Wool carder bee, nesting and mating behaviour

Wool carder bee, nesting and mating behaviour

Ladies first! Here I will explore the Wool carder (Anthidium manicatum) (Megachilidae: Anthidiin) females’ behaviour, nesting etc. and then go on to the males. Unusually for solitary bees, female wool carder bees, are smaller than males and females...
Pilkington AviSafe designed to reduce bird strikes into windows

Pilkington AviSafe designed to reduce bird strikes into windows

Overview This is a new product that I had no knowledge about at all. I saw it painted on a Pilkington Glass HGV I passed on the motorway. It grabbed my attention. So I checked it out. I have had, over the years, several bird strikes onto my patio window, which have in...

Goldfinches, sunflower hearts and wastage

Goldfinches, sunflower hearts and wastage- what can you do? Like many people, I have been feeding sunflower hearts which attracted a lot of goldfinches to my garden. I noticed a huge increase in wastage on the ground underneath the feeder. Not only can this be...
How do you stop wood pigeons from using a bird feeder?

How do you stop wood pigeons from using a bird feeder?

How do you stop wood pigeons from using a bird feeder? Wood pigeons are now commonly seen in many gardens as they bully other birds away from the food whether it’s on the ground, on a table or in a bird feeder. They almost ‘hoover’ up wastage from...
Attracting Garden Pollinators by Jean Vernon-my review

Attracting Garden Pollinators by Jean Vernon-my review

I suspect that most people when we talk about pollinators, simply think about bees, whether bumblebees, honey or solitary bees. They may not be aware that there are many other pollinators of flowers which they did not consider as pollinators. This book explains what a...
Gasteruption jaculator and the hylaeus bee battle!

Gasteruption jaculator and the hylaeus bee battle!

Gasteruption jaculator and the hylaeus bee battle inside a nurturing nature nest box Since having common yellow face bees (Hylaues communis) nesting in my nest boxes, the alien-looking Gasteruption jaculator is a regular visitor with numbers increasing as the common...