Hi. Tidying up the pics and found these - self explanatory except the last is a Hummingbird Hawk Moth hovering at a Phlox flower - wings just a blur.
Wow, great photos, Syd. As I sit here wearing a sweatshirt and watching everything outside get a sheen of ice, those photos gave me hope of warmer days to come. Thank you!
Sydney...it is very hard to not get a wing blur on bird photos...once in a while I will get lucky but not often enough. Thanks for sharing your pictures, very nice.
Hi Jane, Sherry, Frank. Thank you for the kind comments ref my humble "camera bashing". I do have a selection of cameras and also lenses to suit most circumstances but as with so many wildlife pics it is often a hurried shot - such as with birds and insects which are always on the move leaving no time for elaborate settings - its mostly auto shoot. Do believe me I am far far from being anything even approaching expert or overly knowledgeable - I suppose I could call it a knack, plus a very good and keen eye added to much patience - I also am a most fastidious person in all my endeavours which helps. Ref Janes comment on cheering up an outdoors wintry scene and thinking of all there is to look forward to - will send a few pics to aid this. Best wishes. Syd.
Hi Kitty. Glad you like them. Happy to tell you that these last few days here where we live in UK all the signs are that Spring is certainly giving it a good try at least. Warm and sunny and with lots of Crocus and the Daffodils just starting to show. In addition to that though there is also already Bees round the flowers - both Bumbles in varying sizes and also Honeys - and further still have seen a Peacock and several Brimstone Butterflies around also. These are mostly always the first we see here. Have been very busy painting new fences which are nearly finished and will then get the cameras cracking again. Syd.
Great photos again...one summer we had hundreds of dragonflys flying over our heads....it was such a beautiful sight to see. I think they all came to eat the mosquitoes that we had an abundance of that year...
Hi Sherry. I love to see them also - they have this habit of flitting about and then becoming stationary hovering. We get a few different varieties here from the large ones down to the lovely dainty blue Damsel Flys. From what I have read in their early days as larvae in ponds etc they are quite fearsome predators on small fish etc. Syd.
Hi. Sat patiently in the garden for an hour this morning - a nice Orange Tip Butterfly and this Bumble were around - not a lot else really.
Hi Sherry. Plump and happy it was for sure - I do not know how many different varieties of Bumbles there are but we seem to get quite a few here ref colour shades and sizes. Great to see them - the more the better. Syd.
Sydney...I can't remember where I heard about it, I am thinking on this website years ago. They mentioned petting the larger bumble bees. In one of our hot August days when the bees are slower, I took my finger and actually petted one on the back very gently. My husband is allergic to stings so I made sure he wasn't in the area when I did it. Nothing happened, he didn't mind at all. It was just a couple times but at least I can say I have done it... believe me back then I could run a lot faster than I can now, so I don't think I will try it again...
