So, I was chasing this bumblebee around the garden knowing it was a new one for this year. Eventually, it settled to feeding on a spike of salvia and I readied the camera and took a quick picture even although I wasn’t sure it could be seen as it was working its way around the flower. As I took the second photo the bee leapt into the air and flew over the fence. ‘Bother!’, I said, or a rather less polite exclamation, convinced I’d no photo at all.
A pleasant surprise then when I not only had a reasonable picture of it feeding… but also an excellent in flight one too!
Red-tailed Bumblebee Bombus lapidarius
The yellow tufts behind its head show that this is a male.
On the theme of red… these are just coming into flower, as it was only planted three weeks ago. The particular variety is ‘Enchanted Embers’.
Coneflower or Black-eyed Susan Rudbeckia hirta
The thistle below has been hovering on the edge of coming out for at least a couple of weeks… not sure why it has ground to a halt? For most of that time the flower head and stems have been a slightly silvery white.
Blue Globe Thistle Echinops bannaticus
