fox cub- allotment bristol – ink pen – c. A4

First sighting of fox cub on the allotment, basking in the sun with its mother. We’ve been seeing her quite a bit, heavily pregnant when snow was on the ground and then a couple of weeks ago with distended teats. They were at the far end of somebody’s garden surrounded by dandelion clocks and forget-me-nots. Mother grooming the baby.

mining bee in nestbox- allotment bristol – ink pen – A6 sketchbook

First mining bee nesting in the box I bought a year or so ago.. perspex sides let you look in and see what is happening. Over the last week or so she has constructed 10 mud walled cells. Filling each one with pollen, she has a ritual of returning from pollen collection, chewing over some of the previous batch (I wonder why?) and then scraping off the new load from the underside of her abdomen using bristly hind legs. When the cell is 3/4 full of pollen she lays a single white sausage shaped egg and then seals it up.
Seeing several species of mining bee including ashy and tawny. I’m not sure of the one in the box, maybe buffish?