Stuck Van on Allotment Site

When we arrived at our region 5 allotment site we found a stuck van blocking the entrance gate. As we got out the driver explained that he came in with a load of wood chippings which must have weighted the van down so it just fit under the iron bar over the gate. After he emptied the load of wood chippings and drove back out the van was a bit higher (because it was lighter) so it got stuck under the iron bar over the gate.

We all tried to help now and Peter and the driver first lifted the iron bar a little bit, the driver was then standing on the van pushing it down and Peter was driving the van slowly under the bar while the driver kept pushing the van down. We got the van trough the gate but the iron bar got loose so we had to fix it into its former position again ... .

But at least the entrance gate was free again and we could drive in to do the allotment transect ;-).

Reading Flower Meadow Pictures

Prospect Park Annual Meadow:

Cintra Park Perennial Meadow (unfortunately the weeds germinated first):

Some annual flower Meadow seedlings:

Reading Flower Meadows

Reading council (in collaboration with the Urban Pollinator Project) has sown 5 annual and 5 perennial flower meadows in parks, a cemetery and along a road verge in Reading.

Annual meadows were sown in the following places:

1.       Victoria Recreation Ground (Tilehurst)

2.       Prospect Park

3.       Christchurch Meadows

4.       Caversham Crematorium

5.       Rabsons recreation Ground

Perennial meadows were sown in the following places:

1.       Meadway Recreation Ground

2.       Prospect Park

3.       Portman Road East

4.       Westfield Road Recreation Ground

5.       Cintra Park

The annual meadows were sown in May and are germinating now. You can see for example Cosmos, Pot Marigold and Californian Poppy seedlings. The perennial meadows take longer to germinate and we hope there will be soon seedlings visible. The perennial plants will be native and will not flower this year but should flower next year.

What do bees do in bad weather?

What do bees do in bad weather? Well, this Bombus hypnorum bee seemed to be hanging about (from this brightly coloured pansy) - perhaps waiting for the good weather to arrive. Fingers crossed!

Wet bee, and behaviours #4

Wet bee

How wet can a bee get?  Very, very wet, it seems!  After last night's torrential rains, we were out bright and early, and came across this poor thing...

Behaviour obs #4 

Down in the dark woods today, we watched a small bumblebee visit several large hogweed leaves, and walk quickly round the edges of them one after another, before flying off.  Was this a male, laying a pheremone trail? 

Some Bombus behavioural obs

Bombus - aptly named bouncers!

It seems that our invertebrate friends are as jealous of their patch as anyone, and will do their utmost to turf out interlopers.  Bumblebees seem to be especially territorial, and bombastically biff hoverflies, bee-flies and other bee species off their clump of chives or out of their patch of forget-me-nots.  I have so far not managed to catch this bee-bouncing on film, but be assured I will post here as soon as I do!

The Bombus/knapweed question...

Bumblebees in a wildlife area of one of the city parks in Leeds were showing a lot of interest in knapweed flowers, despite the fact that the flower buds were still tightly closed.  Closer inspection suggested that they were supping something being exuded by the plant - you can see tiny droplets of something on the surface of the flower bud in the photo below....

The question is, was the knapweed excreting something from the flower buds, and, if so, to what end?  It didn't seem likely that the bees were engaged in nectar-robbing, as the scales on knapweed are fairly tough - but we're happy to be wrong about that, if anyone knows better!  Ideas on a postcard, please, or as a comment below ;)

As an aside (slightly) - the wildlife area in this park, planted with species such as geranium, day lilies, thyme, knapweed, was really buzzing with things; a stark contrast to nearby 'traditionally' planted areas (predominantly begonia, petunia and tagetes marigolds), which were noticeably lacking in invertebrate visitors.

Update (11 June):
The plant there is, I think, an ornamental cornflower, Centaurea montana, rather than a knapweed - I'm  only slowly getting to grips with these civilised plants!

Bee-haviour observations #3 - Nomada & Andrena interactions

Apologies for the apparent obsession with Andrena bees, but they're out and about at the moment, and soon to be over and done for another year (well, most of them, anyway), so we have to make the most of our brief time together.  We've been spotting them in all sorts of habitats (cemeteries, gardens, woodlands), which is interesting in itself - but what has really tugged at my metaphorical sleeve is the occasional interaction we have seen between these and other bee species. 

Everywhere we have seen Andrena bees, we have seen the small yellow and black figures of Nomada bees, skimming over the ground like tiny, wasp-like, airborne sharks.  These are also known as cuckoo bees, and just like the feathered cuckoos, they lay their eggs in the nests of other species - in this case, primarily Andrena bee species.  I've already posted pics of Nomadas hawking over ground used by Andrenas for nest sites in gardens, and here's another - a face-off between Andrena and Nomada females at the entrance to a nest site.

So, just as our more southerly colleagues have already posted, manmade surfaces may hold more use for pollinators than you might at first think!  We've been discussing the relative merits of various habitats, and this illustrates well that it's not always just about flowers, pollen and nectar resources - provision of nest and overwintering habitats are also important.