Male White Tailed

Another look around Lowestoft North Denes didn't produce so much today as most of the food plants have finished flowering, leaving the bees to search elsewhere.

The standout bee was a male White Tailed bumblebee, Bombus lucorum, feeding on ragwort.

Ragwort gets a lot of bad press, but in my opinion its a bit of a life giver to many species.

Male White Tailed Bumblebee on Ragwort

Slow-mo White Tailed!

A friend of mine took the time to shoot this on 210 fps (frames per second) using a Casio Exilim.

Its an incredible slow look at how a White Tailed bumblebee, Bombus lucorum, navigtes a head of lavender.

The wing beats really amaze me. Thanks for the video Daniel!

Cracking Common carder!

Looking round my back garden this afternoon I found a Buff Tailed Bumblebee, Bombus terrestris feeding on my buddleia.

More excitingly for me though were 5 Common carder bees, Bombus pascuorum, feeding on lupin, blackberry and sweet mallow.

Although they have probably been present for longer than today, it takes my garden species to 6.



Common carder Bee & Lupin



Buff Tailed on Buddleia!

Walking around Minsmere RSPB reserve today threw up a few nice Bumblebees.

The stand out was a large Buff tailed bumblebee, Bombus terrestris, probably a male again. Its low droning buzz as if flew from flower to flower was a lovely sound.

Probable male Buff Tailed feeding on buddleia