Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: pollen

1 more picture above in a note! :) A few weeks ago I was taking pictures of poppies when I noticed a bit of movement at the edge of a petal. Peering closer, I could see that it was a little ant, and I was instantly up for the challenge! Tiny moving insects are difficult to capture clearly and always excellent practice for coordination and holding the camera steady. Also, you must be quick on the judgement call of aperture and, if possible, changing aperture quickly for several attempts. I never expect these pictures to come out because it's no fun being disappointed, but for some reason, my extreme concentration for these situations often result in success! I was truly surprised when I found this ant on my screen, not only crisp, but covered with pollen too, something I couldn't possibly see! :D

This picture would have been an easy Pick of the Day...except that there's no way it could top a fly sitting on a frog's head, staring me down like Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction! What are the odds? Every morning I appreciate the beautiful poppies that have opened their lovely faces for their one glorious day. I appreciate them individually and with attention and admiration, because I know that the blistering 100°+ heat of the day will cause every new flower to shrivel up within hours. I take pictures of them so their beauty will be immortal, and of course, whenever there are insects about, they become the star of the show! I saw this tiny bee crawling around and thought I'd try to get it in focus. Mind you, these little guys are only about 1/3" long...very difficult to capture because they are usually crawling around quickly. But I love to try, and out of the half-dozen attempts, I got THIS. Happy Day!!!!

Winner of FlickrDuel contest: +10 Wins: Color: Yellow This image was taken on my property in southern Oregon

[best appreciated at full size against black] There's an old, overgrown dirt road which parallels the gravel road up to our house, and this road travels next to the seasonal creek. It's shady and pretty here, and walking along one day I found a buttercup with a little friend atop it, feasting on the pollen! I got lots of cute pictures as it walked around and in the end, it turned away and flew off to another sunny destination! I hope you enjoy this collage! This image was taken in April, 2012.

Another picture from our visit to Jacksonville. I was admiring this lovely flower when I noticed a tiny bee, no larger than 1/4", crawling around. Coneflowers are one of those fabulous blossoms which have "flowers within the flower", and here you can see this little bee examining one of them!

WHAT?! Ok, ok, I'm cheating and I don't care! I think male pine cones look as pretty as flowers and since they release pollen, I'm including this as one of the Flowers of Spring & Summer! :) So there! :D The first thing to know is that pine cones don't have flowers! Instead, these trees have male cones that release pollen and female cones that receive the pollen and produce seeds. Male cones look very different and grow on the lower branches, whereas female cones grow on the upper branches. They are the cones we all recognize. They receive the pollen released by the male cones and produce seeds. Isn't that fascinating?! I always wondered what these things were! If you would like to know more about pine cones, Wiki has a very nice page here: Wiki: Conifer Cone

The flowers in Jacksonville had insects buzzing and flitting all over them, including flies, bees and butterflies. Here is a black & white bee on a purple flower...I think it's a Cosmos but I'm not positive! :)

Can you say, "Fat Pants"? Because that's what we have goin' on here! This bee has been crawling all over flowers and collecting pollen as it goes, and instead of going back to the hive to empy his load, it's been caught by Janet's Fat Pants Cam! :D Ok, ok, silliness aside, what you're seeing on this bee is called "Pollen Baskets". As a bee becomes covered with pollen, it brushes it off with moistened forelegs, transferring it to the hind legs. There it is pressed and compacted into the baskets. It takes about 15-18 minutes for the average bee to fill its baskets before it returns to the hive to unload its precious cargo and go out for more. This pollen is then mixed with nectar and/or honey, and this is called bee pollen or bee bread. This "bread" is a bee colony's main source of protein. Isn't that interesting?! If you would like to know more about pollen baskets and bee bread, Wiki has a nice page here: Wiki: Pollen basket and here: Wiki: Bee bread By the way, I've uploaded two other pictures today and I hope you'll visit them too! Thanks to all of you who have visited and have left comments and favorites! I try to go to all of your pages within a day or two and is a highlight for me to see your beautiful photography! :)