I walked for miles along a floriferous canal towpath, with Hawthorn in profuse blossom and only saw one bee. None of the blossom had any insects. I stopped to listen for the usual buzz and it was deathly quiet.
That walk was in hot sunny weather and down near Leamington Spa. It was the same in all the nature reserves nearby--nothing to be seen apart from the occasional Orange Tip butterfly.
On arriving back home I walked round the usual places that are normally full of bees and insects but all the flowers were silent.
Tod park usually has a good colony of House Martins nesting under the Sports' Centre roof but not this year.
Please can someone reassure me that my experience is atypical.
Centre Vale Park Local Nature reserve
As for House Martins, we will know better by the end of the year when the Common Bird Census (British Trust for Ornithology) results come out.
ReplyDeleteThere are some about in the usual places. Perhaps the nests have been illegally destroyed by maintenance work on the leisure centre. They have been destroyed at Oats Royd Mill Apartments, Luddenden.
This comment from a nest recording forum I'm on: Few more House Martins arrived this week now have 7 nests same as last year. 4 pairs are in artificial nests. Wondering if this is the way to go due to lack of mud in dry South Cambridgeshire? Swifts have now settled in and she has laid the third egg today!
ReplyDeleteH.E. S.Cambs
Also I saw a parked car with a thick coating of insect splatter on the front of it. Really noticeable even from a distance. Greenfly and larger flies were recognisable. So things might not be so bad Philip.
Thanks for your observations Steve. Swifts today swooping over Victoria Road but I have yet to see a bee of any species.
ReplyDelete