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Very good!

Syd Barrett. Frustrated entomologist?

Can everyone water their lawns & soil. Birds need worms to feed their babies, but the ground is too hard Love Bert the Blackbird x

Really worrying to find absolutely hundreds of dead bumblebees along the margins of this field. #bumblebee

First hawthorn flowers I’ve seen this year. Midlands Hawthorn in the Edge Hill woodland of SE Warwickshire.

3 nice hoverflies from the woodland at Edge Hill nr Banbury: Cheilosia nebulosa (a scarce grassland species probably using the wood for shelter), Criorhina ranunculi and Brachyopa scutellaris (both associated with wounds in mature trees). No sign of Pocota (see here many yrs ago)

Excellent article by Steven Falk in British Wildlife Mag about 14 species of bee new to Britain, since the publication of our field guide - 10years ago!

Our April issue is now out! Topics this time include proposals for a National Park in Galloway, new bee discoveries, mistreatment of wild mammals, the role of planting in rewilding projects, and much more. For more information, visit britishwildlife.com/back-issues/br…

The ducks are back in my small garden pond. It’s been a couple of years. Suspect it’s a different trio but always nice when they appear.

It's stated that the tree did not have a TPO. This is a regular issue with veteran trees. Seems to stem variously from laziness/incompetence on the part of the local authority or a more deliberate 'constraint management' strategy, which is a corruption of the planning system.

russell miller Toby Carvery

Spring hoverflies (3): Criorhina floccosa ♂ today in Bengeo garden, superb mimic of bumblebee Bombus pascuorum. BNA – Herts branch #saproxylic

Alan Bates is considering Privately Prosecuting the Bosses of the Post Office for Corporate Manslaughter. RT If you support him, it is the only way there will be justice.

Saw a new bee today, one of the recent UK arrivals. Giant Blood Bee Sphecodes albilabris, at two sites in the Brecks. It's spreading through East Anglia quite rapidly. Almost the size of a honeybee, far bigger than any other blood bee. A cuckoo of Colletes cunicularius (right).

Here are 27 videos for those learning ecology at school. Teachers (or pupils) am pleased to hear of suggested additions from my channel, videos to remove or gaps I could usefully fill. Good luck! youtube.com/playlist?list=…

NEW FLIES GUIDE due out Autumn 2025 - pre-publication offer for our 400-page guide to #FliesofBritainandIreland is now on – order here bit.ly/4dqQI8Z & save £££s on published price Steven Falk Gail Ashton 💚🪲🌍 Rory Dimond 🌼🪰🌼🐝🌼🦟 BBO Wildlife Trust Dipterists Forum The Wildlife Trusts Dr Erica McAlister

Nice contrast of the resurrected cryptic mining bee Andrena afzeliella (left, prefers loose sands of Brecks, southern dunes etc) & (right) the species it was long sunk under, A. ovatula (mostly south coast, western heaths). Notice darker thorax and abdomen tip of ovatula.

Varians' bigger sister the lovely Andrena lapponica, feasting on our local Hurtwood flowers, one I really wanted to see this year 🙂