This honey bee was making the most of the late September sunshine. The colour of its pollen load suggests it had decided to target the dahlias. It managed to get a good all-over dusting too.
Author: Rolling Harbour
Indispensible blog for Abaco Bahamas: Birds, Marine mammals, Reef fish, Bonefishing & a miscellany of hurricanes, shark attacks, shipwrecks, books, recipes & cocktails
BEES GOING ABOUT THEIR BUSINESS (1)
COMMON BLUE BUTTERFLY, DORSET
These exceptionally pretty little butterflies were prolific in the garden in late July and early August. However an autumnal chill arrived around the 18th. A few remained, but I saw only one or two last week.
SKIPPERS (NON-NAUTICAL) IN DORSET
Two skippers taken recently in Dorset, before the rains came. Then, as the rain has poured over the garden, so I have pored over my ‘Dummy’s Guide to Lepidoptera’ to work out what type of skipper this is. Or should I say, ‘these are’, because although the photos are not particularly good, these two creatures look different to me. But that could just be the angle of the “sun”, whatever that was. Any hints from those kind enough to glance at this woefully under-curated ‘side-project’ blog would be welcome!
STOP PRESS Mike Kelly has been kind enough to leave this comment about these two skipper species: the first one “…COULD be Essex Skipper, the antenna tips are not clear enough to be certain. The 3 below are Small Skipper”.
The same type of skipper? Or another, maybe? [PS A Small Skipper – see above]
WHITE-TAILED BUMBLEBEES, DORSET
Whitchurch Canonicorum, Blandford Forum, Toller Porcorum and Bombus Lucorum – all very Dorset names. Except the last of course. Here are a few of them, feasting on hyssop. The first one is launching himself on his way to the next stem.
SUMMER WHITES: BUTTERFLIES IN DORSET
SUMMER BEES IN A DORSET GARDEN (2)
RED-TAILED BUMBLEBEES (BOMBUS LAPIDARIUS)
Classic view, feeding on hyssop
This bee has a fair-sized mite on its back
A frankly rather indelicate shot – somehow the light produced this extraordinary colouring of the ‘tail’
FIRE & BRIMSTONE: BEANS & BUTTERFLIES IN DORSET
It’s high summer in the garden. That means beans. Beans does not mean Heinz in garden terms. Beans means butterflies, in this case a brimstone feeding on the bright fiery runner bean flowers. This female is a pale greeny yellow; males are a more striking bright yellow.
SUMMER BEES IN A DORSET GARDEN (1)
The sun was out, the bees were out and I was out trying camera settings having failed spectacularly to come to terms with a new(ish) SLR. The problem remains me, not it, but I sense that the hatred is mutual. Anyway, a few bee shots worked well enough to use… This is my favourite bee, tiny and pale, far smaller than the sturdy yellow and black bumbles jostling for the space on the hyssop and lavender. I like the way their packed saddlebags matched their colouring. There are probably two or even three different species of bee here for all I know, but it’s hot and I can’t be bumbled to look it up…
This is the first year I have taken on board the number of mites the bees carry. #1 has a fine one under the wing; and I saw one bumble with a smart necklace of mites. I realise they are mostly non-parasitic (apparently), and maybe it is even a sign of good bee health…
GATEKEEPER BUTTERFLIES ARE BACK
This is the first Gatekeeper I have seen this year. We have had an unusually prolific season for meadow browns over the last few weeks, which in ‘closed wing’ position I find easy to confuse with gatekeepers, unless I can see the wing spots clearly. But this one was obligingly drying its wings – they are very undamaged so I assume it is a very recent arrival (in butterfly form, anyway), maybe even today. 
Now I’ve seen the first, I’m hoping to see them everywhere…
ROLLING HARBOUR GALLERY 