bees

i have been releasing solitary bees ( alfalfa leaf cutters ) in my yard for a number of years and so have an interest in them as a group and i am known to stalk them with a nikon...

they do not evince much interest in ornamental flowers in my experience...at least not until autumn when they turn to the marigolds as a sort of famine food...

they seem far more attracted to blooms like bittersweet nightshade and asparagus ( not leaving out the unpictured [yet] winter vetch )...which is fine for the nightshade and the asparagus, however frustrating if you are trying to take photographs...these are very small blooms andthe bees do not stay still long so...

you get a lot of blurry photos...

oh, some come out when focus, shutter finger, and bee come into full alignment...less often than i would like...still i am pleased to find them around the yard...

this, just so you know, is not a bee...it is a mimicing robber fly ( no pollen sacs )...

a bee predator...and if i catch up to it it is a goner...i have few qualms about that...the girls...

will be here soon and i do not take kindly to predation