Little flower bee

I made the most of the nice weather today and wandered over to Iping common to look for flies, and this wonderful tiny bee that lives there.
At first I was quite worried as I couldn't find any and then....there they were all buzzing frenetically around these purple thistles.
The little flower bee Anthophora bimaculata  is from the same genus Anthophora as the common early spring bee A. plumipes, although it is much smaller, like a really tiny bumble bee with a huge buzz. It is restricted to the south of the UK, and nests on sandy soils.
I think this little bee with it's huge green eyes and feisty personality really is in my top 10 favorite species