Bee with Mites

A bumble bee, Bombus sp (Hymenoptera: Apidae) infested with mites.  I was rather surprised to come across parasites so early in the spring as I had assumed that they don't really get going till later in the year.  This bee was rather torpid: it didn't try to fly away when I approached it, but just waved a leg at me.

Photo taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2010-03-28.

Update on Tue 2010-03-30 by Tristram Brelstaff

This afternoon I overheard a discussion of bee mites on BBC Radio 4.  Apparently the mites that are commonly seen on bumble bees in the spring are not thought to be parasitic, but are just hitch-hikers.  They spend most of the year in the bee's nest scavenging on scraps of food but in the spring, when the queen bee is about to leave in search of a new nest, the mites climb onto her, so as not to be left behind.  When the queen founds a new nest, the mites dismount and make it their new home. 

The above bee is therefore probably a queen.

Smoky Bracket Fungus

What I think is Bjerkandera adusta (smoky bracket fungus), growing on the trunk of a dead silver birch tree.  Bracket fungi species can be hard to identify on sight because they are so variable in form and colour.   However, in this case, I have based my identification on the similarities with photos here (to get the images, roll your mouse over the captions on the left), here and here.

Photos taken in the Wilderness, Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2010-03-13.

Swan

A mute swan (Cygnus olor).

Photo taken beside the large lake, Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2010-03-18.

Lichen

Lichen encrusting a fallen twig.

Photo taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2010-03-23.

Update on Sat 2011-03-26 by Tristram Brelstaff

Probably Xanthoria parietina.

Orange Ichneumon Wasp

From last summer: an ichneumon wasp (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae), possibly a member of subfamily Ophioninae.

Photo taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2009-08-12.