Blue banded male

Blue banded male

Very late safari today, trouble sleeping last night. Consequently, not a lot around to photograph, most of the action is to be had before midday. However, plenty of bee action going on and so I staked out a couple of blooms and waited.

These blue banded bees are incredibly fast fliers and don't stay more than a second or two at each bloom. They usually hover in front of the bloom for a fraction of a second before entering the food chamber and this is the photo opportunity. Pre-focus and rapid fire as soon as a bee looks like it is visiting. It only took one attempt to capture this one.

If you remember, I posted a female blue banded on the third of this month, clamped onto the stem of a bloom, doing a spot of buzz pollination. The difference between the male and female is the number of bands, the male having four and the female five, simples!

Quite a change in the weather this last week. It has actually rained a few times after a two month dry spell. The wet season gets under way around October so the rain is definitely on the way. Once started, it will rain most days, but this does not affect me, as usually the rain does not fall until mid afternoon. One or two blip postings may be delayed, but basically business as usual.

Dave