a fab walk down to Meanwood Park, taking in some of our flighty friends along the way - orange-tip butterflies spotted in a cottage garden, but far too fast to catch on film today.  These were a bit more camera-friendly....

This little guy sat basking in the sun for ages

Bask, bask, bask.....!  Epistrophe eligans?



Some need a rest, even though warm enough to be very fast and flighty

 This is a really green part of town, and I'm looking forward to getting down here later on.  It was a huge contrast to the bleakness of the tiny paved yards we've seen in other parts of Leeds, and the scale, lushness and vitality of the vegetation felt quite exotic.  And indeed was, in places....


Checking out some skunk cabbage



Later...

Despite the April showers, we got out and visited a few green spaces.  There's a fab new perennial border in Cross Flatts Park that's going to look like a floral rainbow from the road when it gets going (which will be next year, in the main).  And just to prove that insects can make use of spaces that seem to be fairly unpromising, we spotted three bumblebees (all of different species) on knapweed in a small front garden adjacent to the very busy four-lane road running past Cross Flatts Park.  Well spotted, Mark, and well identified, Kirsty!

Thursday and all's well

Hurrah! Our first dry sunrise of the week!  Not being inclined to waste any time, we are off out into the wilds of Leeds to see what we can see.  There's an interesting article in The Guardian this morning about a translocation project aimed at short-haired bumblebees.... http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/apr/26/extinct-bumblebee-uk-release

Work on the team blog goes on apace, so soon you will be able to read news and views (and maybe even see some pics) from our colleagues around the country. 

Home time and closing.....

Coming towards the end of what has been a very wet day here in Leeds, but all to the good, as we've had a whole day pushing through some of the mapping and techie things that otherwise would either not get done, or we'd be doing at midnight on our laptops at home.  We'll shortly be going live with this, and offering posts from the other UPP groups (hello, colleagues!) and comments from anyone else who may stumble on this blog as well (hello, interested people!).

2012 season off to a wet start!

Hi all,

Well, here we are, in the middle of a drought - and unable to get out and start the pilot surveys on account of the rain.  Some people say I don't get irony, but, you know, I'm sure I do...

We are cracking on with pestering people in their own homes, asking if we can come back and pester them even more over the summer by wandering around their gardens and chasing the bees.  Though we know that the project needs us to sample really sterile places (so at the end of the summer we can say, look, concrete and tarmac really aren't good for pollinators, and we've got the stats to prove it!), it's a hard one to explain to wary householders. 

There's been a few interesting sightings already, but I haven't yet got access to those photos - synching the technology seems to take longer and longer, these days! - so I will leave you with this glimpse of Spring sunshine as this week's test card...