Redwings foraging in Reykjavik city centre and Laugavegur street, Iceland

Redwings foraging in Reykjavik city centre and Laugavegur Street, Iceland Laugavegur Street is the main shopping street in Reykjavik, full of coffee shops, touristy gift shops, wine bars, cake shops and more. It was very busy in November when I was there. It was...

Solitary Bees By Ted Benton & Nick Owens review

Solitary Bees By Ted Benton & Nick Owens review This is my second review of a book by Ted Benton. I enjoyed the much smaller first book and when I asked him why he wrote the first Solitary Bee book, his comments were just as appropriate for this second book....

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 generally emerge...

Dolphin watching at Lagos Portugal

Dolphin watching at Lagos Portugal Several businesses offer dolphin and whale watching tours sailing from Lagos in Portugal. We decided to go with Sealife because on every trip they have a qualified marine biologist accompanying you on their boats. Instead of hugging...

The Boardwalk from Lagos to Meia Praia

The wooden Boardwalk from Lagos to Meia Praia My wife and I watched spell bound as we were fortunate to watch the actual work undertaken during the construction of this beautiful wooden boardwalk. Although we have walked many miles on boardwalks in the area, we had...
Weeds. This book is a little gem! Special Offer to readers.

Weeds. This book is a little gem! Special Offer to readers.

I have been gardening organically using the no-dig system since the mid-1980s and am a Life Member of the Good Gardeners Association. I have taught wildlife and organic gardening to many students and school children over the years. I am still learning myself! I am...

Another invasive species arrives in UK from imported plants

Another invasive species arrives in UK from imported plants

Another invasive flatworm arrived from imported pot plants Why we import plants is beyond me when we have plant breeders and nurseries here? Trade like this has once again let us and our wildlife down. It poses yet another threat to our wildlife, even though they are...

What’s happening to our conker trees?

What’s happening to our conker trees?

Its a moth not rust that's affecting our conker trees Have you noticed whitish patches on the leaves of horse chestnut tree, which by the middle of summer, the whitish patches die and turn brown and you may believe that autumn has come early for the tree.  Sometimes...

Are you aware of The Business of Bees?

Are you aware of The Business of Bees?

Have bees affected our lives? On a very simplistic level, most of us know that bees provide us with fruit, honey and in the case of bumblebees, the sound of summer, with their buzzing as they busily brighten our blooms. We have formed an unequal partnership with bees...

Bee and other pollinator decline research paper links

Bee and other pollinator decline research paper links

Managing Solitary bees in my garden I am regularly asked why do I manage my solitary bees instead of just leaving them outdoors like most other people inside their bee house. I find it absolutely fascinating, educational and interesting. I have learnt so much about...

Osmia leaiana using Cotoneaster leaves for nest site video 17/9/16

Osmia leaiana using Cotoneaster leaves for nest site video 17/9/16

Osmia leaiana making very late nest site The warm September weather certainly helped my little Osmia leaiana with her nest site inside one of my solitary bee observation nest boxes.  I was wondering where she was collecting her nesting material from and eventually I...

Woodpecker damage to Nurturing Nature Orchard solitary bee nest box

Woodpecker damage to Nurturing Nature Orchard solitary bee nest box

Reasons to remove your solitary bee nest boxes 1. Parasitoids wasps, e.g. Monodontomerus This Nurturing Nature Orchard solitary bee nest box was completely full of Red Mason bee larvae, when in my own garden a short while after this photograph was taken. The larvae...

Asian hornets. A threat to solitary bees or bumblebees?

Asian hornets. A threat to solitary bees or bumblebees?

Are honeybees, bumblebees and solitary bees safe from the Asian Hornet? The Asian Hornet, Vespa velutina, or yellow legged hornet, is the first invasive predator of honeybees and has now arrived in the UK. It is known to have caused serious problems for European...