I found this bee crawling on the grass, despite its injuries, it was still alive - just. I photographed it then put it out of its misery.
Apparently, the most likely cause was an attack by a great tit.
It's amazing the poor thing was still alive! Those injuries are horrific. I wonder why the bee got into the situation with the great tit in the first place, woulds it be just a random encounter?
With the unseasonally cold weather, bees have been not as active as they should be and in such circumstances are an easy target, I guess this one just managed to get away or the bird was interrupted - there were quite a few people wandering around.
What an amazing and yet sad picture. It's times like these that you realise how tough and cruel nature is.
That is amazing & horrible at the same time. Why do you think it was a great tit though?
Fascinating picture. I haven't seen many bees around this year, perhaps the colder weather is keeping their numbers down?
That is amazing & horrible at the same time. Why do you think it was a great tit though?
This was the learned opinion of a bee expert based in one of the Scottish universities, who's name escapes me at the moment.
Interesting....... Because of the rain we have had, we haven't cut our lawn so therefore the clover has really sprouted up. When we were watching Ned the newt the other day we had loads of bees visiting the clover, but they were only little ones but looked like what we would call bumble bees.
how strange, whenever i find dead/injured insects i put them in a bird feeder
Andrew , at first I thought that a bit freaky... but when I think of it when I swat a bluebottle in the house I throw it in the koi pool so it's only the same isn't it???
Yep, nothing wrong with putting insects in the bird feeder, I'm sure some of the birds will love it and it gives them more variety.