Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Coffee And Chatting. #6
Good morning on this cool and cloudy Tuesday! Time for some coffee and a chance to relax for a few minutes. The sun does peek out now and then. The blue jays and grackles are busy trying to get some peanuts in between the chipmunks coming and going. Some days the chipmunks are busy out here, and other days I hardly see them. I do not really know what is going on with them, or why that happens.
But today they are busy out there. The clouds have cleared away and the sun is now shining beautifully, however, it is supposed to remain cooler today. That north wind is bringing in the cooler weather for us. Yesterday I was out taking pictures of whatever I could find in the yard and had my eyes on a couple of small bees.
They were on the potentilla bush out here which is now full of white flowers and a popular spot for bees and flower flies. And a few other insects as well. Anyway, while concentrating on this one bee something caught my attention. There was this huge wasp that I have been trying to get a picture of lately, and it was sitting just 6 inches (15cm) from my bare arm. Although I do want a picture, I do not want to get stung by this critter.
So, my first reaction was simply…RUN! However, I did manage to remain calm enough to get some pictures. Then I ran. This wasp is 1 and 1/4 inches (32mm) long. I measured the flower it was sitting on. I did that with another one and it was 1 and a half inches long. I still have not identified it yet and I have checked several online ID sites, plus my book. They show some that look like this one, but they are much smaller. This one hunts other insects.
I will be showing the picture soon. Unfortunately pictures do not show the size of these insects, or any insect for that matter. I hope to start posting insect pics again today, but not in this post, they will have their own post. I wonder if it will stay sunny long enough for me to go walking today? I hope so. Our summer is going by rather quickly. Well, time for a quick check for insects outside, thank you so much for stopping by today. Have a beautiful Tuesday everyone and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2022 Steve McLeod.
Coffee And Musings. #6
Good morning everyone and Happy Monday! Yep, that smiling Monday guy is here again. I just cannot help it. I like Mondays. And every other day too. So, time for some coffee and musings for this Monday. Hmm, sometimes it can be hard to find something to muse about, although Muffin mews all the time! Okay, bad pun perhaps, but the best I can do this early.
Well, it is not even that early really, but I was up early anyway. Nothing like getting up at 4am on a Monday morning to watch the sun rise. Too bad I cannot really see it from here. Not until about 6 anyway. But I can enjoy the morning anyway. Though it was a bit cool for sitting outside early this morning with my coffee. So I sat inside instead and looked out the window.
However, it is going to warm up today so hopefully I can spend more time outside later. Providing I do not fall asleep from being up so early. It would not be bad if I got to bed earlier, but that never seems to work out either. Oh well. Yesterday the sun came out so nicely I decided to go out for a while and see about some pics.
There was a strong north wind which did kind of make things a bit difficult. The temp was 63F (17C). So it was a bit on the cool side, but I stayed in the sun so it was not so bad. I was chasing this huge bumble bee and an even larger wasp, but alas, no photos of them. That huge wasp I still have not identified though I see it every year, nothing even approaches the size of this critter.
I would not like to be stung by it! I did get stung once so far this year, but it was just a small bee so it did not hurt more than a couple of days. Last year I was stung 11 times chasing after bees and wasps. Hopefully I will not repeat that this year. Sigh. Well, time to head out for some shopping so I shall say good bye for now. Thank you for stopping by, have a marvelous Monday and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2022 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 