(no subject)

[which_chick]

I had a quiet day at work. The nicest thing that happened today was that Zhasper bought me a year of pro-Flickr so that I can upload utter craploads of pictures instead of a select few. YAY!! (He may come to regret this after enough exposure to what I think is cool.)



I went out after work (weather was nice) and played with my digital camera again. (New toy. I'm working hard to wear off the shiny.) Among other projects, I spent some quality time trying to snag the borer bees, who were dogfighting in force around the shed at the lodge. One of the really interesting things about taking pictures of stuff is that you learn more about the stuff you are taking pictures of than normal people probably think.

Borer bees (also called Carpenter bees) are industrious, non-aggressive bees that look a lot like bumblebees to normal people. They don't much sting (males cannot, females rarely do) and they go about pollinating things with abandon, a hobby we should be more appreciative of since honeybees are in decline. Anyway, borer bees (the males) hover in one spot for a while, hanging out and patrolling the territory. Other male borer bees come by and divebomb the hovering/defending bee (Actually, they divebomb everything -- don't worry, they won't hurt you even if they run into you) and then the two bees take off and dogfight. They spin around each other and one tails the other like they're fighter planes. "Dude, he's on my six. Target acquisition! Evade, evade!" It's all very exciting, assuming you get your rocks off leaning against the red fuel tank, breathing in the gasoline fumes, and waiting for one of the damn bees to hold still long enough for the autofocus (faster than I am, especially with my not-very-functional left hand) to acquire-and-focus on the little bugger. The bees dogfighting in midair takes place too quickly for me to nail and moves around too much for me to get it in the frame. The only shot I got of the dogfighting that was even halfway interesting was blurred to shit. I will try again another day, but today wasn't too bad. Pictures, o'course, are on my flickr.

The exciting May-Horse-Committment with Cass starts tomorrow. I'm sure you will all be wishing me luck at driving the horse trailer and riding the IRH up and down the local scenery.

Comments

[zhasper.livejournal.com]

Most of the photos a stunning - especially that bee, and that dandelion too.

That.. thing.. in that ditch though - I'm scared to look at that close up :(

[which-chick.livejournal.com]

It's just a piece of wood. I liked how it was all shiny and round. Nothing gross, I promise.

[gwangi.livejournal.com]

I think I speak for many of us when I ask for another link to your flickr.

[gwangi.livejournal.com]

Also, on the topic of colony collapse, check this (http://thestory.org/archive/the_story_239_Where_are_the_Bees.mp3/view) out. It's really worth the listen.

[which-chick.livejournal.com]

Right. It's here (http://www.flickr.com/photos/which_chick/).