DORSET BEES, WILD HONEY & A RED SUNSET

Published on by Rolling Harbour2 Comments

GETTING TO GRIPS WITH A CANTERBURY BELLDorest Bees July 13 1

IF THE CAP FITS…Dorest Bees July 13 2

WHAT ARE THESE ‘HOVER-WASP’ GUYS CALLED?Dorest Bees July 13 3 Dorest Bees July 13I only noticed the gleaming gold thorax after downloading the photos

WILD BEES IN A WOODPECKER NEST BOX, ABACO, BAHAMASDelphi Wild Bees 2 Delphi Wild Bees 1

This year we had West Indian Woodpeckers using 2 nest boxes under the eaves.This successfully diverts them from drilling into the woodwork of the building. They raised two families this season, with 3 chicks fledging each time. Another nest box on a tree in the drive was not to their liking, and was quickly colonised by wild bees. The nearest small apiary – there are only two I know of on an island 120 miles long – is 15 miles away. These bees will never have known the luxury of a hive. I doubt they’d need or want it…

I photographed this sunset from our garden in Dorset a couple of evenings ago. In reality it was more dark pink than red, but by simply zooming directly at it the colour was altered dramatically. The second image is a simple crop of another photo taken seconds later, as the banding became clearer as the sun sunk below the horizon. It looks more like a planet. [NB No P/shop]
Dorset Sunset July 2 Dorset Sunset July 13

MEADOW BROWN BUTTERFLY ON LAVENDER, DORSET

Published on by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

Meadow Brown Butterfly, Dorset 1 Meadow Brown Butterfly, Dorset 2Meadow Brown Butterfly, Dorset 4

TWO HISTORIC LIGHTHOUSES

Published on by Rolling Harbour2 Comments

The two lighthouses shown below are renegades from the LIGHTHOUSES section under the THEMES heading, to which they are linked if you want to know more (or to view lighthouse interiors, a bit of a specialist preference). But you may well just be content to cast a glance at these images, and move on… The sea in photo 3 really is that colour in the sun.

HOPE TOWN LIGHTHOUSE, ELBOW CAY, ABACO

For a detailed description of Abaco’s iconic striped lighthouse CLICK HERE

Hope Town Lighthouse Abaco 1 Hope Town Lighthouse Abaco 2 Hope Town Lighthouse Abaco 3

HOLE-IN-THE-WALL LIGHTHOUSE, ABACO, BAHAMAS

For a detailed description of this remote and near-defunct lighthouse station CLICK HERE

 

WHITE-TAILED BUMBLEBEES (Bombus lucorum), DORSET

Published on by Rolling Harbour2 Comments

White-tailed Bumblebee Dorset 1 White-tailed Bumblebee Dorset 2 White-tailed Bumblebee Dorset 3 White-tailed Bumblebee Dorset 4 White-tailed Bumblebee Dorset 5

A BUNCH OF FLOWERS FROM DORSET (2)

Published on by Rolling Harbour2 Comments

Here’s a second bunch of flowers from a Dorset garden in June. Those few who kindly sniffed the first bunch may have wondered why none was labelled. That’s because, for most of them (apart from the obvious ones) I have no idea of the names. Or did once, but have forgotten them. And for familiar ones, I feel putting “Pink Rose” isn’t much help if you really want to know if it’s a Rosaflora Grandiloquens “Dame Edna Everage” or not. If I name 2 or 3 but not the rest, it still looks a bit… wrong. So it’s just ‘flars’, as Eliza Doolittle might say.Summer garden flowers (Dorset) 16 Summer garden flowers (Dorset) 17 Summer garden flowers (Dorset) 18 Summer garden flowers (Dorset) 19 Summer garden flowers (Dorset) 20 Summer garden flowers (Dorset) 21 Summer garden flowers (Dorset) 22 Summer garden flowers (Dorset) 23 Summer garden flowers (Dorset) 24 Summer garden flowers (Dorset) 25 Summer garden flowers (Dorset) 27 Summer garden flowers (Dorset) 28 Summer garden flowers (Dorset) 29

GARDEN FLOWERS IN 10 MINUTES OF SUNSHINE (LONDON)

