A not-so-tiny proboscis...

This little bumble bee (Bombus ternarius, if I'm not mistaken) was taking a break from his pollinating duties to clean up his face and proboscis.  It always fascinates me to see them do this, but it's rare that I can manage to get a decent shot.  So, while this isn't as sharp as I'd like (tripod would have been useful, note to self), I'm happy enough with it.  Also reminds me why I like goldenrod so much - those long golden wands are insect magnets!

In fact, I caught a tiny Northern Crab Spider hanging out on a goldenrod leaf.  I was able to get two shots before he moved and focus stacked them for the image on Flickr.  Pretty happy with that one, too.

I had a fleeting glimpse of a yellow-rumped warbler this morning - they've been arriving in our area for the last week and usually hang out pretty far into winter before moving slightly further south.  

We worked a bit in the new garden patch today and ordered 3 cubic yards of fill-soil to be delivered Saturday which we'll spread.  Before that, though, I have to go after some grassy growth with a weed-killer and then lay down some ground cloth.  I really want to make sure no unwanted weeds find their way up through the soil.  Once that's all done, we'll top it all off with some top soil and mix in some peat moss.  

I sketched out the two planting areas yesterday and ordered a bunch of seeds today.  Once we're done with all the dirt, I'll dig up and relocate some of my phlox and bee balm to the new area (it's spread all over my two existing gardens, so needs to be moved anyway).  And, I got a great deal on two buddleias so I'll be planting them in the new area, too.  I'm going with a lot of native plants in this area, meaning that I won't need to fertilize or water - everything is either perennial, or will self-seed or spread through rhizomes.  It will take a couple of years for the plantings to mature, but I know it will be worth it.  And, next summer, I plan to fill in some of the empty spaces with zinnias and cosmos just for some short-term color and pollen.  

I've had a quick peek at this week's TinyTuesday entries and I can already see that JensPhotos is going to have her work cut out for her in choosing her top picks!  Glad all I have to do is just look and enjoy.

We're off to meet up with some friends for dinner - first time we've seen them since we moved back to New Jersey, which is just shameful on our parts!  We'll make up for it, though.

Cheers,
Debbi