Alongside seeing the first swallow, hearing the buzz of the first passing bumblebee is heart-warming sign of the onset of warmer days.
First Bumblebee to be seen - queen Buff-tailed Bumblebee ( Bombus terrestris)
Bumblebees are mostly bigger, rounder and more colourful than honeybees, and also more placid of nature and less likely to sting. The first bees you will see in spring are likely to be the large queens. Having hibernated in a sheltered spot through the colder months, she will take to the wing to search out a suitable place to found a colony by laying her eggs. This may be in the old nest of a small vole or mouse, or perhaps in a hole in a tree.
These first eggs will develop into workers, which will help build and defend the nest and of course gather food by visiting nectar rich flowers. Eventually eggs are laid which will develop into males and young queens which will leave the nest to mate and establish further colonies.
There are around 300 species of bumblebees worldwide, around 25 of which occur in the UK. To date 12 species have been found in the reserve at Campfield Marsh, each with their own particular flight period, favourite pollen gathering and nectaring flowers and life histories.
Regular monitoring by volunteers has shown the importance of different flowers at different times of year, with willow catkins being an important source of nectar early in the year, after which dandelions, white clover, bramble, black knapweed and heather follow each other through to September. Ensuring a good range of flowering plants throughout the year is important in maintaining a wide range of invertebrates on the reserve.
Elsewhere, the long staying avocet has continued to roost with the oystercatchers at high tide along Campfield Marsh, the first lapwings are paired up and ready to lay eggs on the wet grassland fields and snipe are taking up territories on the rushy edges to the peat bogs.
10 3 16 Avocet with Oystercatchers - Campfield Marsh
Dave Blackledge
For more information about Campfield Marsh Reserve and the regularly updated blog, or 200 others throughout the UK visit www.rspb.org.uk/campfieldmarsh
The RSPB is the country’s largest nature conservation charity, inspiring everyone to give nature a home. Together with our partners, we protect threatened birds and wildlife so our towns, coast and countryside will teem with life once again. We play a leading role in BirdLife International, a worldwide partnership of nature conservation organisations.