In downtown Charleston, SC on the last day of November many of the gardens had blooming roses despite the recent overnight freezing temps.
One lone bee was industriously working this large blossom.
There are several more buds in waiting to occupy the bee if they and he survive this week’s chill.
We had frost Sunday and Monday night so I was surprised to see a Gulf Fritillary out and about today.
It was warmer, but windy, and he was working hard to stay on the flowers at the top of the Lantana.
Orange, the color of fall. Maybe the flower is more red, but it sure looks like a fall color scheme.
And a little purple thrown in to keep the butterfly happy.
I spotted these Dragonflies over a week ago, perching on the edge of a pond, then taking forays out over the water and returning.
The weather has taken a much cooler turn in the last few days and we’ll be flirting with frost at the end of the week. These may have been the last of the season.
On our photography tour at the Tom Yawkey Wildlife Center I saw a few dragonflies, that mostly eluded me as they fed at high speed.
This one took a rest on a nicely placed reed. Just as I was getting in place with a good angle for the background I felt a sharp bite on my leg. Ants! Needless to say that was the end of those pictures as I spent five minutes getting the little buggers off me and out of my shoes.
Capturing Dragonflies in flight is not easy. Their small size and erratic flight path is hard to follow. For some reason this one was hovering for an extended period of time just over the edge of the pond.
I was able to get decent focus and a photobomber.
South Carolina’s Tom Yawkey Wildlife Center is composed of 31 square miles on two barrier islands and include some open fields where these wildflowers were blooming earlier this month.
The field was surrounded by a wet ditch so I didn’t get real close, but a few plants were growing on edge of the dirt roadway.
It was very breezy that day and only a few tenacious insects were flying around. This was good for keeping mosquitoes away but not so good for photographing bouncing blossoms.
An unknown caterpillar was munching his way to the top of this plant.
Swamp sunflowers attract all kinds of insects including this Gulf Fritillary and a tiny photobombing one at the butterfly’s feet.
It’s fall and the Gulf Fritillaries are flitting around in the beach dunes.
This one was mostly showing off his underside, which is intricately patterned and very different than the upper side.
September 24, 2019, Kiawah Beach Dunes
Lantana bloom all summer long but are really noticeable in the fall when a lot of the annuals in flower beds have passed their prime.
In the first two images the bee’s eye has rather a weird glow, perhaps part reflection from the flowers.
The bee was fully investigating the flowers.
He was quite methodical, going back and forth, completely covering the flower head and giving me a variety of body angles.
