Nature on your farm.

I rescued a bumble bee struggling to escape from a bucket of water today. Exhausted, its wings too wet to fly. The only flowers with nectar that I could find in bloom were snowdrops.

There nice detail in this photo. A very large honey bee, could it be a queen. Out of curiosity, I googled this

https://www.orkin.com/pests/stinging-pests/bees/honey-bees/mechanics-of-honey-bee-mating

Everything is weeks ahead of scheduled - which is why I hope we don't get a beast from the East next month!!😯

I looked around for flowers, there was no access to sugar. All that was in flower were daisy's or the snowdrops. I had seen dandelions earlier but couldn't remember where. It was probably too long in the water anyway.

Apparently buzzards do predate on crows but I imagine only young ones. I wonder did bird flu affect your crows. We lost one of the resident mute swans on the lake a few weeks ago. I saw it in a neighbours field one day and it was gone the next. I didn't see any evidence of it until I was out fencing the other day and there was feathers scattered over a big area of one of our fields. I presume a fox got it.

They do predate "Brancher" rooks alright who are just out of the nest, so they do influence the locations of rookeries in that respect

Early the other morning I was firing a few things into the car. Heard one of the cats growl at something behind me and she ran past me like a flash. Turned around to see whatever it was that frightened her and up rocks this fox. It stopped just a few yards away from me, it looked at me and I looked at it for a few secs and instead of panicked running away, it just turns and lopes off like what you'd expect from an urban fox. Wonder if they predate on cats?

I saw a stoat this afternoon jumping the ditch, lovely red colour, quick lil fellow.

I see the house martins at the gable end of the house have returned this morning but no sign of any swallows yet. Last year the swallows were here about a week before the house martins.

Same location, now there are two swallows. They were chased off by the arrival of starlings.

I saw two house Martins doing aerobatics around my neighbours house yesterday. They nest every year in the same spot, under the bargeboard on the gable

Thankfully the first pair of swallows arrived this afternoon into the garage at the house. I've left the small door open for the last couple of weeks in anticipation of their return and when I went to feed the dogs just now the two are happily perched on the rafters. Hopefully the other two pairs arrive soon.

On the downside, the house martins have disappeared and there has been no activity around the nest under the gable since.

I counted 11 jackdaws on the bull as he was lying down picking beakfuls of his hair to line their nests.

Pheasant has taken up residence in the garden