Can’t seem to get away from the salvias. Other stuff is still in bloom, but the best shots are coming from this one. So cold and windy and rainy lately. Guess we need the moisture. Not my favorite time of year. Seems so much is left undone. And so much to do yet before the snow.
Tag: In Flight
In-flight toward the Salvia
Wonderful tongue…and a bit of a wing blur. I probably should have done a broader crop to show more of the flower and gardens. But the bee is so cute…and neat.
Haven’t shot bees for a good while. Almost a week. Missed yesterday because…stuff. Was thrilled to get ten or so minutes today. So enjoy this one. Hoping for more tomorrow.
A Rare Sight: Bumble in the Asters
I see lots of natives in the asters – especially the sweat bees. The honeybees make the asters pulse with life…but I so so so seldom get a bumble in them. Here’s one from yesterday. Got a few great shots of it working on the flowers, but I’m a sucker for in-flight shots. So that’s what you get today. So many asters, too. They change and hybridize and wander through the garden. Gorgeous! Oh, and there’s a bonus honeybee that’s almost in focus.
Leafcutter Approaching the Yarrow
I’m in Durango, Colorado today at the art festival. If you’re in the area, come have a look!
This is the infamous “abdomen-up” bee. Seems like the underside of her back end is always covered in pollen. Great eyes on this one. Great grab. And the pink with the green background is special.
Rare on the Roses – In Flight
I don’t get many shots of bees in flight. And fewer still of ones on roses for some reason. They bees are on them from time to time, but they don’t usually stay very long on a single blossom…and there are so many other blossoms that the bees are interested in that I don’t spend much time shooting on the roses. This is a nice grab, though!
Wool Carder Bee – Defending the Hens and Chicks
This bee has a lot of nicknames around here – all of them unprintable. Really territorial, aggressive little thing. Especially the males. But this is a neat shot of a male in flight. Look closely at that neat eye on him.
Late Shot on the Sunflower
This heavy schedule of art festivals nearly every weekend is killing me. Only have just more than a full day back – then on the road again. Tried to shoot bees this evening. Almost 7:00 p.m. here. Got some strange light, but a great bee, great flower, great focus, interesting background…and that shadow. Something I love.
Sorry for being brief, scattered, and a bit off today. Try to love this shot…
And I really could use some help selecting shots for the calendar…please.
En Route: Destination Salvia
Current festival: On Saturday, Sunday, and Monday (September 4-6), I’ll be in Avon, Colorado in Nottingham Park with my art. Stop by and have a look. Bonus here is that on Monday night, Los Lobos will be playing a free show.
Sometimes it surprises me what shows up in photos and what does not. Good look at her left front wing…and the others just don’t seem to be there much. Shot at 1/1000th of a second which might explain the blur to oblivion. The wings move so fast. And note that the salvias are going still even this late in the season. Wonderful plant for the pollinators.
Departing a Alstroemeria
I can never remember the name of this flower. It looks and acts much like a lily, but isn’t. Apparently, it’s an Alstroemeria – and is also called a Peruvian lily or lily of the Incas. I guess the difference is that lilies grow from bulbs while these grow from tubers. Whatever the case, they’re pretty neat plants and seem to bloom for at least two or three months every year here (climate zone 5b).
They’re not particularly fantastic for pollinators – at least in my observation – in that I don’t get many shots on them (read I don’t see bees on them very often). So I get pretty excited when I get a decent shot.
I like this one of the bumble – kind of splayed in flight – and I like that you can see the just-starting-to-fill pollen baskets pretty well (one in excellent focus).
Two other things about this shot: First, so many of the in-flight ones look like they’re approaching. Or our confirmation bias says that this must be the case. But, in truth, most of them are shot (by me, at least) as they’re backing out of the flower – like this one. Second, in that fold of the petals just above the bee, you can see a bit of a spider’s web – and just a bit of the spider.
Bonus: The Goldenrod Has Been Buzzing Lately
Shot this at midday today. Some of the shots I’ve got four or five (admittedly out of focus) critters in them. The wasps seem to be as fond of it as the bees. And flies. Fun pic. Enjoy!
