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.
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.
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.
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.
I was trimming back some annuals on my patio when I spotted a Praying Mantis. He looked so much like a stick almost pulled him off as a dead leaf.
I went back a couple hours later and he was still there, and had moved just to turn upside right. I’m not sure what that is on his front leg … insect poop or an even smaller bug?
Praying Mantis are known for eating pest insects so I was happy to have him. We have been inundated with lovebugs (Plecia nearctica) the last few weeks, which seem to have no enemy, and even with one dangling in front of him the Mantis took a pass.
He was very slow moving, and most of the time I watched him he only swung his head around a bit and moved his front legs.
Taken September 19, 2019. As of this morning the Mantis is still there, just a few inches from where seen here.
I was happy to see this aged and fallen Rose of Sharon left in place on a lawn at Rose Hill Plantation. While not thriving, it provided a nice burst of color when the actual roses in the formal gardens on the property had gone dormant.
Many blooms were managing just fine and were a very intense color.
A few bees buzzed around in the late morning heat, 90 plus degrees F (32 Degrees C).
This one got stuck down in the flower’s center then crawled his way up a petal, curling it as he went, to get out. I wondered if he was carrying too much pollen to lift off, but he eventually made it.
The concentration of strands and zig-zap pattern made this little spider web stand out from the potted plants.
At a different angle I could see the spider through the web.
Look closely for a series of strands further out from the center, more easily seen between the plant leaves.
June 2018.
