March seemed to fly by, and there has been a lot happening out there in the the natural world. We’ve had a pretty wet month, but interspersed with some glorious sunshine and a few warm days.
Read on below for our latest updates:
- Species of the month is Buff-tailed bumblebee
- TV review on My Garden of a Thousand Bees
- Community outreach & social prescribing.
- Wild Roots Nature Fest – further updates.
Warmly,
Ros
Species of the month
Buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
I love a bumblebee. Their size and buzzing makes them a distinctive sight and sound of early spring, and the queens are that much larger, making them even more conspicuous. The buff-tailed is named for the queen’s colouring – the workers are much whiter, making them harder to distinguish from their near-cousin the white-tailed bumblebee.
These are one of the earlier species to emerge, and they are fairly widespread and common in the UK. A colony nester, they often re-use old mouse holes and they can have up to 350 workers once established!
Side note: I rescued this female who was looking rather drowsy. In my haste to help her, I provided her with some honey (seemed natural), and found out afterwards that it can actually introduce deadly pathogens (bacteria and viruses) from commercial hives. I’ve now purchased a bee rescue kit which contains a sugar solution (50:50 white sugar to water is recommended).
TV review: My Garden of a Thousand Bees
Film maker Martin Dohrn developed a fascination for his garden bees during lockdown, and this film is the result.
The good bits
There is a good mix in the story of the different species, the garden habitats (and some great tips on encouraging bees) and the stories and relationships he developed, as well as the technical challenges that he faced and (mostly) overcame in order to get high quality images of these tiny creatures. It is lovely to see the world from a different perspective, and I was amazed at how many different species he recorded, and their variety in terms of size, shape and colouration. Seeing them going about their daily lives to produce the next generation was beautiful and humbling. A particular highlight for me was ‘Nicky’ the leaf-cutter bee.
The bad bits
As a one-off programme, it was beautiful and easy to engage with, but I felt like I was left wanting a bit more! As is usual with BBC films, the music was a little bit intrusive at times, but this felt a lot less so than in other programmes and series I’ve watched before. More about the different elements in a garden that support bees (he didn’t really mention providing water, for example), including the types of flowers that are appropriate. More about the difficulties that our bees face and what we can do to support them. And more about the wider issues.
Overall, this was a charming and very watchable programme, with beautifully filmed interactions and I would highly recommend it.
Community outreach & social prescribing
During March I delivered a session for the Forest of Bowland as part of their Connecting People and Nature project, funded by the Earnest Cook Trust. I joined a group from Stanleys Community Centre in Morecambe to do a half-day session of gelli plate printing. We had a short walk in the spring sunshine, responsibly collecting some plant samples which we used to make some beautiful prints. The attendees really enjoyed the day, and I am always amazed at how different everyone’s finished pieces turn out. We even had some fun trying out some metallic paints. Huge thanks to Jo & Chuck from Sewing Cafe Lancaster for the loan of the table-cloths.
We have a small pot of funding to support both our outreach and social prescribing sessions and we are eager to reach as many people as possible. If you or someone you know could benefit from our nature-based wellbeing support, or would like to collaborate please email us at admin@wildlifewalk.co.uk to find out more.
Wild Roots Nature Fest 2026 - latest news
Most of the sessions are now confirmed for Wild Roots Nature Fest 2026 and we are busy getting all of the information together to produce the festival programme and get the ticketed events online.
The festival will be running from 6th to 14th June in the following locations:
- Storey Gardens – Saturday 6th June*
- Claver Hill – Sunday 7th June
- Market Square (Seasonal Market with Closing Loops) – Friday 12th June
- Freeman’s Wood – Saturday 13th June
- The Gregson – Sunday 14th June
*All sessions at Storey Gardens must be booked in advance.
As with last year, events will be on a donation-only basis, and we are very grateful to National Lottery Awards For All for granting us funds to pay our amazing delivery partners.
We are looking for volunteers for this year’s festival. Can you help? If so, please fill out our volunteer form online.
