• ABOUT
  • BIRDING 2018
  • Birding 2019
  • BLOG POSTS
  • Butterflies 2018
  • Resources

earthstar

~ a celebration of nature

earthstar

Tag Archives: ivy flowers

Feed up, fly south

13 Thursday Oct 2022

Posted by sconzani in autumn, insects

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

British butterflies, butterfly, butterfly migration, ivy flowers, Red Admiral, Red admirals feeding on Ivy

It’s not only the birds that head south in the autumn. During a walk along the coastal path earlier this week, I noticed several Red admirals getting ready to migrate.

221013 red admiral (1)

Ivy flowers are essential for them at this time of year when they need to take on as many nutrients as possible before they take the big plunge and fly off over the cliffs, a feat that never ceases to amaze.

221013 red admiral (2)

Like this:

Like Loading...

From flower to berry

02 Thursday Dec 2021

Posted by sconzani in plants

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Hedera helix, ivy, ivy berries, ivy flowers, winter berries

From its nectar-and-pollen-providing flowers to its luscious juicy berries for birds, Ivy is a wonder plant, and I read somewhere recently that it also hosts over 100 species of insect larvae. Amazing!

211202 ivy (1)
211202 ivy (2)
211202 ivy (3)
211202 ivy (4)
211202 ivy (5)
211202 ivy (6)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Incredible Ivy

10 Sunday Jan 2021

Posted by sconzani in flowers, insects, leaves, plants, winter

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Hedera helix, ivy, ivy berries, ivy flowers

I’m not sure I can subscribe to the ancient concept that wearing a wreath of ivy leaves around my head would stop me getting drunk but the leaves are certainly amazing and incredibly diverse in shape, form and colour. Juvenile leaves have between 3 and 5 lobes, while mature leaves have no lobes and can be shaped both like ovals and hearts.

210110 ivy leaf (1)
210110 ivy leaf (2)
210110 ivy leaf (3)
210110 ivy leaf (4)
210110 ivy leaf (5)
210110 ivy leaf (6)

And then there are the flowers, in bloom from September through to November and a source of food for more than 50 insect species, and the subsequent berries, ripe from November to January – or, until the berry-loving winter thrushes, finches, woodpigeons and other hungry birds gobble them all up. What an incredible plant ivy is!

210110 ivy flowers and berries (1)
210110 ivy flowers and berries (2)
210110 ivy flowers and berries (3)
210110 ivy flowers and berries (4)

Like this:

Like Loading...

263/366 The Ivy is buzzing

19 Saturday Sep 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, plants

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

bees on ivy, bees on Ivy flowers, Colletes hederae, Ivy bee, ivy flowers

One of the highlights for me at this time of year is finding Ivy bees feasting, as you might expect, on the newly opened flowers of Ivy. I blog about these little beauties every year so I won’t go in to their details again, just share my latest photos.

200919 ivy bees (1)
200919 ivy bees (2)
200919 ivy bees (3)
200919 ivy bees (4)
200919 ivy bees (5)
200919 ivy bees (6)
200919 ivy bees (7)
200919 ivy bees (8)
200919 ivy bees (9)
200919 ivy bees (10)

Like this:

Like Loading...

323/365 Autumn critters

19 Tuesday Nov 2019

Posted by sconzani in autumn, insects, nature, plants

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

autumn insects, bees, British insects, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, hoverflies, ivy flowers, moth larva, Red Admiral, wasp

It may be late autumn, with shortening days, chill winds and cooling nights but, when the sun comes out as it did yesterday, the insects also come out to warm themselves and feed. During my walk around Cosmeston I spotted a late Red admiral butterfly and then, further on, where ivy was still flowering, a host of flying mini-beasties: hoverflies, various bees and wasps. And, near them, tucked away further down on a bramble leaf, even a caterpillar, probably a moth larva though I’m not sure which species.

191119 autumn insects (1)
191119 autumn insects (2)
191119 autumn insects (3)
191119 autumn insects (4)
191119 autumn insects (5)
191119 autumn insects (6)

Like this:

Like Loading...

257/365 Ivy bees

14 Saturday Sep 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, autumn, insects, nature, plants

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

#365DaysWild, bees, British bees, Colletes hederae, ivy, Ivy bee, ivy flowers

I heard them before I saw them.

190914 ivy bees (7)

I’d been smelling the ivy flowers all day, as I walked one of my local circuits, though Cosmeston along to Lavernock and back to Penarth along the coastal path. But I hadn’t noticed any open flowers until I heard the loud buzzing coming from the ivy ahead of me on the path. It was alive with various species of bee and fly and hoverfly. And then I spotted what I was looking for – the ginger fluff and black-and-yellow-stripes of Ivy bees (Colletes hederae), my first for 2019.

