More Macro, Bugs, Bees and Snails.

I once again succumbed to  my fascination with nature up close and took another walk with my camera and macro lens after work today.  I enjoy seeing things i have seen many times before from a different perspective and discovering things I never saw before.

Today first hiked through some patches of comfrey, a plant with a long history of medicinal use, and quite common in my area. The purple and white flowers attract bees. In the past these plants were covered with bees but it seems there are fewer every year. However, there were still quite a few today and I managed to get a few photographs of the bees busy gathering pollen. 

I also found some nearly ripe raspberries, and some still green blackberries. It is almost summer and we will be enjoying fresh fruits and vegetable very soon. 

I hiked past some local ponds and wetlands and notice the cattails were covered with tiny snails. There were hundreds of them and they appeared to be climbing up the fronds to get at the pollen on the flowers. Never saw this before. 

We have been getting a lot of rain in our area this past few days, and, although it is great for the lawns, flowers, fruits and vegetables, it also allows for the breeding of swarms of mosquitos. And there were swarms today. i did not have on insect repellant and I  must have got bitten 15 times. This is a photo of one of them. 

I headed back home and was surprised to see a small  black walnut tree near my house with immature nuts on it. I have been watching the tree for a number of years wondering how large it will be before it produces black walnuts. I have never gathered them before but will have to try them this year. 

I didn’t see anything exotic but still enjoyed seeing the plants and critters I was able to find up close. Here is a link to the rest of the photographs I took on my hike today.https://keepyoureyespeeled.net/photographs-5/nggallery/blog-photos/macro-walk-june-18-2015

“Ah yes, the beauty of nature…once we understand life’s delicateness, then we will surely protect and cherish all of its forms.”
― Shannon Leigh Warren