Not everything in our Wildlife Garden goes to plan. We had planted a musk rose (Rosa moschata) to give scented, single flowers around a seat. Bees love single flowers and the birds eat the hips. However, it has been slow to grow and has no flowers. But I had noticed there were bits taken from the leaves.
I suspected the culprit, but on Sunday got the evidence while I was working in the garden - Leaf-cutter Bees were making their nests in one of the logs.
This is the evidence seen today - the bits of rose leaf neatly rolled and placed in the log, but I did not see a bee this time.
Close inspection showed several other insects - many good for the garden - also using cracks in this and other logs.
Well worth a look but for the time being it is best not to use the logs as seats! Someone with a good camera may even be able to get a good shot of a bee for us.
Peter
Thanks for the comment Rachel. The garden is only 5 years old and the rose only 2. The logs are slowly rotting and these changes bring in new wildlife, but I did see the telltale signs on the leaves last year.
I, and other volunteers and staff, do not usually carry a camera when working and can easily miss the chance for a good shot. So we love to have photos sent to us or posted on the forum.
We saw several bees resting on the path with sections of leaf when we were there weekend before last - never occurred to me that you didn't know about them or I would have taken a photo for you!