190914 ivy bees (1)
190914 ivy bees (2)
190914 ivy bees (3)
190914 ivy bees (4)
190914 ivy bees (5)
190914 ivy bees (6)

You can find out more about these handsome creatures in my previous blogs here and here.

190914 ivy bees (8)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Busy little Ivy bees

08 Monday Oct 2018

Posted by sconzani in autumn, insects, nature, plants

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

bees on Ivy flowers, British bees, Colletes hederae, Ivy bee, Ivy bee mapping project, ivy flowers

Most of the Ivy bees (Colletes hederae) I spotted when I was out walking last week were living up to their reputation as busy little mini-beasties.

181008 ivy bee (2)
181008 ivy bee (3)
181008 ivy bee (4)
181008 ivy bee (5)

But then I spotted this one, sitting on a leaf, cleaning the pollen off its legs, wings and body. I asked politely if it would please smile for the camera … and it did … I think.

Ivy bees only arrived in Britain in 2001 but they’ve slowly expanded their range across southern England and in to south Wales. They’re very handsome little bees and completely harmless but can only be seen when the Ivy is flowering, from September to November. If you spot one, it would really help if you could report it so that the wonderful folk at BWARS (the Bees, Wasps and Ants Recording Society) can track the bees’ spread around Britain.

Like this:

Like Loading...

An Ivy bee mating ball

24 Sunday Sep 2017

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature, plants

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

bee mating frenzy, bees, bees on ivy, British bees, Colletes hederae, Ivy bee, Ivy bee mating ball, ivy flowers

Some days are just magical! I went out looking for birds – instead I got mobbed by Red admiral butterflies while walking along the coastal path, which made me grin like a Cheshire cat, and then I found these little buzzers.

170924 Ivy bees Colletes hederae (4)
170924 Ivy bees Colletes hederae (5)

They’re Ivy bees (Colletes hederae) and, as their name suggests, they feed on ivy flowers so they don’t appear until early autumn, when most other bees are winding down activities for the year. With an orange woolly thorax and orange-and-black striped abdomen, these bees are easy to identify, though Colletes hederae was only described as a separate species back in 1993 (before that it was confused with two other species of Colletes). Ivy bees only arrived in Britain from Europe in 2001 but have since gradually spread across southern England and in to south Wales: the extent of their spread is being tracked by BWARS, the Bees, Wasps and Ants Recording Society, so please do log your sightings, either on their website here or with your local records centre.

170924 Ivy bees Colletes hederae (6)
170924 Ivy bees Colletes hederae (7)

I had seen my first Ivy bees for the year the previous week but this new sighting was more special because it was a colony. Though the Ivy bee is a solitary bee (it doesn’t form a hive), a group of females will often excavate their individual burrows and underground chambers together in a sandy bank or similar area of loose earth. And, as the BWARS website explains, male bees often wait by the burrows for females to return and then pounce on them. When the other males spot what’s happening, they also want a piece of the action, jumping on the mating couple to form a writhing mass or mating ball. I was lucky enough to see one of these happen, as shown below.

170924 Ivy bees Colletes hederae (1)170924 Ivy bees Colletes hederae (2)170924 Ivy bees Colletes hederae (3)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Feasting on ivy flowers

30 Friday Sep 2016

Posted by sconzani in autumn, flowers, insects, nature

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

harlequin ladybird, ivy, ivy flowers, ladybird

160930-ladybird-on-ivy

This little Harlequin ladybird was just one of the many insects – flies and hoverflies, honey bees, bumblebees and wasps, and a Red Admiral butterfly – that were enjoying the nectar and pollen to be found on these ivy flowers, an important source of food for so many insects in the autumn months.

Like this:

Like Loading...

About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

View Full Profile →

Follow earthstar on WordPress.com

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Recent blog posts

  • Small white brassicas March 19, 2023
  • Have you seen a bumblebee yet? March 18, 2023
  • New fungus: Linospora saligna March 17, 2023
  • His gift March 16, 2023
  • On fire March 15, 2023

From the archives

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

COPYRIGHT

Unless otherwise acknowledged, the text and photographs on this blog are my own and are subject to international copyright. Nothing may be downloaded or copied without my permission.

Fellow Earth Stars!

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • earthstar
    • Join 582 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • earthstar
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

You must be logged in to post a comment.

    %d bloggers like this: