Yellow warblers arrived back a few days ago and were singing up a storm at the garden both during and after the heavy rain of this afternoon. Also singing (and seen) were blue-headed vireo, blackburnian warbler, black-throated green warbler, chestnut-sided warbler, rose-breasted grosbeak and least flycatcher. These are just the ones new for this spring.

However, bumblebee queens are really common now and they are so busy that nothing deters them. YOu may have noticed them flying slowly and low over the ground, as if patrolling, which in a sense they are. They are looking for a safe place to start their colony. Once this has been achieved, the queen must get busy provisioning it with pollen. She lays her eggs on the pollen balls and then broods them, just as a bird does. So, the two separate queen bees in these photos have obviously both found a suitable nest site and are now busy gathering pollen, one on a willow and one on a dandelion.