View allAll Photos Tagged nectar
Polyommatus icarus
European Common Blue --- Hauhechel-Bläuling
Liatris spicata
Blazing Star --- Prachtscharte
Tarantula hawk wasps are nectarivorous [nectar-feeders]. Males can't sting at all. Females rarely sting without provocation but the sting is extremely painful. - San Felipe, Baja - Mexico
There is quite a bit of activity at the backyard butterfly bushes lately, as many species of bees, butterflies, and other insects stop by to drink the sweet nectar. This is a Snowberry Clearwing moth sipping nectar from a butterfly bush flower. The black legs indicate that this is a Snowberry Clearwing rather than the very similar Hummingbird Clearwing. Backyard photography.
The Bee Wolf, Philanthus triangulum, is one of the UK's largest and most impressive solitary wasps. It has a dark thorax and a yellow abdomen with black stripes. The face is yellow, but the back of the head is a dark reddish brown behind the eyes. The antennae are very thick. It digs a nest in sandy spots, most often sandy areas of lowland heath and coastal dunes, and hunts honey bees.
Bee Wolves used to be extremely rare in he UK, with just a few scattered populations in southern England, but in the last few decades they have expanded their range dramatically. They are now found widely across southern Britain, with the largest concentrations in the south and east, but recorded as far north as Lancashire.
Male Bee Wolves gather together in a form of lek, where each male defends a small territory and uses pheromones to attract a female. After this, males play no further part in the nesting process.
Female Bee Wolves dig a nesting burrow in a sandy bank or floor. These burrows can be a metre long, with up to 34 side burrows that end in brood chambers. Once excavation has begun on the burrow, the female goes hunting.
Female Bee Wolves prey on honey bee workers, paralysing them with a sting and carrying them back to their burrow. Up to six paralysed honey bees are placed in each brood chamber, then a single egg is laid on one of the bees and the chamber is sealed with sand. After hatching, the larva feeds on the cache of honey bees before spinning a cocoon to hibernate through winter, ready to emerge in spring.
Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris
This butterfly is known for their fast, darting flight and small size.
Skippers have uniquely hooked antennae, unlike the clubbed tips of most other butterflies.
They are important pollinators, helping many wildflowers and plants reproduce.
I don't think I have ever seen a butterfly dig so hard to find the nectar in the flower. This Giant Swallowtail worked really hard to find it. Of course I couldn't tell but he looked happy when he flew away. :-)
"The top 10 plant species for nectar production in terms of g of sugar/flower/day were:
Himalayan balsam (Impatiens glandulifera)
Yellow water iris (Iris pseudacerus)
Gladioli (Gladiolus spp.)
Common comfrey (Symphytum officinale)
Blackberry (Rubus fruticosus agg.)
Hedge bindweed (Calystegia sepium)
Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum)
Sweet pea (Lathyrus latifolius)
Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)
Rhododendron (Rhododendron panticum)
The top 10 plant species for nectar per unit cover per year (kg of sugar/ha/year) were:
Marsh thistle (Cirsium palustre)
Grey willow (Salix cinerea.)
Common knapweed (Centaurea nigra.)
Bell heather (Erica cinerea)
Common comfrey (Symphytum officinale.)
Spear thistle (Cirsium vulgare)
Ragwort (Senecio jacobea)
Common hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium)
Common bugloss (Anchusa officinalis)
Chives (Allium schoenoprasum)
www.conservationgrade.org/2014/10/which_flowers_best_sour...
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I went to the Hummingbird Sanctuary yesterday,
they were so many it was so amazing to see, soon will be going south,
I took my first one in 2008,
Please click on the link bellow to learn more,
www.flickr.com/photos/komotini49/2784539556/in/photolist-...
Thanks dear Paul for being so hospitable!
Butterflies were scarce in my yard this year, so I was very happy to see this Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes). It seemed attracted a patch of Helianthus flowers (sunflower), staying for about 20 minutes, going from flower to flower.
This profile shows it's long proboscis probing for nectar, with a view of it's inner and outer wings.
From the camera, with only a crop.
Pleasure is spread through the earth
In stray gifts to be claimed by whoever shall find.
~William Wordsworth, 1806
I have to admit I took A LOT of photos of this species when we were in Australia. They were the most colorful, and also one of the most common and least timid parrots that we encountered. They were so colorful, I often felt they would somehow melt my sensor. Rainbow lorikeet, Melbourne, Victoria.
It is funny to watch how much effort a Hummingbird will expend in protecting his nectar stash from the other hummers. We have recently welcomed 8-10 of these guys to our feeder - we have had the thing hanging there for 2 months with no takers, then suddenly the war for the nectar began! The light was not too good today due to TS Lee graciously dumping rain upon us, but I hope to keep seeing these guys until they leave in early October.
I photographed this beautiful female Anna's hummingbird last week at my sister's house. The concept is to photograph the birds in the shade, using at least 5 strobes pointed at the bird, and one strobe pointed at the painted background. The idea is to provide even light on the bird, and a non distracting background.
I learned the lighting from a book by Linda Robbins called The Hummingbird Guide. Her method is to use a minimum of 5 to 6 strobes, a supplied background (which you have to provide), and photograph the birds in the shade so that you don't have to overpower the sunlight. When you use multiple strobes on a subject in the shade you can use lower power settings for each flash which results in shorter flash durations which means it freezes the wing blur. I used 5 Yongnuo strobes to light the birds and a 6th flash to light the painted background. The strobes were all at about 1/16th power, in manual mode, and were triggered by a Yongnuo RF-603N., and you can see the EXIF info on the side. Down below in the first comment you can see a picture of the lighting setup that I used for this picture.
I've taken quite a few hummingbird pictures which are in my creatively titled Hummingbirds Album.
Sweet little Hummingbird came to visit my back garden feeder! They are always welcomed visitors! Happy Fence Friday my friends =) Best viewed large, check out the trees & fence reflection from my garden in the red nectar!