Busy, busy, busy...

Another busy week - although sometimes I think one half of the time I create a mess, and the other half I clear it up.  I have spent time finishing off and sorting things for the Open Studio event.  I haven't made much of a photographic record of my progress to share with you.  I had to repackage some items that had been in my Etsy shop as I have changed my e mail address since I started it, a rather tedious chore.

When I go to 'Nutty Knitters' I don't knit, but I do do a bit of needle felting.  I now have a good collection of little pictures ready to be made into greetings cards. I have been adding some beads to them this week.

I have also got some felt flowers that need finishing and making into brooches.

I realise that I have rather a lot of items - so I hope that my friend doesn't feel overwhelmed in her own studio!  I also hope that those of you who live in the area will be able to visit.  It would be lovely to meet you.  More details nearer the time. 

I have also been working on a couple of postcards for 'Postman's Knock' I like to be prepared, but inevitably there will be a last minute rush to finish them off  before posting. (No previews of those allowed).

In between times I have done a bit of gardening and was thrilled to hear the swifts screaming.  I have been out every morning scouring the sky as last year I first spotted them on the 1st of May, this year it was the 6th. So that's pretty close timing.

Mr T was clearing an overgrown area in the veggie patch and realized he had disturbed a colony of bumble bees.  We left them to settle down and then marked off the area to make sure we didn't disturb them again.  I am pretty sure they are Early Bumble Bees (Bombus pratorum). The workers vary in size a lot and some of them are really small.  I sat and hung over the nest with my camera - no prize winning shots I'm afraid, but at least it helped me identify them.

If you want to click on the picture you will get a better view. This little worker was fanning her wings to circulate air in the next.  Her thorax is quite bald and shiny and if I zoom in I can see my outline refected in it!!

This worker is returning with loaded pollen sacks.

The nest is just flat on the ground at the bottom of a rockery wall.  It is made of tiny bits of dead grass and even tiny snail shells.  I presume the bees must have collected all the bits together.

I was a bit worried about them after the heavy shower we had early this morning, but they were busy as usual.

Well I suppose I had better go and clear up the mess I made earlier and then find the brooch pins.

Do have a good week,

Jill

Bumblebee spotting and photography

Just a few photographs to share with you my progress in recognising different bumblebees. There are lots about at the moment.

This is a buff-tailed bumblebee queen I photographed in March. She has golden yellow stripes and a buff tail.

This is a tree bumblebee worker with full pollen baskets on a raspberry flower. This is a relatively new species to this country. It colonized the south of England in 2001 and is working its way north.

click on the photographs for a larger view

Tree bumblebees have a gingery brown thorax and a black abdomen with a white tail. There are lots of these in my garden.

Here is a mystery bee. The only all black bumblebees are rather rare so I think this is probably a tree bumblebee. I have e-mailed this picture to the Bumblebee Conservation Trust as they will identify them for you.

It was very dull when I took the last two, so I used the in-camera flash. The shutter speed was too slow to catch really sharp shots and the little bees won't keep still!!

As you can probably tell my love of art is only matched by my love of the natural world,  photography is a great way to bring both together.