Bee food available again

I don't think I have been as badly affected by this bug as Woodpeckers, but I haven't felt like doing much today. I had to cancel this morning's planning meeting for the next finance committee, ax well as missing tonight's full council meeting.

It has been a glorious day again, with soft warm sunshine, a misty blue sky and no wind. After I had 'helped' Helena with the next jigsaw puzzle, which is a surprisingly good way to spend time when you are under the weather, I went out to the cabin. I wanted to water the plants in the cabin using captured rainwater, and while I was there I topped up the bird feeders which are still being plundered heartily.

When hanging up one of the feeders I looked down over the garden fence to our neighbour's better tended garden. It was a delight, with lots of different coloured crocus flowers all pointing their petals at the sun, with a few snowdrops still in flower and some tulip leaves nearly fully formed. I think it has slightly warmer micro-climate in the shelter of the fence which is covered with ivy and keeps the winds off.

I spotted this small bee bustling around the crocus flowers, disappearing for a minute at a time down into the base of the flower, before slowly struggling up again and flying off to gather more pollen. What a lovely sign of spring just yards away from daily life.

I took a few shots of the bee on different flowers, and this seemed the sharpest, but perhaps not the most colourful. If you look at this larger view, you can see the pollen collected just beneath its abdomen.