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Nature Diary

Here you can find all of my nature diary entries brought to you straight from the field. This shorter diary format has replaced my earlier blogs so that I can share my finds as and when they happen. If there is anything in particular that you would like to see featured here or that you would like to contribute, then please get in touch.

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Tawny mining bees are nesting again!

Nick Wilson-Smith April 20, 2025

Sunday 20th April

Today I was working down by the river (Derwent), and on the path edge something caught my eye. A small, volcano-like mound of soil spool at the foot of an ancient, sessile oak. I carefully put my phone on the path and managed to film a charming video of a preoccupied female tawny mining bee in all her gingery glory. This wonderful solitary bee forms a burrow of eggs and a food source of nectar from nearby flowering fruit trees. She will seal each egg complete with a store of nectar in a single cell which will then hatch, develop, hibernate before it emerges as an adult the following spring.

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