Macro Monday

Macro Monday: the bee fly (bombyliidae)

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Today I’m taking part in the Macro Monday photo challenge. You can click on each photo for a larger view. If you like what you see, I encourage you to subscribe so you can enjoy the new photos I post a few times a week.

I recently took photos of a number of flowers at a local botanical garden, and bees were busy visiting them for nectar collection. But this flower bush below (don’t ask me what type of bloom it is, I have no idea; but if you know, please tell me!) displayed something a bit different: a bee fly. From the Bombyliidae family, bee flies are quite larger than your regular house fly and they include many different types of flies. They all collect nectar and pollen and can even be useful pollinators. I’ll tell you, they’re not as pretty as bees but they are awesome when it comes to posing for photographs because they don’t seem to be bothered when you stand close to them. Oh, and another great advantage over bees? They don’t sting.

Some bee flies can be as colorful and as fuzzy as bees. This bee fly just looked more like a very large fly, but since this is the first time I’ve photographed one, I’m not too picky.

Macro Monday: Water drops on a spider web

I have shared photographs of water drops on spider webs before but it’s always fun to find new photo opportunities. As much as I hate spiders, I really like how their spider webs look when water is dropped on it, whether it is raindrops, dew drops, or watering drops. These small water drops look like crystals reflecting everything around them. The background for these water drops wasn’t too interesting but it’s not that often I can see raindrops or other water drops on a spider web, so I took this opportunity to capture the moment.

September 14, 2014February 6, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Water photosTags: close up of rain drops, close up of water drops, close-up of raindrops, Macro Monday, nature photography, rain drops on spider web, raindrops on spider web, water drops on a spider web 16 Comments

Macro Monday: two June bugs hanging out

My kids and I spotted the two green June bugs below while on a summer stroll in San Diego. At first, they looked like they were tackling each other and it was challenging to even see what type of bugs we were looking out. Honestly I have no idea if they were fighting or actually enjoying each other’s company. You can see I’m not much of a bug expert. And technically, these are called figeater beetles (Cotinis mutabilis), not just June bugs.

Eventually they separated and just stood next to each other for a little while, long enough for me to snap a few pictures.

Close-up of two green June bugs (figeater beetle)

These figeater beetles (part of the scarab family because they’re so big) have been part of our summer about everywhere we’ve been. They tend to flight blindly into everything and everyone. They startle a lot of people by flying directly into their faces and induce a lot of shrieks and rapid movements. My kids tell me they actually can’t see where they’re going and I think they may be right. They sure look a lot nicer when they’re standing still, with their metallic green wing casing closed. I got lucky the day I managed to photograph one of those green June bugs inside a yellow rose.

Are you a fan of green beetles, or would you rather say away?

September 8, 2014February 6, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Animal PhotosTags: close up of a figeater beetle, Cotinis mutabilis, figeater beetle, green beetle, green beetle San Diego, green June bug, June Bugs, Junebugs, Macro Monday, nature photography 6 Comments

Macro Monday: bee on a Matilija poppy

The large white poppy with a yellow center featured below is called a Matilija poppy, more technically Romneya coulteri. This giant white poppy is a native flower of California. I saw these two poppies at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and not in the middle of nature, where it’s probably too dry for these flowers to easily bloom with our ongoing drought. The bees seemed to really like them and they let me take their pictures without a fuss. Enjoy these few macros of bees on white poppies!

Bee flying in front of a white poppy (Matilija poppy)

Check out the huge bags full of pollen on this bee’s legs. That’s quite a busy bee!

Bee on a Matilija poppy (Romneya coulteri)

I wonder what honey made with these Matilija poppies would taste like, but these flowers really attracted the bees.

Close-up of a bee collecting nectar on a giant white poppy with yellow center

June 1, 2014February 6, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Animal Photos, Bloom Photos, Flower PhotosTags: bee collecting nectar on a white poppy, bees with bags of pollen on their legs, close-up of bees, giant white poppies California, giant white poppy California, large white poppy with yellow center, Macro Monday, macros of bees, Matilija poppies, Matilija poppy, nature photography, photos of bees, photos of blooms, photos of flowers, Romneya coulteri poppy 4 Comments

Macro Monday: dandelion in bloom and in seed

I love dandelions. Their little splashes of yellow across the grass are like nature saying hello at my every footstep. Once they turn into seed, they give me the opportunity to make a wish while helping nature make more splashes of yellow. The San Diego dirt is so dry, dandelions are a rare occurrence here but I got the opportunity to see many of them during our vacation on the East Coast.

Here are a few close-ups of yellow dandelions. I’ve never noticed the many curled-up pistils all over the dandelion blooms. Click on each picture to see them in more detail. They’re pretty cool looking.