Bee mine!

After some frustrating misses on bees in the last couple of days, I settled down at Cullaloe this morning to take multiple long range shots of bees feeding on catkins near the tops of trees - their preference, rather than mine. I managed to snap a couple of relatively in focus shots of what I thought was Bombus lucorum, the White-tailed Bumble Bee. It seems that Bombus terrestris is another possibility though. They appear to be emerging from a south facing slope, and both species nest in the ground. Both species also appear early. Now I have to figure out what differentiators can be used and whether I have them. It's a worker. That's a start, I suppose.