A bee update

When Diana saw the photo of the tulip and the bee, posed a few days ago - she thought that I had 'photoshopped' the bee into the photo.  Not so. The next day the bees came around again to (hopefully) fertilize the Meyer lemon tree. I caught a couple of shots of them.
Then Fuzzy - he is a never ending joy, as he does things that are unique to him.  Here he is stretched out on the bed, looking at me as if to say "Why are you flashing that light at me" and truly the king of the house!

How many ways can you say AWESOME?

What a wonderful visit to the refuge today!  The gate is now shut for breeding season, so Murph and I wandered around a meadow for a while, then went over to the heron rookery to see what was happening. On the way over there, we 'happened' upon  a pair of sandhill cranes and the male was doing his mating dance.  I am going to put the sequence into a video - but here are a couple of frames.
Then the herons were neat, the teasels were beautiful, Murphy is so handsome and - well, it went on and on! Enough words and let's see the photos!

Tulips and Bee

Diana bought a bunch of extraordinarily colored tulips yesterday, so I took them out on the deck to get sunlight and take some photos. As it happened, a honeybee showed up! He flew right into the frame as I was getting ready to shoot - and completed the photo beautifully!

Wandering

Murph and I wandered around the upper avenues on the north side of the city yesterday afternoon. It was a great spring day, slightly cool with big, billowy clouds dancing across the sky. We checked out views of the downtown from City Creek canyon and stopped by a cemetery for a couple of shots.  Just playing and feeling good.

Surveying his kingdom!

Teasels

Teasel - from Merriam-Webster
a : an Old World prickly herb (Dipsacus fullonum of the family Dipsacaceae, the teasel family) with flower heads that are covered with stiff hooked bracts and were used especially formerly in the woolen industry —called also fuller's teasel.


These 'prickly herbs' surround wetlands here in Utah and I love the way they stand and show themselves - whether with hoarfrost, backlit light, snow, raindrops - they are beautiful. Capturing that beauty is not easy for me - so here is another attempt to share the specialness they bring to me, with you!

Standing in one place

Sunday when Murph and I visited the refuge, after a nice long walk, we picked one place to set up and stay.  It was on a dike across from the heron rookery and with two open bodies of water between us and the rookery. After an initial scolding by the Canucks, things settled down and we were pretty much ignored.
So much so that this muskrat swam pretty much up to us before realizing that we might not be friendlies; plus the light changed and I could isolate different views that you only see after you are silent for a time.
Try it - you'll like it!

Note the American Kestrel communing with the Great Blue Heron!

Blue hour

As the sun sets, the hour of blue begins, and can lead to some fascinating colors and photo effects. Yesterday at the wildlife refuge, I was photographing herons on their rookery and then turning around to capture the sun on the buildings and fence behind me.
Much of these two photos break the rules - the horizon line is pretty much in the center and the highlighted fence is pretty much in the center - but I like it!