Butterflies Already

I was surprised to see lots of bumble bees and butterflies this early in the year.
We had a mild winter, so maybe that had something to do with it.
They were all over the dandelions.

This bumble bee is so cute! I just love that orange belly.



Orange-belted or Tricoloured Bumble Bee
(Bombus ternarius)

wiki
 There is another species of bumblebee, Bombus huntii, common throughout the western United States, that is nearly identical in coloration to ternarius, though it has primarily yellow facial hairs rather than black.

bugguide

The butterflies were Red Admirals (Vanessa atalanta)


blogged previously.

I saw a few sulfurs out there also.

Walk In The Field Part 24 - Bergamot

I thought whatever this stuff is, I hope it's something good, cuz we have a lot of it.
I found out it is Wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)
Lamiaceae (The Mint Family)
Other names: Horsemint, Beebalm

Many plants so lots of variety and different blooming stages. A lot more impressive, pretty, and interesting, studying it close up via my photos.





There are "diamonds" in there when it opens up.


Blossom Closeups:




Mr. Bumble sure liked it:




Blossom "leafy" Closeup:


It's supposed to be fragrant/aromatic. I sure didn't notice it, and I'm usually pretty sensitive to scents/odors.
I'll have to go out there and sniff it--the foliage that is, not the blossoms. ;)

Leafy Closeup:


Quote from npwrc link above:

Plant uses and other interesting facts: Plains Indians made tea from this plant to treat intestinal ailments and skin eruptions. Foliage used to scent closets, drawers, pillows etc. Also used in the popular Earl Gray tea.

Wow. Scent my drawers, make some tea.
Put some Purple coneflower stuff (Echinacea)in there too.
Right from my own field. Who knew.

npwrc2

Full Plant View:

Tree Companion

Yet another flowering crab. Trying to catch a good photo of one of the bumble bees buzzing around in it. The blossoms are much darker than others I've been taking pictures of and the blossoms turned out too fiery. I turned down the color a tad in Paint Shop Pro with a screen layer blend.





No Sharpening on these. I liked as is.

Taken with my XSi Canon and Tele, so I get some very pretty blurry background stuff too.

Decided to try using some of that bokeh as an abstract backdrop...with a touch of texture. I like it.