Friday Fun, With Coffee! #23

Good morning and Happy Friday everyone! It is a nice morning, warm and sunny, though very smoky today again. We are supposed to get more thunderstorms later as a cold front moves in. And the temp is supposed to drop a lot for tomorrow, but back to hot weather again by Monday. And lots of sunshine.

Yesterday was a beautiful day and I was outside a lot trying to get pics of insects. I almost got that orange butterfly, but he flew off just as I focused in on it. And it flew a long way off. And never came back. Two White Admiral butterflies showed up yesterday afternoon as well.

Herman, the Hairy Woodpecker, on the feeder trying to choose which peanut to take.

But they refused to sit down, except once, but it was too far away to get a photo of it. So I will try today. I did get a pic of a dragonfly this morning already. That one cooperated very nicely, sitting down and allowing me to get nice and close. The other dragonfly that I have been trying to get, is still on my ‘trying to get’ list. Oh well. I also tried to get a pic of a bee I have not seen here before.

Now I think it might not be a bee, but perhaps a robber fly. It is a rather large insect, which is why I do not think it is a bee. We do have big bees around here, but they are bumble bees, and this one is not. I did get a couple photos of it, but they did not turn out very good. But they should be helpful enough to identify it. I hope. Some bees and wasps are what I consider “calm”, they do not mind if I get close with my camera.

I asked him for a nice profile pic and this is what he did.

Others, however, seem to get upset if I get too close. While I was trying to get a pic of this “bee”, there were other bees and wasps around me. One got upset and I ended up getting stung, my first sting of the year. Right on my finger. The one I use for clicking the pics. I must say, it does hurt. And it raised quite a big lump too.

I think that is my worst sting yet. I am not sure which one stung me however, but likely one of the wasps. Not that huge wasp that is around, but a smaller one. I did get another pic of a Northern Paper Wasp, with different markings than the other one. Apparently there can be many variations of markings on these wasps. So I will try to get all that I can.

Finally he chose his peanut and off he went.

I sure do not want to be stung by one of those big wasps though. I am glad they are one of the “calm” type of wasps. But I still will not take chances with them. Not me. I am not the type to take chances. Well, maybe sometimes. But not often. At least, not anymore. Oh well. I do hope you all have a wonderful Friday and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.

©2023 Steve McLeod.