Ivy Bees

On my way to the shops on Wednesday and I noticed hundreds of solitary bees zig zagging back and forth just above the ground in a front garden. The grass was very closely mowed.

The buzz from the bees was quite loud. I noticed that the bees were also present in three adjacent gardens with similar gardens.

I went home for my camera and took a few pics. I later identified the bees at Ivy bee (confirmed by BWARS - Bees Wasps Ants Recording Society).

These solitary bees have a single flight period, September and possibly as late as November when the weather is warm. This coincides with their preferred pollination source - Ivy.

This bee was first seen in the UK in 2001 (Dorset) and was described as new to science in 1993.

I returned to see if they were still their yesterday and they were just as active. Ivy Bees are mining bees making nest tunnels, in this case, in the soil beneath the lawn.

I checked today and even though it had been raining and quite windy, a few of the bees were still evident

Short video clip below 

https://youtu.be/UYZAf2T91FY

Hedgehog rescue Portslade

Driving to visit my mum and we had not gone far when we saw a small hedgehog crossing the road - thankfully the car opposite had stopped to let it crossed.

We pulled over and I we went to check on the hedgehog which was on the verges side. I stood between it and the road to encourage the hedgehog to toddle off into one of the nearby gardens.



It seemed quite happy on the verge. While it was active during the day, it did seem to be healthy and behaving normally. Maybe the recent dry hot weather has made it difficult for the hog to find enough food.




It then started to make its way back towards the road and so I carefully picked it up and it rolled into a ball.

We decided it was best to find somewhere to put it safely - and after knocking on two doors and di not get an answer we got a reply. A gentleman was more than pleased for us to put the hedgehog in his back garden and told us he already had two adult hedgehogs that visited his garden in the evening.




Hopefully the hedgehog will stand a better chance there away from the busy road but still in an area that was familiar - because sadly hedgehogs are on the decline.


Pictures taken by my daughter with her mobile phone