Filed under: animals, bees, insects, nature, photography | Tags: animals, bees, fly, friends, insects, nature, photography, spiders, wildlife
sigh.
i know.
i haven’t written much lately. busy with the photography business and busy trying (unsuccessfully) to get my life straightened out.
cody bear and pickles are doing great. we just finished a super long walk in the cool fall air.
“why haven’t we heard about insects lately?” you’re asking. right? you’re asking that?
well, i have to admit…my heart wasn’t really into it after buzzy and dr. bee left town.and also, strangely….the bees have disappeared. i’ve always had bees sleeping here. but not for months.
what i did have was 7 black widows on my front porch. i had a friend come over one night after i realized they were there. we launched a wild assault and killed 6 that night. i killed on the day before.
they’re gone now. can’t have them there. too dangerous for the munchkins.
so…fly, mosquito, spider. but no bee.
Filed under: animals, beetles, insects, nature, photography, wildlife | Tags: animals, beetles, insects, macro, nature, photography, wildlife
back to the forest this weekend. made it safely home without any rattlesnake encounters. it was actually too cold for them to be out. the mosquitos were horrible.
but the beetle action? the beetle action was sweet!
“help meeeeeee….”
that’s a polyphylla decemlineata. here he is later, chillin’ with one of his buggie friends:
we got there just before dark, set up our area, the guys started grilling while we went and photographed some critters before the light disappeared.
after sunset, r turned the black lights on and soon the moths all came. thousands of critters. we were only interested in one specific moth species.
probably our last blacklighting trip for the year.
Filed under: animals, insects, nature, new mexico, photography, wildlife | Tags: animals, canon 40d, insects, macro, moths, nature, photography
yes or now? doesn’t this moth sort-a kind-a teeny bit look a smallish little-bit like a bunny? in the face? sans the giant eyes?
i mean really…does he look scary?
Filed under: beetles, insects, life, nature, wildlife | Tags: animals, beetles, butterflies, fig beetle, friends, gardens, insects, life, nature
and so goodbear and buzzybeegirl found themselves at the botanical gardens one evening…..
they heard a buzzing. more of a hum, or a whirrrrr. hundreds of figeater beetles were visiting the garden that same night.
here they have found the motherload: a juicey fig.
but what’s this?
how sad. scads of dead fig beetles littering the ground be low. as you can see, they are a striking metallic green.
there were other lovely critters, such as this resting fritilary butterfly…
they wandered through the grounds. they chatted. they attended a small chinese music concert. they cursed themselves for leaving their “real” cameras at home.
but they were too hungry to last long at the concert. they left to meet buzzy’s husband at a mexican restaurant and pigged out. goodbear woke up the next morning second guessing her menu selection….
hope you like today’s bug shots!
and hope you have a nice friday!
Filed under: beetles, insects | Tags: animals, beetles, hiking, insects, nature
yes…he really IS called the “pleasing fungus beetle.”
sorry the picture is so crappy. i only had my point and shoot with me yesterday. these guys were all over when we went hiking in the mountains yesterday morning.
Filed under: animals, bees, insects, nature, photography | Tags: 40d, bees, canon, insects, macro, nature, photography, pictures
ok…let’s talk about it.
the new camera.
we all know goodbear loves her agapostemons. here is one taken with her new 40d and martha’s macro.
dude, your legs are hairy. but….i’m not calling the kettle black.
Filed under: animals, insects, nature, photography, wildlife | Tags: animals, bugs, insects, macro, nature, photography, silly
i don’t bungee jump.
or jump out of planes. i won’t even leave home without my driver’s license and at least 2 mobile phones.
my antithesis: the pentatomid.
he’s hard core, y’all. he sleeps with his legs clasping a cholla spine, it’s point aimed directly at his abdomen.
that’s Xtreme stinkbug action, people!
for a better shot of this wild and crazy balls to the wall, …click here.
Filed under: bees, insects, nature, photography, wildlife | Tags: agapostemon, bees, ecology, insects, macro, nature, photography, science, wildlife
i can’t believe how lucky i am! for the second year in a row there is an aggregation of one of my favorite bees…the agapostemon!
they’re back, and this time….i have a macro on hand!
last year we discovered them in august and they hung around till mid november, numbers dwindling near the end of that time. it was sad.
i didn’t want them to leave. i was sure the next generation wouldn’t approve of my trees. but they’ve returned.
two nights in a row they have been on the same branch, a bunch of males, just under 50 or so, bedding down for the night. (last year they were on a tree right next to them on a slightly lower branch.
around 10pm the bulk of the bees have landed. they spend much of the night walking over eachother, looking for the perfect spot. late into the night they settle down into a deep sleep, eyes still appearing to be open, but antennae dropped in slumber. they’re early risers, gone before i wake up around 6-6:30 ish.
i feel very lucky to have this interesting wildlife situation right outside my back door.
oh, and by the way…if you want to see other photos of small things from nature, you can visit my photoblog.
Filed under: animals, bees, border collies, dogs, insects, pets | Tags: agapostemon, animals, bees, border collie, dogs, insects, pets, photography
hi everyone!
well, great news….my bees are back! remember my cluster of agapostemons? i found them on a different tree last night, one tree closer to the house about 2 feet higher than last year’s branch.
how are the dogs? great. cody bear weighs a ton! he’s really putting some poundage on. he and pickles have done really well in agility the last two weeks. might we be out of the veterinary woods? (should i not have mentioned it?)
buzzy is “officing” at my house these days. cody bear kept her company while she worked today, but pickles was busy playing with her friends at day care…
p: what are you doing mom?
gb: i’m trying out martha’s new hoodman r.a.v. with the wide angle lens.
p: well knock it off, you’re embarrassing me in front of my dog friends.
br: who is this crazy lady sitting in the middle of the patio?
p: no clue. never saw her before in my life….
Filed under: bees, insects, nature, pets, photography, wildlife | Tags: bees, damselfies, insects, nature, photography, photos, wildlife
as some of you know, i have started a nature blog, but i wanted to fill you in here, as well: today buzzybeegirl and i had a field trip!
here’s what we saw:
damselflies
dragonflies
tarantula hawks
paper wasp
anthophorid(bee)
perdita(bee)
agapostemon(bee)
ducks
red wing blackbirds
grackles
sliders(turtle)
paper wasp
whiptails(lizards)
turkey vulture
milkweed bug
marine blue butterflies
