Not Aggressive Unless Threatened

The Bald Faced Hornet's story is like a Shakespearean Drama.

A Queen begins by building a small nest in spring from chewed wood and saliva. She then begins laying eggs. These eggs become workers, which are all female, sterile and will sting to defend the colony of up to 7oo individuals. The males (who have no stingers), born later in the year from unfertilized eggs, will mate with future queens and then die along with all of the workers and the previous queen. The nest is abandoned.

Beware. These ladies take their work seriously. If you mess with the colony, they may squirt venom into your eyes, causing temporary blindness, in addition to stinging you. But they'd prefer to go about their business of maintaining the nest, gathering nectar and foraging for flies and other insects.

While taking pictures several bees veered away or bounced off of me, until I discovered I was in the flight path and moved. They allowed me to remain close, with no stinging. It's easy to respect these amazing creatures and their life processes. Thanks ladies.

Fossils & Fungi

Four foot tall palm frond

Humungous fungus, used to be much too high to reach

Morning Glory

A morning this glorious will get me up on the deck railing for a photo.

Sun and clouds have the power to render me speechless.

Essence of Feline

These sun lovers really know how to relax and enjoy themselves.

And always so photogenic. Is it because they don't really care what we think?

The Power of Summer

I always take the time to smell the flowers. Sometimes they surprise me with a smell like mint or chocolate.

Other times they just look glorious.

Or strange like a sea anemone.

Always they make me feel good.

Sweet Pollination

Bees are endlessly fascinating. I wonder what it would be like to live my life in a series of flowers.

And of course, to have the power of flight.
This honeybee makes the sweet life from Spanish Lavender.

Dynamic Forces

Summer storms are so exciting in our part of the world - some fantastic lightning and no tornados to fear.

A great opportunity to play around with cloud photos, these two were taken about 30 seconds apart.

After about a half hour trying to snap an actually lightning bolt, I discovered that moving cars were easier to get a shot of, and fun in their own way.

Surface Tension

Have you ever sipped water from a blade of grass?

Or from Spirea in a mountain meadow?

How is a human being like a drop of water?

A Walk In The Woods

Spider web and an ancient Douglas Fir, recently fallen.

This is a wonderful trail in the woods, but it is not the ground we are looking at. It is actually the same fallen tree whose roots are shown above.