Tawny Mining Bee and Beefly

At Easter, I watched these very attractive Bees going about there business against a grassy hill in Lincolnshire. They seemed abundant, feeding on every Celandine and Dandelion flower. A constant companion flying swiftly across our path I wondered why I had never noticed them before. And now back in Kent I now realise how common they are, feeding on Apple blossom and shrubs in flower. It doesn't seem a great deal effort to find them.



Never very far is the delightful Bee Fly with its sword like probosis it has a humming bird like feeding pattern. Like the Tawny mining they do seem to be very common at the moment.

First Cuckoo of spring

A cuckoo was calling close to the garden this morning. Numbers of Cuckoos are reported to be declining across the UK. It will be interesting to see if this bird is going to stick around or continue on a northwards journey. Another welcome migrant was a Nightingale was singing from a copse along Hornash Lane.

Spring Birds working to the calendar

From the garden birds it would seem that most have their clocks set about right. I'm refering to the facts that some birds are out of sync with their traditional breeding patterns or more specific out of sync with their peaks in their food sources. So our Blue Tits which now seem to be now egg laying on the face of it for mid April seem to be laying at their traditional time. But problems may occur if the Moth caterpillars they depend on as a food source for fledglings have already peaked.