Published on by Rolling Harbour2 Comments

HONEYSUCKLEGarden Flowers in June 1 Garden Flowers in June 2

WEIGELAGarden Flowers in June 3Garden Flowers in June 16

OH YOU KNOW – IT’S A CARNATION… OF SORTS… ISN’T IT?Garden Flowers in June 4 Garden Flowers in June 5

WHITE FOXGLOVEGarden Flowers in June 6Garden Flowers in June 7

CANTERBURY BELLGarden Flowers in June 8

BLUE NONCOGNOSCO [Cornflower ‘Centaurea’ – thanks Amelia]Garden Flowers in June 9

PINK FOXGLOVEGarden Flowers in June 11

MINIATURE RED ROSE

(replete with whitefly – a job for the weekend)Garden Flowers in June 12Garden Flowers in June 13 Garden Flowers in June 14

PURPLE IRISGarden Flowers in June 15

THAT USEFUL PLANT THAT GROWS BETWEEN PAVING STONES [= Campanula – thanks again Amelia]Garden Flowers in June 17

ARUM LILYGarden Flowers in June 18

DON’T WORRY. BEE HAPPY…

Published on by Rolling Harbour2 Comments

A strange yellow disc appeared intermittently in the sky today. It is warmer. Time to venture into the garden. First stop – the lupins. Bees in residence? Check. Looking closely, I notice that they part the individual pods with their legs to get at the contents. There’s certainly bags of what they are after, to judge by the leg pouches.Bees June 1 Bees June 2 Bees June 5 Bees June 6

Next stop: the nice pink flowers that are called… well, if someone wants to remind me, please use the comment box. They came from a nice house in Kent and have flourished on my regime of benign neglect.Bees June 7 Bees June 9 Bees June 10 Bees June 11 Bees June 12

Now that blue thing – Canterbury Bell, is it? Bee inside? Tick.Bees June 8

The foxgloves seem popular with the bumbles today. Only the purple ones, not the white ones. Such pretty patterns close-up, and such long hairs inside. The technical term for these is… forgettable.Bees June 13 Bees June 14 Bees June 15 Bees June 16 Bees June 18

GOOD GRIEF! When I pressed the ‘publish’ button, this turned out to be my 100th post on this ramshackle, poorly curated website. Thanks to the select, small (but slightly increasing) numbers who turn up to have a look from time to time. This isn’t my main project, but it’s a place to put a few nice pics from time to time. Merci, all. RH

THE WOODPECKER SAGA: TWO HAPPY ENDINGS

Published on by Rolling Harbour2 Comments

GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKERS, LONDONWoodpecker 5.13-9

The babies have flown! On Friday morning, the sound from the tree was a cacophony, with both parents appearing to urge their kids to leave home. By the time Mrs Harbour got back from work in the evening, they were gone. The nest was empty, and there was silence. So we never said goodbye, but we can say “good luck”.

WEST INDIAN WOODPECKERS, ABACO

During the week, the babies have appeared with increasing bravery at the nest-hole West Indian Woodpecker a

Feeding no longer involved a parent diving into the box with bugs, but feeding at the entranceWest Indian Woodpecker 2

The heads began to stick out further…West Indian Woodpecker 3

…and the parents’ job got easierWest Indian Woodpecker 4

At 6.47 a.m. this morning, the first fledgling took flight, first to the roof, then to a tree. He’ll hang around for a couple of days, being fed less and less until he can stand on his own two feet. Fly on his own two wings, even. Meanwhile his parents are getting on with their next stage of family planning. They are spending increasing time in and around the second nest box, and – there’s not getting around it – copulating in public. The results will be their third family of the season.

So all is well in woodpecker land. I’ll finish the story with a photo taken by Tom Sheley, a wildlife photographer from Ohio, and his magnificent image taken a couple of days ago. Imagine being a chick expecting a tasty bug and getting one this size rammed down your throat…

West Indian Woodpecker TS

LATER Here’s a very short mobile phone video of a young squawker peering out at the wide world. I have better camera ones in another format, but for some reason WordPress is only accepting .MOV files at the moment…