Sunday, May 27, 2012

It's not all bees..

Okay, first off it has been a busy few days and I am behind on blogging. But I did find this bone in the woods...



Yes, I collect the bones I find in our woodlot. I find them fascinating! This looked like a legbone. I wonder what animal it belonged to?


Yesterday was the Ontario SPCA Friends for Life Walkathon. Although we didn't take our dogs, we had a great time and I will post some more pics later. Here's a nice pic of us that our friend and OSPCA volunteer Christina took:


Gordon raised $1,000 and I raised $1,010 and we were really pleased! Our shelter is very deserving of donations. They work hard down there on a shoestring budget in an economically-depressed area.  They do so much for needy animals in Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry.

Back on the farm... a Red Admiral butterfly!


I went for a walk the other day and took pictures of pollinators on dandelions. I took so many that I'm going to break this up into two posts.


With bonus spider!


Look at this little green guy!


Isn't he gorgeous?


And how about this little guy?


Funny how dandelions have come to be so reviled. People want to pull them up, douse them in chemical poisons, and rid their lawns of them. And yet...


...they are really just a pretty yellow flower, and so important to pollinators, particularly in early spring when dandelions are one of the few things blooming. My honeybees feed heavily on dandelions at the start of the season.


Another Red Amiral, somewhat tattered and torn.



And look at this gorgeous bee with her pollen baskets full to almost bursting!  She has a little ant friend following her.


I have more shots of this girl coming in my next post. I had never before since a bee so laden with pollen. She could barely fly, she was so heavy with it!

 Please think twice before spraying your lawn dandelions. They are so important to so many little creatures!

Hope you all had a happy weekend. If you want to see any of the photos at a larger size, just click on them!

14 comments:

  1. The dandelion is being reformed. People are stating to look at it in a more positive way. There are many other uses of it other that for bees to gather nectar.

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  2. These are really nice shots, but where are the ducklings? :)

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  3. Let's not forget that all parts of the dandelion are edible. The flowers can be made into wine, the (young) leaves and stems eaten, and the roots roasted for coffee. It's such a versatile yet underappreciated plant.

    And that bee looks like she's wearing 1980s leg warmers!

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    1. We should all make more use of the ubiquitous dandelion!

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  4. That looks to me like the thigh bone of a wild wood-mouse.

    I love bandylions - any flower that looks after itself and just gets on with it has to be great!

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    1. That's a darn large wood-mouse, methinks...

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  5. Great pictures and lovely flowers. Have a nice monday.

    Hugs
    Elna

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  6. Great blog about bees and dandelions! I especially liked the close ups which shows what a beautiful flower it is!
    I have had salad with dandelions leaves-so another plus for this maligned flower!

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    1. My duckies LOVE dandelion leaves!

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  7. What incredible photos, especially when they're enlarged and you can see the dusting of pollen all over the bees.

    Over here most town councils have planted up various areas and roadside verges with daffodils, which look lovely in Spring. When they're finished a lot of the verges are then covered naturally with dandelions which I always think put on just as good a show, if not better, because sometimes there's hundreds of dandelions.

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    1. That is wonderful, LBM! What a great way to fit in some extra food for pollinators. We need more wildflowers!

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Thank you for all your comments, which I love to read!