Historically speaking the reserve has always been important for bees of many species. One of the most important is a little stripy one that emerges in the late summer and times its appearance with the flowering of the Sea Aster down on the saltmarsh and hence it's English name of Sea Aster Mining Bee. Colletes halophilus is nationally very rare with just a few scattered coastal sites in which to find them. This Red List Species seems to fluctuate in numbers here and so it was great when a visiting entomologist, Simon Sexton, located some on the newly opened asters along with more Shrill and Brown Banded Carder Bees than we have ever seen at the same time.
Shrill Carder Bee - Bombus sylvarum on Sea Aster
Having photographed a Colletes on the 15th August feeding on Bristly Ox Tongue near the Bee Sandhill in the Adventure Play Area, Simon headed down there as C.halophilus is now known to also use Ox Tongue and he was delighted to find several females entering nest burrows on the hill! Great news!
The Sandhill...
A male Colletes halophilus...
Now we know that they are down there too and not confined to the river wall and its Aster we shall work to make the sandhill even more appealing to this enigmatic species as well as the other ground loving bees and wasps.
3-9-15