First Leafcutters of the Year

I get the feeling that these Leafcutter Bees are a little earlier than last year here in a dull Nottinghamshire. I heard a bit of nibbling inside the hole a few days ago so kept an eye on when they might take flight.  Well the morning of the 31st May was maiden flight day.  Three bees left the same hole within the space of about 20 minutes.  What surprised me was the fact that the day doesn't seem that great, no sunshine when they took to flight, but reasonably warm.  Here's a couple of pics of them surveying the world prior to flight.

LEafcutter Bee, Carlton Nottinghamshire, 31st May 2014 - It's first look at the outside world.