Bee with Me!

Our crepe myrtle trees are in full bloom. The flowers on the pink tree are more abundant than on the magenta tree. In the mornings as we sit outside enjoying a cup of coffee, we hear the hum of the bees. It sounds just like we are sitting inside a hive. Bees are a hard subject to shoot photos of because they are very swift, but I did manage to get a number of photos that I want to share with you today.

Here is a honeybee…

Honeybee on Crepe Myrtle

If you look closely at this photo you will see that the honeybee is a hairy insect.

Hairy bee

This little gal is on top of it!

She’s on top of it!

I got lucky on this next shot. I captured a pair!

A pair of honeybees

This next shot shows the bee harvesting. You can see pollen on her right hind leg.

Harvesting

My favorite shot is this last one. The wings of the bee move so rapidly. Check out what the wing looks like captured in motion.

Wings in motion

That’s it for today Thanks for dropping by! Have an amazing day and bee well. `ö´

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Summer Hummers

I realized that I have not featured our sweet little hummingbirds for a while. We usually have the annas and the rufous. We have not seen the rufous since early summer. We do have plenty of the annas. Here are some shots of these summer hummers in our yard.

They are quick to come and go.

Coming and going

Did you know that aside from nectar, the hummingbirds favorite thing to eat are ants? We stopped washing off the ants from the feeders.

Hummers and ants at the bird feeder

Here is a lucky shot of an incoming hummer.

Incoming!

They get used to us being around, and even zoom at us to let us know that the feeder is getting low. My husband caught this shot of them sitting on my hand.

On my fingers

Here is a photo of a rufous from earlier

A fat Rufous Hummingbird

We plant flowers in our garden every year that will provide these foothill critters with nectar. We have so many in the garden this year that we have not had to fill the feeder but twice.

Well, there you have it, my summer hummers. Have a great weekend and be well… ^..^

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Up Close – Through My Eyes

Brie Anne Demkiw over at WordPress has chosen the topic Up Close for the photo challenge this week. Right up my alley! Ready to see a different world? Click on each photo to see the details in more detail!!

How is this face to face with a bee? Check out her beautiful wings.

Looking at nature up close

Did you know that there are curlicues inside the dandelion blossom? I didn’t!

A dandelion

The heavy pollen is hanging on to this daffodil.

Swimming in Salmon

Lovely colors are found inside an almond blossom.

Almond blossom

The Birds Nest fungus is 1/4 the size of a dime. Imagine my surprise to find the little “eggs” inside of it.

Inside the Birds Nest

I never knew that the inside of a vinca, or periwinkle, was orange and fuzzy.

Periwinkle Center

Did you know that one individual petal of a clover blossom has many parts?

Long stalked clover

As each faerie releases, what is left behind looks like a pin cushion.

The last of the fairies

There you have it! I hope that you did give each of these photos a closer look. There is a lot of detail to be found in a world up close!

Be well…. ^..^

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Random Views of Insects

I was thinking about what to post today, and decided I would share with you some random views that I took of insects. I hope that you enjoy the photos today.

A cricket.

A green cricket

A flame skimmer dragonfly.

Loaded with details

Green comma butterfly.

The Green Comma

A swallowtail butterfly.

A White Swallowtail Butterfly

EB’s mothra.

Female Ceanothus Silk Moth

Check out the eye on this wasp! Click twice on this photo to see the detail!

The eye of a wasp

A bumblebee.

The Bumblebee

A Sierra Foothills native. The tarantula!

Coming at you!

I hope that you enjoyed the photos today, and thank you for taking the time to drop on by. Be well… ^..^

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Bee Magnet

A couple of years ago I planted a Russian sage in my garden. This is the first year that the plant has topped 6 feet. The lovely lavender blossoms are a magnet for not only honeybees but bumblers too. I took some time the other day trying to capture some of these bees. So, today I share with you what I caught.

Russian sage attracts the bees

Heading to a blossom

Some sweet nectar

Seeing all parts

Harvesting

I wish you could smell the aroma of the plant. It is heady! Thanks for stopping by today and be well… ^..^

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A Local Native – The Hazelnut

Years ago, when I was in the Big Trees State Park, there were loads of hazelnut trees. I thought that the leaves on this tree were very pretty. I attended a native plant sale at our county fair grounds years ago, and the master gardeners had hazelnuts for sale. I bought one. It has not produced nuts, which was disappointing. I was surprised this year when upon inspection I discovered that it finally has nuts. Here are photos of the developing nuts…

This is what first caught my eye.

