Warming up!

I have been really busy today catching up with several old friends. It was great, but all the wonderful chatting nearly saw me blipless!! I tried to get a decent shot at the local garden centre, but in the end settled for a shot I took when I called in at a small conservation area beside the road on the way home.
This beauty who climbed onto my thumb to warm herself up is Andrena haemorrhoa or Early mining bee.
This common and widespread species of solitary bee is between 8 - 11 mm in length with foxy brown hair on the top of the thorax and on the tip of the abdomen. I think they are very smart and are one of my favorite species of spring bee. As you can see they are very friendly and safe to handle, in fact this little soul seemed really reluctant to leave the warmth of my hand!
Hopefully I am pond dipping at Woods Mill tomorrow!!