doing the daily dog walk in Pishiobury Park I noticed a bee with a red tail crawling slowly through the grass. Lazy bee behaviour can indicate cuckoo bee and on closer inspection it had a shiny thorax and dark wings indicating a Hill Cuckoo Bee Bombus Rupestris, which parasitises the more common Red-Tailed Bee.
I clicked away with the phone camera and had a good look when I got back; on one photo it has a shiny first segment on the rear leg which I think indicates a pollen basket which is not compatible with it being a cuckoo bee. So I'll just leave some pictures here for comment.
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| nice shiny black and dark wings |
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| shiny abdomen ... and a shiny pollen basket on the rear leg? |
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