Developing hazelnuts

Looking around my bush, I noticed that there were a lot of them hiding under the leaves.

Hiding under the leaves

There were single nuts.

A single hazelnut

And, a pair.

A pair of hazelnuts

Even triplets!

Triplets

Here is what the bush looks like.

My hazelnut

I am really excited that this shrub is producing. Stay tuned as I wait for the husks to dry and the nuts to fall. Hopefully I will get to them before the squirrels!

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The Hedge – Mondays Finish the Story

Happy Monday! Every Monday I devote my post to a flash fiction writing challenge that I host. It is called Mondays Finish the Story. This is a flash fiction challenge where I provide a photo and the opening line to a story. The writer is to use the opening line and write a story that goes with the photo. The word limit is 100-150 words, not including the opening line. Here is my contribution to this week’s challenge. The opening sentence is in bold and italicized letters.

The Hedge – © 2015, Barbara W. Beacham

“The barista shook his head. That hedge couldn’t have moved closer overnight. Could it?” He scratched his head and wondered.

He went about his morning chores getting ready for the morning rush of coffee drinkers. Time ticked by and no one came in. “Strange,” he thought to himself. Going to the door, he looked out through the glass. He put his hands in his pockets, and looked towards the street on his right.

“Funny,” he thought, “I don’t recall seeing that hedge trimmed in the images of people.” He ventured out the door and walked over to examine the hedge. The leaves appeared newly cut. He turned to go back in.

He felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning, he saw a green man that was transparent. “What?” asked the barista.

He began to feel strange. The green man moved him over to the hedge. Looking down at his hands, he saw leaves sprouting. The green man smiled and said, “Welcome to the family.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Mondays Finish the Story

I hope that you enjoyed my story. You can join in too just by clicking HERE!

Thanks for dropping by and have an amazing week. Be well… ^..^

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They’re Back!

In the late summer, early fall, the praying mantis lay their eggs. Over the winter to late spring, they do their thing inside the hard casing and finally emerge. They grace my garden and eat the pesky bugs no one wants on their plants.

Let’s start by checking out a praying mantis egg casing.

Praying mantis egg case

Weird looking isn’t it? This casing was on the bottom side of one of the branches on my liquid amber tree.

Here is the praying mantis that I discovered, which let me know that they are back!

The praying mantis is back!

This is a baby and is about the size of a quarter. It will grow to a length of 3-3 1/2 inches long.

This is a baby

Now about the size of a quarter

If you look closely at the photos you will see lots of detail. This little guy is watching me. Click on the photo so you can see the pupils in his eyes.

It watches me

This one looks funny with its butt up in the air.

Sticking its butt up in the air

Because this is just a baby, it has not yet developed its wings.

You can tell the sex of the mantis by the wings. This next photo shows the typical stance of the praying mantis.

Typical stance of a mantis

It has been watching me the entire time I took these photos, and as I try to get closer, it moves away from me.

It moves away

I hope that you enjoyed today’s photos. Thanks for dropping by, and have a splendid Saturday. Be well… ^..^

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Playing with the Macro Lens

Since going through chemo, I have had issues with my hands. Not only do I have neuropathy, but tremors, or shaking, too. This makes taking photos, especially macro shots, hard to do. I gave it a go the other day and wanted to share with you some of the photos I took.

The center of a clematis

Galardia

A very tiny spider on coreopsis

Russian sage

Artemesia

Water from a sprinkler

The top of a red hot poker

Weedicus Unknownicus

Spirea blossoms

Out of the 175 photos I took that day, these were the best. I am hoping that eventually my hands will stop shaking. Thanks for dropping by today and be well… ^..^

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Around My Yard

For today I decided that I would share with you some of the views in my garden. Most of these have been blooming for a while, which is early. This is due to the drought. I hope that you enjoy the shots. The final photo is something a bit different, but sweet!

Gallardia

Hydrangea

Clematis

Another clematis

Gerboa

Red hot poker

This last shot is not a flower, but a hummingbird. Did you know that one of their favorite foods are ants? We watch the hummers as they dart around our gravel driveway eating ants. I caught this little bird with an ant in its bill.

A hummer catches an ant

Well, that is it for today. I hope that you enjoyed the photos! Have a wonderful day and be well… ^..^

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