Spring is coming

A bee-mimic hoverfly visiting a tulip flower

A week ago it felt like winter will never end but finally with the stronger sun and the cold easterly winds ceasing it actually felt like spring at the weekend. Certainly some early pollinators thought the same and were out and about looking for nectar and pollen. Flowers are hard to find at the moment as plants are still holding back but fortunately good old dandelion (Taraxacum agg.) is a reliable food source for early bees and hoverflies. Also crocuses are still flowering and some early tulips are just starting to come into bloom; both will provide a welcome meal for pollinators. Lesser celandine (Ficaria verna) and Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara) attract bees and hoverflies with their bright yellow flowers which will open in the warm sunshine. Wood anemone (Anemone blanda), grown for its bright blue or white flowers, is also flowering now and visited by early pollinators.
  

An interesting looking fly on Coltsfood (Tussilago farfara)

Small tortoiseshell enjoying the sunshine

The Small tortoiseshell has found a mate

Bee-mimic hoverfly on a dandelion flower

Little solitary bee in a tulip flower

Buff-tailed bumblebee queen looking for nectar in a Lesser celandine flower

A small hoverfly visiting a Lesser celandine flower

This Wood anemone flower attracted a bee-mimic hoverfly

Solitary bee full of pollen in a dandelion flower

Not a pollinator but nice as well:  a zebra spider, basking in the sunshine