Monday, June 11, 2012

Furred things, winged things, flowers and beans

The dogs and I had a good walk on a sunny afternoon last week. We saw lots of cool things on our outing!


A bumblebee on the honeysuckle plant that grows against our barn.



Sophie heard something in the grass under the black locust trees. She often stalks mice and meadow voles in the fields, and sometimes she'll start maniacally hopping around like a kangaroo, which is one of the funniest things I've ever seen a dog do. Sproing, sproing sproing!




Black locust blossoms. We have quite a few of these on our property and all the bees go crazy over the sweetly-scented blossoms. But the bark and leaves are toxic to livestock. It isn't native to this area but has somehow made its way up here.



One of our resident crows on a dead tree. They've hatched out babies, because I have been hearing the fledglings screaming "Feed me! Feed me!" in our garden. I am fond of crows, as I've mentioned before.



Looking over the creek at the neighbouring field.



There is path worn under the fence by the resident deer. 



And Tristan makes use of it too!


So many daisies right now.


The otebo beans are coming up. They are destined to become baked beans in the UK. Here's an article on them. The Daily Mail is not my news source of choice, but the bean article isn't too sensationalist! :)

And look! There's always some nooky going on at the farm...



A pair of swamp milkweed leaf beetles creating future generations! I've photographed these before.


And look, a butterfly!


It hink this is a Silver-bordered Fritillary. Correct me if I'm wrong!
Update: I'm wrong. It's a Northern Crescent (Phyclodes cocyta.)


And a Yellow-collared Scape moth, too!



Willow House Chronicles has a lovely pic of one of these moths.


And here we have..


...a honeybee on the flower of a wild black raspberry plant.


We have these raspberries all over our farm. Several of my friends make very delicious jam out of these berries. And I hope that honeybee is one of mine!


Here are my four hives behind the garage. Fingers crossed they all do well this year!

Have a great week. And thank you for all the kind comments on our gecko Kartini. I didn't realize how many times a day I looked at her terrarium until she was gone. :(

22 comments:

  1. Ah, beetle romance and bumblebees with their heads submerged in flowers. I love these cool photos.

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    1. There's so much going on around here, but sometimes you have to look at the small things to see it!

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  2. Bug sex.

    My day is complete! :)

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    1. I have started looking around. There is a hell of a lot of bug sex going on here!!!

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  3. When I stilled lived with my parents and we first moved to Smithville, there was a little colony of voles living in the backyard. They had the cutest little faces. However, the cats made short work of the population and there are no more backyard voles :(

    I love all the daisies that are popping up everywhere!

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  4. I suspect that your fritillary is a Northern Crescent.

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  5. Lucky you. Not sen any beetle copulation here this year!

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  6. All pictures are amazing, but the Daisy´s photo is so beautiful!!!!!

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  7. Great photos, Natalie. Try to get that Sophey doing her 'sproing..sproing on film. Love the daisies.

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    1. I never seem to have a camera handy when she does that but I'll keep trying! She is just like a doggy kangaroo!

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  8. I found the article on the "bean wars" quite interesting. I wonder why they don't grow the beans in Britain instead of going to the expense of importing them. In the US, we use Great Northern beans or navy beans for baked beans. You have a wonderful talent for taking photos of the local flora and fauna. I'm especially impressed with the shots of insects "in flagrante"!

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    1. I suspect it might have something to do with the growing season for that type of bean, or even lack of agricultural space, but you make a good point!!

      I love navy beans!

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  9. Nice tour of the farm. Fun!

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  10. Those naughty bugs have no shame :) you would think they would at least choose a more romantic setting like daisies...!!!

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    1. I know. "Hey baby, can I show you my otebo bean?" just doesn't have the same ring to it!

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  11. Love the first one with only the bees rear poking out of the honeysuckle. Your farm is a very interesting place and thanks for telling us about it.

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    1. I love sharing this stuff, so my pleasure!

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  12. What a nice walk around the farm. This is such a great time of year to enjoy all the things to be seen, like moths and daisies and copulating bugs! Your photos are very refreshing on a hot, hot day (especially for those of us stuck in the city).

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    1. Glad you enjoyed it Evlyn! The heat and humidity on Monday were brutal. :(

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  13. Aaaaaah! les marguerites!.......and everything else is sensational. Thanks you!

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    1. Daisies sound so much more exotic en français!

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