Sticky situations and smelly feet.

Today has consisted of stolen sandwiches, bumblebee watching and bad news...

I've had a tough'n. I received a bit of sad news and I also got myself in a pickle with an older boy I was assessing, I'm normally pretty good at anticipating certain behaviours, but obviously wasn't on top form today. Let's just say I'm grateful that most of his teeth are rotten...

So after an eventful and pretty pants day, I took Oakley for a long walk through the scrubland that is more formally known as Barnes Common. Certainly not the prettiest green space in London for many, but it is fairly unkempt so is a huge area of long grass meadows and wild flowers. I love it and it is teeming with real British wildlife. 

Barnes Common

I stumbled across lots of breeding grasshoppers that flitted around with every footstep, too many butterflies to count and so many different species. And of course, bumblebees, filling their pollen pockets with the good stuff. Since I started reading 'a Sting in the Tale', I've seen bumbles and other bee species everywhere and I can't not stop to observe them. I read today that they leave an oily substance from their feet on the petals when they land to drink the nectar; kind of like a smelly footprint. Other bees can detect this, and won't land on recently visited flowers. This way they don't waste time or energy investigating plants with little profit. Not only this, but bees can learn, through experience (they think), how long different species of flower take to replenish their nectar, so they can determine when to return when the flower. For instance some flowers are quick and will replenish within minutes, others can take up to an hour, and bees use this oily substance to know how long ago the plant was last fed from and when best to visit again. Cool huh?

I sat down by a big patch of Buddleja and watched the bumblebees and it is so fascinating; this behaviour is so easy to identify. I could clearly see them stopping and hovering for a few seconds whilst they determined which flowers were worth the effort. You only need to sit down for ten minutes and watch before you see the same patterns of behaviour being used by individual bees. The honeybees behaved in much the same way too.

It certainly cheered me up after a naff day at work anyway. Plus on my evening dog walk I saw a headghog! Bonus!

Spike

Song of the Day:
Get Better - Frank Turner
Frank Turner is one of my favourite artists and someone I've got into only fairly recently. As predominantly a solo artist, he ticks all the boxes. Great voice, simple but catchy lyrics and the right balance between preachy and trying to convey a heartfelt message. Many of his songs seem autobiographical and it's no secret that Frank has battled with depression and anxiety for much of his earlier career. This just accounts for his energy and honesty in his songs. Get Better is a quick lyric-ed ballad with a catchy riff and chorus. It does what it says on the tin, 'Draw a line underneath all of this unhappiness. We can get better.' And you're right Frank, I've had a bad day but tomorrow will be fab!

P.s. Oakley still has no sign of a perforated stomach, so I think we've avoided drama there. He did however steal a man's sandwich from his bag on the train today. I didn't notice until it was too late and the poor commuter got off the train before I could say anything. He must have been so disappointed come lunch time... whoops.