Saddle Bags Full of Pollen

Bumble bees are important pollinators of many plants. Both queens and workers collect pollen and transport it back to the colony in pollen baskets on their hind legs.



Seen here are the "saddle bags" of pollen!





Milkweeds have a unique and fascinating pollination mechanism in which the plant relies on butterflies, moths, bees, ants, and wasps for pollination. Hundreds of pollen grains are packaged into two connected sacs, which is collectively referred to as the pollinarium. When a foraging insect lands on a flower, the pollinarium can easily attach itself to its leg. Once removed from the flower, the pollinia actually re-orient as the translator arms bend as they dry. Upon landing on another flower, the properly oriented pollinarium is deposited into a receptive stigmatic groove where the pollinia breaks down and the pollen germinates, growing pollen tubes through the stigma to the ovules in the ovary.



The milkweed fruit is a follicle, commonly referred to as a pod, which splits at one suture to release many seeds, sometimes hundreds, depending on the species.

Test Shots

For years and years, I have been wanting that dream lens...
You know the one...
You have one too...

Well, I finally broke down and bought something I cannot justify, but you only live once right? I bought a Canon 300mm f/2.8L IS Lens. I also bought the 2x teleconverter. It's a passion, what can I say...

Anyway, it arrived yesterday, so as the UPS truck was pulling away, I yanked open the box, connected the lens and burned out of the driveway.

I just needed to shoot this bad boy to see what it could do...



I found this Egret catching a Mudpuppy! Although he would not turn around, I loved the detail of his rump with the breeding plumes blowing.



I found this bumble bee throwing pollen on his back! (These blogger shots do no justice...Click for detail!)



and I caught this Killdeer landing.

Am I happy with my purchase? Almost completely! The downside is it is quite heavy. I can still hand hold the setup but it gets tiring pretty quickly. I guess I am in for a workout, but I welcome the pain!

It's Hot Out There!

Since it's so freakin hot outside, I've not ventured too far from the comforts of home and the conditioned air within.

And...since I have been absolutely nowhere, I wandered around my yard to do some macros with a few selected flowers.



A simple sunflower that has yet to become the victim/prize of the local squirrel, who has a reputation for chewing off sunflower heads and eating them atop my custom built owl box, taunting me all summer with his dasterly deeds...








Rose of Sharon full of pollen and it's harvester...

Nature at Work

I had set up my tripod at these wild Iris's in Gebhard Woods State Park, hoping to capture a hummingbird who had frequented these the morning before. I focused on 2 flowers, but it seemed the hummer always chose the ones I wasn't zoomed in on. I did have visitors to my flowers, which kept me entertained for the most part, but I walked away a few hours later, without that hummer shot. I came back for a few more days, but the iris's were dying, so that photo op died with them.

Note: If you click on the 2nd shot, the bee is collecting pollen, and you can see the spray.