Last week I came across some Small Scabious Mining Bees (Andrena marginata) in County Durham. This lovely species is Nationally Scarce and, I believe, has only been recorded twice before in Northern England. I managed to find them in 3 1km squares in the end. #NorthEastBeeHunt @nenature.bsky.social
A sketchbook page of garden invertebrates drawn in pen and watercolour. Species shown are red-tailed cuckoo bee, forest cuckoo bee, ants, elder aphids, garden bumblebee, southern cuckoo bumblebee, snout moth, early bumblebee, bramble sawfly, Halictus rubicundus bee, tree bumblebee, a Lasioglossum bee, mournful wasps mating, a Sphaerophoria hoverfly, a green shield bug nymph, a leaf cutter bee, a mint moth (Pyrausta sp.), red-barred tortrix moth, turnip sawfly, and carrot wasp (Gasteruption wasp). All from NE England.
I’ve been recording the garden bees for the #NorthEastBeeHunt run by @nenature.bsky.social but found plenty of other invertebrates out there. It’s amazing what you can find when you look.
🐡
#art #invertebrates
A photo of a bee reversing out of a foxglove flower
Is this one a different species though? This looks like it has more bars of yellow and black. 🤷 #NorthEastBeeHunt
Photo of a bee in mid-air next to a delphinium, I think.
I know next to nothing about bees, but a spot of googling suggests this is a white-tailed bumblebee? On the #NorthEastBeeHunt for @nenature.bsky.social
North-bumble-land Walk complete! 🐝
🐝 1,070 bumblebees counted
🔎 15 species recorded
🥾 84 miles walked
A huge thank you for your support & donations for @bumblebeetrust.bsky.social!
Notebook is full of sightings for @nenature.bsky.social's #NorthEastBeeHunt!
www.justgiving.com/page/charlot...
Final leg of my North-bumble-land Coast Walk! 🐝🥾
Super windy but that doesn’t stop the Moss Carders! 💛
Hoping to reach 1,000 bumblebees by the time I get to Berwick! 📝
#Pollin8 #NorthEastBeeHunt
@bumblebeetrust.bsky.social
@nenature.bsky.social
I'm currently walking the Northumberland Coast Path for
@bumblebeetrust.bsky.social! 🐝👣
Along the way, I’m sharing my sightings with
@nenature.bsky.social's #NorthEastBeeHunt 📝🔎
At the end of Day 4 yesterday, so far...
🐝 746 bumblebees counted
🔎 13 species recorded
🚶♀️ 132,958 steps for bumbles!
I'm currently bumbling along the Northumberland Coast for @bumblebeetrust.bsky.social! 🐝👣
Along the way, I’m sharing my sightings with
@nenature.bsky.social’s #NorthEastBeeHunt 📝🔎
...372 bumbles of 12 species so far!
Thank you so much for donations so far, the bumbles & I are very grateful!
More urban bee admiration today with some lush Chocolate Mining Bees (Andrena scotica) in Jesmond. Also found a cuckoo sniffing about... 🐝 #NorthEastBeeHunt
Another first for the year from Saturday's walk in Jesmond Dene with a lovely queen Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum). Conditions couldn't be more different today ☔🥶 #NorthEastBeeHunt
Well that escalated quickly. No less than 19 Buff-tailed Bumblebee queens on or under a single Cherry Plum in my local park today. Most in the grass! #NorthEastBeeHunt 🐝🔎
Yay! My first bumble of the year today with a queen Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) enjoying crocus blooms at Howick Hall Gardens. #NorthEastBeeHunt
Almost forgot to share this lovely female Tawny Mining Bee (Andrena fulva) from Benton Cemetery on Friday. My first of the year! #NorthEastBeeHunt 🐝
A slightly better pic of one of yesterday's lovely Ivy Bees (Colletes hederae) at Wylam, #Northumberland.
Now that they've reached the North East, the challenge this autumn is to find one closer to home... #bees #NorthEastBeeHunt
And for the bee folk, a double-whammy of elusive bees from #Lindisfarne today. My first Black-headed Leafcutter Bee and only my second Dull-vented Sharp-tail Bee. #NorthEastBeeHunt
Great to watch this female Early Mining Bee (Andrena haemorrhoa) excavating a burrow today on Alnmouth Common #NorthEastBeeHunt #solitarybees
Chocolate Mining Bee (Andrena scotica) watching on in the garden this afternoon. At least that's what I think it is... a tad rusty! #NorthEastBeeHunt 🐝
Made my annual trip to the Prudhoe Spetchells today with @Mattdw3. You guessed it, lots of bees!
Buffish Mining Bees and Gooden's Nomad Bee pictured. #NorthEastBeeHunt 📷🐝
Buffish Mining Bee (Andrena nigroaenea) spotted while waiting for a bus today in Newcastle. At least that's what I think it is. A tad rusty... #NorthEastBeeHunt 🐝
Today's upland highlight: lots and lots of Heather Colletes (Colletes succinctus) busily foraging on Ling. A new one for me #NorthEastBeeHunt😍
Fresh air, hills, billberries and my first ever Heather Colletes (Colletes succinctus) today above Rothbury #northeastbeehunt 😍
A duo of lovely Mignonette Yellow-face Bees (Hylaeus signatus) from today's walk by the Tyne. Unsurprisingly found feeding of Mignonette. #NorthEastBeeHunt
A slightly better📸of a Moss Carder bee (Bombus muscorum) spotted yesterday on Lindisfarne. #NorthEastBeeHunt
Gold-tailed Melitta (Melitta haemorrhoidalis), a highlight our trip along the Tyne today. Such a lovely little bee! #NorthEastBeeHunt😍
What I'm pretty sure must be a female Willughby's Leafcutter Bee in the garden yesterday. Certainly a good few males around, at least. #NorthEastBeeHunt #bees
Another new bee for the garden today with what is likely Davies' Colletes (Colletes daviesanus).
They definitely seem partial to Oxeye Daisy. Thanks to @bumble_being for the likely ID #NorthEastBeeHunt 😊🐝
Quite literally over the moon to find this male Willughby's Leafcutter Bee in the yard this afternoon. Not just a first for the garden, but a new one for me too! #NorthEastBeeHunt #solitarybees😍
The Balm-leaved Dead-nettle came up trumps! Fork-tailed Flower Bee (Anthophora furcata) in the yarden this evening. #NorthEastBeeHunt 😍
Ladies and gents, I give you the Bilberry Bumblebee😍
Chuffed to stumble across four of these little beauties feeding on Bird's-foot Trefoil near Rothbury today. #NorthEastBeeHunt #bees
