Crocuses and bumblebees

Spring has started early this year. We already had temperatures of about 20 C, and we are still in February! The warm sunshine has brought out the bumblebees. The first to emerge are the queens which will be very hungry after hibernation. The first thing the queens will do after emerging is looking for food to fill their empty stomachs. Not many plants flower at this time of year but normally there are always some dandelions, lesser celandine and cherry plum flowers to be found.

Crocuses are good pollinator plants as well, offering pollen and nectar which also attract other early pollinators such as solitary bees and hoverflies.

A carpet of yellow and purple crocuses

Buff-tailed bumblebee queen

Years ago I planted a handful of different crocus bulbs on the allotment. They have thrived and multiplied and I now have small carpets of yellow and purple crocuses in different areas on the allotment which look really pretty. They also attract bumblebee queens.

Often the queens are starved and weak after hibernating for months, crawling from flower to flower instead of flying, getting stronger while drinking the nectar. Once the stomach is full they will start searching for suitable nesting sites but not without frequently coming back to my crocuses to fill up again on the sweet nectar.

Hungry bumblebee queen

Often, freshly emerged queens are quite weak and need food quickly

Two red-tailed bumblebee queens

If you don`t have crocuses in your garden plant some! They are pretty, easy to please and good for pollinators. Best planting time is from September to November. They like sunshine but also grow in half-shade. Crocuses don`t need any watering or other care, these little flowers pretty much look after themselves. What more can you wish for. And don`t forget to look for bumblebee queens in early spring!

A white-tailed bumblebee queen

Plant crocuses and the bumblebees will come

This queen has found the crocus growing in my raised bed

Hungry birds and snowdrops

We don`t often see snow here in the South of England, but on Friday morning I awoke to a winter wonderland outside the window. The allotment has all but disappeared under a blanket of snow and only the taller vegetation such as grasses and seed heads are visible.

The allotment covered with a blanket of snow

Grasses and seed heads are still visible

The pond with the remains of the snow fox in the foreground

Snowdrops are now slowly appearing again from the snow thanks to some sunshine. They are tough little flowers and seem to be able to cope with any amount of frost and snow. They look like as if nothing has happened, their little flowers standing proud, ready to open once warmer weather arrives.

Acrobatic blue tit

Many birds are very hungry as they cannot find any food in the snow and on frozen ground. Luckily I have put out some bird food for them; peanuts, fat blocks and fat balls. Nobody else on my allotment site seems to feed the birds so they all come to my feeders. Even the robin, who normally feeds on the ground, was hungry enough to fly up to the peanut feeder today. Blue and great tits as well as the cute long-tailed tits visit frequently, the dunnocks hop around on the ground, searching for spilled food. Occasionally I even have a Great-spotted woodpecker visiting.

The robin managed to fly up to the peanut feeder

Blue tits like the peanuts

The robin looking slightly grumpy

Cute little long-tailed tit

Bird footprints on the frozen pond

A dunnock searching for food

Robin and long-tailed tit sharing the fat block feeder

The dunnocks are normally very shy and difficult to photograph

The snow is also revealing some night-visitors to the allotment thanks to the footprints they have left behind. The foxes seem to have been very active, probably looking for food. I wonder what they eat when the ground is frozen and covered by a blanket of snow. I have also seen some muntjac deer footprints and a few rabbits.

A fox footprint

A fox has walked here last night