Newbies

Last Thursday I made my first trip of the year to the Spetchells at Prudhoe (an artificial chalk landscape produced by the waste from a WW2 ICI fertiliser factory).  It is home to a variety of locally rare plants and insects and is a marvellous place for solitary bees.  I chose a sunny calm morning but the weather has been pretty cold recently so there were very few bees about.  The very first I saw was a mating pair of buffish mining bees (Andrena nigroaenea).

I was a bit surprised to see a female out so early as the males are first to emerge.  This is her after they separated.

And this is the male.

I saw half a dozen other males but no other females.

Andrena nigroaenea is one of the first mining bees to emerge in the spring.  I expect there will be many more next time I visit.