Here Comes Summer

 After a mammoth load of pictures yesterday I have settled on just one photo for today; a beautiful bee hard at work gathering pollen from a buttercup. There are so many different varieties of bee that I cannot say which variety this is however as you can see it is living up to the reputation of being busy. As summer approaches and more flowers come into bloom this is the perfect time of year to spot some of our spectacular and incredibly important pollinators.

Fur Bee

 This is such a fluffy bee with a a great big walrus moustache.

It was a little bit damp and bedraggled but I am sure that after feasting on nectar from this thistle it would soon be ready to fly. 

Bee kind

 I went to Macclesfield forest recently for a walk with my youngest son. We had a really good time enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of the forest, we watched buzzards fly overhead and were thrilled to see a Goshawk fly swiftly and silently through the trees.

The best photo opportunities were of bees and insects so I kitted up my macro lens and got down into the long grass. As it was still fairly early and still quite cold the bees were only just starting to emerge from where they had been sheltering overnight. 

We watched for a few minutes as this bee slowly climbed up the grass, pausing periodically to look around before continuing its upward journey.

I wonder how it sees the world through its big dark eyes. I love the second image where I came face to face with the bee, its face framed nicely by its hairy body looking rather like a golden halo. 

Wild Flower Meadow

Yesterday was a trip into the past but today I have decided to get back to nature. 

Driving to work this morning the sky was so dull, grey and featureless and as the day wore on it didn't get any better. In fact outside right now it is positively miserable and I needed to find something to bring a little colour to my day.

Looking at these pictures maybe I have tipped the balance to a colour overload but what colours... I love wild flower meadows and this small swathe of wildflowers while not quite a meadow (it actually bordered the approach to Brick Croft nature reserve) is certainly a welcome sight today.

Coming In To Land

Today I have taken a break from my #canadianadventure pictures and gone for something closer to home.

In front of my house we have a really spectacular lavender plant growing and as well as producing a bumper crop of fragrant seeds it is a big draw for various species of bees and butterflies right through the summer months. Even now when the flowers are past their best there are always loads of bees to be seen but it takes a great deal of patience to get a decent shot because they're always on the move. I was really pleased to catch this one just as it came in to land, even with a fast shutter the wings are still little more than a blur.