Spring Buzz in the Sonoran Desert

In the Sonoran Desert spring is often like early summer in other locations in the United States with the temperatures often in the mid-70s to mid-80s. We often refer to this as the “sweet spot” since we don’t need heat or air conditioning for the most part. We do know what is ahead of us, but we enjoy this respite while it lasts.

Along with spring, we have some interesting developments. Our neighborhood has a number of horse stables and about two weeks ago, a young colt was born. Like many other babies, he can be very energetic one minute and flat out tired and sleeping the next.

Here is a short video of the youngster running around.

Today I passed the corral on the way home and the colt was nursing, but when I exited the car, he stopped. I decided to take a photo anyway.


The colt is on the left. The mother often stays rather far away, but was next to him this day.

The horse “next door” came over and I decided he needed to have his picture taken as well.



Another sign of spring is the plethora of bees we have on the few plants that are now blooming. We have a Mastic Tree (Pistacia lentiscus) that is loaded with very small flowers.



The morning I walked by the tree, the buzz was loud and persistent. I decided to record it, but it is only a shadow of the real sound as the iPhone has limitations. You can hear the bees in the sound clip below (raise the sound on your computer/device).

Unfortunately, I did not have my camera with me and I couldn’t capture the mass of bees all over the tree. They were flitting about too quickly for iPhone capture.

A couple of days later, I was able to take my camera outside in the afternoon, but the bees were not as numerous. I did take a few snapshots anyway.


The bee is hard to see, but it is inside the red oval.

I was able to capture another view with the pollen sack showing although once again, it is hard to see.


The head of the bee is by the yellow arrow. The pollen sack is at the tip of the red arrow.

We have already begun our spring/summer gardening chores and we are looking forward to sharing some of our experiences with JBRish readers. I hope your weather is looking more spring-like!

 

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Photography: As Shot – Butterfly & Bee on a Thistle

NOTE – “As Shot” photographs are some that I have posted on Instagram, but without any imposed crop that might not be warranted, less detail reduction and more of an explanation.




Swallowtail butterfly and bees buzz about a thistle at Yosemite National Park

While I would be the first to admit that this is not technically the most perfect photograph, there are certain qualities that I like. We were hiking along the Valley Loop Trail at Yosemite National Park when we came across a clearing. Nature, animals and wildflowers are some of my favorite subjects. The sun was very bright and I noticed that one thistle was receiving a lot of activity.

I remained at a distance not wanting to scare away the insects hovering about. My camera wasn’t the steadiest, but I think the lack of sharpness helps the picture convey a sense of motion. I particularly am glad that I caught the bee coming in from the left; although barely!

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Metadata

File Name: 000025_IMG_0275.tif
Capture time: 10:26:09 AM
Capture date: Jun 5, 2016
Exposure: 1/200 sec @ f/6.5
Focal Length: 215mm
ISO: 100
Camera: Canon PowerShot SX50 HS
Lens: 4.3-215mm

Edited in Lightroom

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All original content on this blog is copyrighted by Jeffrey B. Ross with ALL Rights Reserved. While reference links back to JBRish.com are appreciated and encouraged, please acquire approval for any reproduction of original content from this website.

©Jeffrey B. Ross – 2017 – JBRish.com