Busy Bees

I rode over the hill to have lunch with a friend. It being flower season, I took my camera with its macro lens. It was lovely and windy.

Bees were very busy in this poppy bush. In this image, a bee is on final approach, blurry because it's out of the lens' depth of field. You can still see the orange blob of its pollen baskets on its back legs.



In this image, the bee is foraging for nectar and also picking up more pollen. The hairs on the back legs are designed for this purpose. The bees use the pollen to make food, but the plant also benefits as the pollen is moved around, ensuring genetic diversity.

Sticky Monkeyflower

Santa Anita Canyon, California

Poppies and the Tehachapi Mountains

05P-4

Oak Limbs (Nicholas Flats)

I like patterns... yes.

Nicholas Flats oak leaves

I like patterns...

Lost Lake (Cajon Pass)

This is a strange lake. Right in the middle of the alluvial deposits from Lone Pine Valley. Last place in the world you'd expect a lake, and it truly is hidden. I found it by looking at a map.

Wildflowers, Short Canyon

05P-3 (Saturday sand sculpture)

A cold, windy day. The light was like cement when I took the photos. Delicacy in the sculpture was made difficult by shells and rocks in the sand. I really bit off more than I could chew, so the long sculpture didn't get as well developed as it could have been.

Rich and I called it quits about half an hour before sunset. We were on the verge of shivering.

Antelope Valley (California poppies)

Elizabeth Lake sunset

Telescope Peak

Kelp and Sand

Koehn Valley

Darwin Canyon

Hilltop Cactus

Blair Valley