bumblebee

We’ve all read the newspaper headlines saying bumblebees are in trouble and their numbers are declining, well today, in a small and insignificant way, I was able to help one as part of my #30DaysWild Challenge.

I’ve been thinking a lot about “my wild life” today, and realised that the wildlife REALLY important to me is the stuff in my garden and on my patch. That sounds incredibly insular, but I just can’t get away from the fact that it’s true. OK, yes, I care deeply about the future of wildlife and wild habitats in the UK (and throughout the world for that matter), but what matters to me most, and what affects me every single day, is the wildlife in my garden.

A Holly blue hanging onto the Green Alkanet for dear life!

I wandered out there this afternoon to sit by the pond. It’s something I do most days in the summer, just for 10 mins (sometimes longer) especially when the sun comes out – as it did late this afternoon.

A Girdled mining bee hiding in a buttercup

Having rained pretty much non-stop all day, the dry spell was greeted by hundreds of bees descending onto the flowery flowerbeds. However, the one thing that hadn’t stopped was the wind. Giant gusts were still blowing me, the garden chairs, the plants and the bees around like we were in some kind of enormous spin-dryer.

A Buff tailed bumblebee coming into land

I coped, even the garden chairs and the plants were OK, but one particular bumble was really struggling.

One bumblebee was struggling

Desperate for food and up against a fierce wind, it couldn’t even fly from flower to flower, and was becoming weaker and weaker as I watched. So I helped.

It made it to another flower

I held a flower close, and it clambered on to it and fed.

… and another

Having finished feeding from that one, I offered it another, and another, until it seemed at last to get its mojo back and with a buzz, it could fly again.