hairy-footed flower bees

 

27-03-26 A pleasant enough constitutional with Mary to the Botanics and one I wouldn't have bothered to archive had the first female flower bee I've seen this year not appeared. The males have been out for a couple of weeks. They are ginger with creamy white faces, hairy front legs/feet and quite cute. The females underline the sexual dimorphism looking almost entirely different, having an all black body and yellow hind leg stripes.

female hary-footed flower bee

male hairy-footed flower bee

This female had the habit of wiping her glossa clean of pollen between dabbing it into the pulmonaria flowers. It can be seen more clearly in the video below. The glossa is that pointy part below their face they keep folded back under their bodies until they bring it forward to use like a straw or dabber to help consume pollen/nectar.

Male at rest showing hairy legs and feet.
I didn't get any photos of females at rest. And I suspect
their legs and feet aren't quite as hairy as the males.

HFFBs at flowers
Male first, then darker female for rest of video

I was pleased with this little video. The first 14 seconds are of the male and that section was made a week ago or more. I was able to add the longer clip of the female after this rather helpful specimen stayed feeding around the same group of pulmonaria flowers making filming much easier. They are busy little bees and it is not easy to follow them around as they speed between flowers. The 4.8 x slo-mo makes it all look very relaxed and unhurried but in real life it is not and a ton of footage and stills went straight into the recycle bin; either out-of-focus or with the bees going out of frame.

mr scruffy

While near the pulmonaria we looked for the handfeeding great tits. However they must have been off on their travels as they didn't show up. The slightly scruffy robin with the squint beak was there and also refused to sit on hands although a fellow robin briefly took some seeds off my hand.

photo Mary
although in shorts I reverted to long trousers next day or 2 as the cold returned

Campbell's magnolia

lots of nice things flowering
this one occasionally attracts admirals (or did last year)

I put the wider angle 12~60mm lens on for recording (absent) great tits
and what a good job it did of capturing the Reg Butler, pond and Inverleith House

There were a pair of mallards going heads-down and rears-up near the edge of the pond. They were completely oblivious of Mary and I who were right beside them. I decided to remind the male that a degree of caution might be an idea and not to be too casual. While his head was shovelling for luckies on the bottom I gently stroked his rear. He instantly engaged his outboard motor and shot off at a great rate causing great amusement. However he didn't hold a grudge and came straight back to hoover up the compensation as apology I sprinkled on the pond.

robin and (wrong) great tit refusing to budge

brief sighting of (the usual) male kingfisher at Powderhall
on the way home

while a squirrel did a high wire act, way above the river

luckompensation

 

25-03-26 I am coming to the end of my six weeks jail sentence. I can definitely sense the light at the end of the tunnel and may go for a short local trial run any day now. The sciatica is fading and last night was the first night in 6 weeks I haven't got up in the small hours to take more painkillers. I can still feel the remnants of the condition in my right leg and have to be fairly careful about sitting for extended periods working at the computer (on blogs and photo processing). But I am cautiously optimistic that, along with Spring, freedom is nearly here. It has been gradual; no hats are being flung in the air, nor crutches in the bin, and I did buy the usual 2 packs of painkillers (paras and ibus) in the supermarket yesterday as I have done every second day for 6 weeks, but generally the prognosis is good.

crow hat

The oddest thing about the last 6 weeks is the amount of decent wildlife I have come across. Perhaps because I have been moving slower. Or going out for a constitutional nearly daily as it is the one thing that seems to ease the achy back and leg. Or maybe just luck. Not every trip has been bountiful and a lot haven't even made the grade sufficiently to be archived here. However there has been enough significant photos and encounters that I haven't felt that shortchanged by my recent days out, limited as I've been.

It's as if fate has taken pity on me and stepped in to compensate by throwing me a bone now and again. From the first ever sighting of a Water Rail without even having to change my regular route to the Botanics. A unexpected goldcrest just yards from home that almost sat still for photos and video. The gray wagtail and kingfisher(s) in the water rail's stomping ground. Kestrels, woodpeckers, LTTs and treecreepers appearing just slightly more often and for longer, and closer than the law of averages usually deals out. I was trying to come up with a title to describe this phenomenon and Luckompensation is a clumsy attempt; if you can do better I'll change it. Today continued this trend. I was considering staying home as the weather was dull with a good prospect of a soaking. But, you know, get out and do some steps. You never know. 

I saw these folk gathered at the raised walkway, Powderhall. Kingfishers top the likely bill to gather a crowd, although the water rail was becoming a mild local sensation along the same stretch. Happily it had the good sense to keep quite well hidden most of the time and the crowds don't find that sort of behaviour compelling. Meaning there was never more than about a dozen WR onlookers max, often asking was it kingfishers or otters we were pointing cameras at.

Sure enough this turned out to be a male kingfisher who was expressing his contempt for bystanders by turning his back on the humans, and facing the cemetery wall on the other side of the river. I took a photo and moved on.

The plan was to walk round the Botanics and see what was there. If nothing special (and it wasn't really warm enough for butterflies) then there was always the great tits. Although the initial surprise of hand-feeding great tits was bedding in, the actual joy of a feathered friend sitting on my hand, the feel of minature claws gently holding on in a tiny handshake, is easily the best part of most days.

house sparrow (m)

Just passed the water rail station there is a hedge full of house sparrows. They seem to be chatting constantly. They were ten-a-penny when I was a youngster and everyone had 30 in their backgarden. Numbers have dropped significantly in my lifetime and if it keeps going like this they will soon be as rare as they were once widespread.

