How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.
- Annie Dillard
A GLIMPSE INTO MY SUNDAY AS SEEN THROUGH MY CAMERA LENS
"Great spirits have always encountered
violent opposition from mediocre minds."
- Albert Einstein
Taken May 22, 2011 - Black-crowned Night Heron - Click image for FACT SHEET
"I am only one. But still I am one. I cannot do everything, but
still I can do something. And because I cannot do everything,
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do."
- Edward Everett Hale
Avacets - CLICK FOR FACT SHEET
I had a good day; lots and lots of walking, and lots and lots of picture taking. The really cool thing was rescuing two new honey bee swarms! Thanks goes out to Alicia for letting me know they were there and to Cedar for getting the boxes and assisting me. Cedar is also transporting the bees for pickup later tonight or tomorrow. The bees will have a new home at a friend's farm on the western slope of Colorado. I'm excited for them. It was great to save the bees before the next rains come. I learned the hard way after loosing more than half of the last swarm. (You can read about it here.) Few things turn out like I think they will, but this time it went like clockwork. A small ladder fit in my car. I used it to reach the two swarms that were each formed on a branch in two separate trees. The branches were small. I was able to peel off each branch without disturbing the swarm, and laid the whole branch with the bees in a box. Most of the bees just stayed in the swarm and went right into their respective boxes. 
A new swarm of bees near the last one from last week
"If you don't like something, change it; if you can't
change it, change the way you think about it."
- Mary Engelbreit
A 2nd swarm next to the one pictured above. They're next to each other in a tree.
"People often say that 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder,' and I say that the
most liberating thing about beauty is realizing that you are the beholder.
This empowers us to find beauty in places where others
have not dared to look, including inside ourselves."
- Salma Hayek
Blue Heron - "Eye on the Prize"
We more frequently fail to face the right problem
than fail to solve the problem we face.
- Anonymous
In about two seconds from this pose, the heron dove under water but came up empty
Things turn out best for people who make
the best of the way things turn out.
- John Wooden
"Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy."
- Anne Frank
"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."
- Eleanor Roosevelt
"There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice,
but there must never be a time when we fail to protest."
- Elie Wiesel
"It is essential that justice be done, and it is equally vital that justice
not be confused with revenge, for the two are wholly different."
- Oscar Aria
"You can't do anything about the length of your life, but
you can do something about its width and depth."
- Shira Tehrani
"Science may have found a cure for most evils; but it has
found no remedy for the worst of them all -- the apathy of human beings."
- Helen Keller
"Know what's weird? Day by day, nothing seems to change,
but pretty soon...everything's different."
- Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes
There is no chance, no fate, no destiny that can circumvent, or
hinder, or control a firm resolve of a determined soul.
- Anonymous
click to read about the BUMBLE BEE - Taken May 22, 2011
I've been trying to get some good photos of bumble bees. A few weeks ago, I saw the largest bumble bee ever. I was a nano second from taking a photo with my macro lens when it flew it off. From the gigantic size, I'm guessing it was a queen bee foraging as she waited for the workers bees to develop. Bumble bees and honey bees are very different. An impregnated queen bumble bee hibernates by herself in the ground in the autumn. All the other bees die off before winter. Each spring, the queen makes a new colony by laying a first batch of eggs, from which larvae emerge after 4 to 5 days. She feeds the larvae herself in the beginning, doing all the foraging for nectar and pollen, but once the worker bees are born, the queen no longer leaves the nest. I probably won't have another photo op of a queen until next spring!
I've seen four bumble bees since, all much smaller, and today was the only time I've been able to get a slightly decent shot. I follow the bee all over when I spot one. They are so beautiful. I wish I could find a nest of bumble bees! I'm looking .... :) Click on the bee to read bumble bee facts.
Black-crowned Night Heron
I've never seen a Black-crowned Night Heron! I emailed a photo to a friend to identify it for me. (Thanks, Ron!) This is another first. I love that! I had several of those today.
Furry little bumble bee! May 22, 2011
Never, never, never give up.
- Winston Churchill
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