Hester

Distracted by bees...

[Hester @pittypomm]

Can anyone help with this small bee, please?

I think maybe it's a scissor bee - it seemed to be collecting soil, definitely not digging a hole.

On the edge of a meadow that's just stopped being flooded, Somerset.

@Ecoentogeek @StevenFalk1 @sharkeee

[Hester @pittypomm]

Hello bee twitter, I have got these down as Lasioglossum, they are very small and many are nesting in the soft mortar of an old wall.

Is that reasonable, and would it be possible to get to species?

@Ecoentogeek
@StevenFalk1

[Hester @pittypomm]

I've been asking myself for about half an hour so now I'm going to ask twitter - are these antennae blunt?

I think these are Melitta leporina, but maybe that is wishful thinking.

I've never seen such a bundle before.

@Ecoentogeek @B_Strawbridge @StevenFalk1

[Hester @pittypomm]

@StevenFalk1 Many thanks!

[Hester @pittypomm]

I think that this small bee is Nomada fabriciana, though I get stuck in the key at bifid mandibles because I didn't have @StevenFalk1's guide with me.

[Hester @pittypomm]

I think that this is Pseudeuophrys lanigera joining us for dinner on the patio in Taunton this evening, is it possible to tell from these photos @BritishSpiders?

[Hester @pittypomm]

@Ecoentogeek Thanks! I think it being worn and all the white pollen confused me.

[Hester @pittypomm]

Is it possible to identify this small bee that loves bird's-foot trefoil from these photos? I keep going round in circles and getting nowhere.

@StevenFalk1 @Ecoentogeek @B_Strawbridge

[Disability Rights UK @DisRightsUK]

Click here: @Twitter alt text meme that isn't funny for blind people.
https://t.co/4l5glvKpmv

[Hester @pittypomm]

A sunny afternoon spent bee-watching brought me to this common mourning bee, Melecta albifrons, the first time I've seen one.

Look at those snazzy markings.

@SomersetWT @SWTTaunton

[Hester @pittypomm]

Glad I walked a different way today, because I walked past this funny pot in a shady front garden. I don't know what the big thing is, but I think that's a common spotted orchid making its way out of the shade.
@BSBIbotany @wildflower_hour

[Hester @pittypomm]

Hooray! First hairy footed flower bee I've seen this year disappeared into one of these holes, and some miners making the most of the dandelions in between showers.

[The Castle School @TheCastleSchool]

Four Year 8 girls (Heidi, Eloise, Fiona and Willow) travelled to Defence Academy on Saturday with Mrs Chapman to compete in the final of CyberFirst Competition. The aim of the CyberFirst Girls competition is to support girls interested in a career in cyber security.

[Longrun Meadow @LongrunMeadow]

A pair of buzzards making the most of the blue sky (with crows harassing) and the first signs that spring is on the way: hazel catkins and flowers open, willow just about in flower and one of the honey bee colonies active in the sun.

[Hester @pittypomm]

@BritishSpiders Oh yes, sorry! Hester Stanwood.

[Hester @pittypomm]

A tiny yellow spider under a red bramble leaf in Taunton, Somerset. Is it maybe Nigma puella?
@BritishSpiders
Cobbled photos with hand lens and phone are the best I could manage.

[Hester @pittypomm]

@BritishSpiders It looks like there are a few records near here on the map already, but this one was at ST215251 today, on scrub.
Thanks for your help!

[Hester @pittypomm]

@BritishSpiders I have put it on iNaturalist: https://t.co/jr97L9fQ12

Will that make it to your records eventually?

[Hester @pittypomm]

*list

🤦

[Hester @pittypomm]

A Big #ButterflyCount on @LongrunMeadow this afternoon - nine species ticked off the lost.

Plus a *lot* of Skippers. The ones I could get close enough to check were small.