Despite the partly rubbish weather checking the rhodies has to be done. Not even any interesting hovers today. Also I photographed the sign near the viburnum, the one I have been watching flower. Those silly folk at the Botanics have labelled it Viburnum furcatum when everybody (Obsidentify!) knows it's Viburnum lantana. Actually I tried ID-ing it again with the flowers this far out and Obsidentify now IDs it as Viburnum opulus and with 100% certainty. Perhaps I have to get a plant ID app as Obsidentify seems better with animals, birds and bugs. Although if you aren't aware what a thing is, how do you know what it is not? Since my primary concern is the aesthetic of the photo and not the scientific taxonomy I am completely prepared to pass the ID buck to Obsidentify and say it was their mistake. I merely took the photo and my responsibility stops there. Please feel free to correct (my) their errors.

Viburnum whatever
(furcatum)

long-tailed tit collecting nesting materials

Kazak pear tree just beginning to blossom
hurry along and catch its fabulous display soon

Kazak pear - towards the South West corner of Inverleith Terrace

Camp Mag

LTT

I think this is the third occasion on which I've had the great tits handfeed. Proving it was not just a one-off. They didn't appear more recently when Mary and I were there, although the robins did a certain amount of standing in for them. I'm guessing they travel about the place and cover a wide territory. They probably don't regard me as particularly reliable either. However when they are there, it doesn't take long before they fly over to let their presence be known. Best video results are to swap to the 12~60mm lens and use slo-mo 120fps. I notice they tend to stay perched on fingertips and reach over to food. The robins will take a couple of steps over fingers and don't mind walking on a flat surface. They don't seem to have a preference foodwise and will vary it although I have smashed up the hazelnuts as they sometimes struggle to pick up a whole nut and would manage broken bits easier.

great tits - still an absolute treat

where to find handy great tits (x marks the spot)

I've also marked the rhodies that attracted red admirals early on last year. Sadly they are now past their best and the flowers are wilting on both these shrubs without a sniff of an admiral. I also marked the Pulmonaria which is a continual success with the bees (and occasionally butterflies.) It has been flowering for weeks now and the hairy-footed flower bees love it. (More bee footage in next blog!)

robin shouting

handheld robin - wait for it!

for those who can't be bothered to wait for it

Campbell's Magnolia in full bloom

many rhododendrons coming into flower

tree bumblebee

bullfinch

robin with squint beak

This is one of the robins who will come to a hand depending how playful he/she is feeling. Sometimes it just sits on a nearby branch looking at you. I took his/her photo as the sun was out and making interesting shadows and light and dark.

dunnock

hairy tulips!
(pulsatilla?)

back along Warriston Rd past the hedge hogging sparrows

female

When I got to the raised walkway Mr K Fisher was doing the business; diving into the river and pulling out sticklebacks and minnows. He saw me across the other side and did his best to hide behind a large stump next to the bank. 

cormorant swam downstream - love the green eyes!
look how low in the water they float/submerge

The KF flew upstream and looked as if it had settled on the nearside bank. Could I be arsed retracing my steps? Okay, I traipsed back along, putting off my lunch soup yet again. It was on the opposite side and sat on a branch just above the water. I hoped it would dive in and catch a fish there, where there was half a chance of decent slo-mo video of it fishing. Nope. It flew up and sat on a higher branch and faced the opposite wall. Okay message understood. I was about to leave the huffy wee shit to himself when everything changed dramatically. There was a peeping from downstream, from another kingfisher. The huffy male immediately perked up and turned around. I started filming. In real time rather than slo-mo becuase the latter doesn't record audio and I wanted to record their peeping back and forth. Unfortunately there was a lot of ambient noise and bird calls and its difficult to discern what is kingfisher to-and-fro and what is not. In a second he was off and landed 60 yards downstream ON THE NEARSIDE BANK where the female was advertising herself.

huffy male

hang on, who is that calling out?

This is the only time I've ever got a decent photo of 2 kingfishers (Luckompensation?) I walked stealthily downstream to get a closer photo but not so close I'd chase them off or discourage their courtship. The female (lower, with more orange on her lower beak) seemed very keen and was edging up the branch towards the male.

If you look at the video I shot you can see he is not so keen. He transfers to the branch next door and after further consideration headed over to the other side of the river and then after another interaction with the female, flew up stream and round the corner. She stayed and took a perch on one of his favourite branches.

I have no idea why Mr K found her unsuitable. His initial excitement was tangible but as soon as he got beside her, he lost interest. We were laughing later thinking he maybe recognised his mum. Whatever it was, I was both disappointed they didn't take it further but also delighted to have been passing by at just the right time, and that they, for a glorious moment, were sat on a branch so close I had to slightly zoom out to get them both in. If I hadn't been totes overexcited by the scene, I'd have zoomed out slightly further to allow the crop-in that happens when you apply stability in the video-editing in post. It was a bit shaky, but I think I can be forgiven in the circumstances. And not bad for handheld full zoom without tripod etc.

deserted female

kingfisher video,
a hit and a near miss!

5.5miles in 3hr15m