The brown-banded carder bee (a priority species) has been seen foraging on the wildflowers on the experimental green roofs at Barking Riverside. These green roofs form part of an University of East London experiment to measure the rate of water attenuation of green roofs compared with a normal roof. The green roofs have also been seeded with wildlfowers with the aim of improving the biodiversity value...and they seem to have done the job! BRL aims that at least 50% of the new buildings in the development are fitted with biodiverse green roofs.
See Dusty Gedge's blog for more information on the sighting.
http://dustygedge.co.uk/roadblog/2010/10/first-record-of-brown-carder-bee-on-a-green-roof/
