Vespa vulgaris awakes and a couple more early season spiders.

Vespa vulgaris Carlton, Nottinghamshire. 30th March 2014

Yesterday was a particularly nice day here in Nottinghamshire and would have been perfect for a spring walk.  Unfortunately I was on the second day of a two day trip to Birmingham Think Tank museum with 100 pupils from school.  This involves a "night at the museum" sleeping around the exhibits.  Fun for the kids but after getting into school at 7.00 am on Friday and still dealing with pupils at 01.00 am Saturday, the fun bit for me was wearing thin. However it's now Sunday and the weather although still warm is a little cloudy with only brief spells of hazy sunshine. Too knackered to go out so I pottered around in the garden.  A peak at the bee log showed no signs of emerging Bees but a fine Queen of Vespa vulgaris the common wasp.  My log has a large patch of working made by the lesser stag beetle and it was from one of these holes that the wasp was emerging.  A couple of minutes sunning itself then it was away.  Also noted on the house wall was a pretty little Thomosid spider about 3mm in size, sunning itself on the warming mortar. 

Carlton Notts, 30th March 2014. 

I wouldn't like to put a name to it as colour is not indicative of species and I didn't fancy dunking it in alcohol in order to check it to species.  A picture is included, any arachnid experts out there wish to make a more educated guess then me please feel free to let me know what you think it is.  I also attach another spider photograph this time of a male Alopecosa barbipes, a good looking spider encountered on Budby Heath a couple of weeks ago. Very pretty!

Alopecosa barbipes Budby Heath March 2014.