Mosquito on White Flower

Mosquito on White Flower

Feb 26, 2022 | Insects, Plants, Mosses & Lichens, Wildflowers, Wildlife

This mosquito couldn’t hide from me! Caught out near The Narrows of Buffalo Lake (north of Stettler, AB, Canada), this mosquito was sitting quietly on the cold, quiet rain-filled day of June 11, 2020. 

She (that much I’m sure of), was sitting on one of the Lily Family’s Star-flowered Solomon’s Seal (Maianthemum stellatum). These native forbs bloom from June to July, bearing little fragrance and turn into dark purple berries by August. Mosquitoes tend to be around during the same period, unfortunately!

Photos were taken with my Canon Rebel XS DSLR T6i camera with a Canon EF 100 mm f/2.8 Macro lens.

Flowering Baltic Rush

Flowering Baltic Rush

Feb 26, 2022 | Plants, Mosses & Lichens, Wildflowers

It’s amazing what you can catch on a macro lens!

Believe it or not, these are the “flowers” (or inflorescences) of Juncus balticus or Baltic rush. These are flowering around the first week of June and get pollinated via wind. The lens I used makes these inflorescences look larger than they actually are, which are only a few millimetres long.

Taken on June 11, 2021 with my Canon Rebel T6i with a Canon 100 mm f-2.8 Macro lens. 

This Bee Loves Crocuses

This Bee Loves Crocuses

Apr 22, 2021 | Insects, Wildflowers

On one weekend (April 25, 2020) I wandered down to Red Rock Coulee Natural Area (which is south-west of Medicine Hat, Alberta) with a friend to take in the first prairie blooms of the season. Lo and behold the prairie crocuses were being visited by a lovely honey bee who was too busy collecting pollen to bother noticing me putting a camera in its face.

Taken with a Canon Rebel T6i, Canon EF 100 mm f/2.8 macro lens.

Bumbler on a Gaillardia

Bumbler on a Gaillardia

Apr 22, 2021 | Grasslands, Insects, Wildflowers

On a range health checking trip at the Cypress Hills in Alberta, Canada on August 6, 2014, I found this busy lovely bumblebee doing some nectar-collecting from a Gaillardia or Blanket Flower (Gaillardia aristrada) and just had to talk a shot of it. Taken with my Canon Rebel XS DSLR, Canon EF 100 mm f/2.8 macro lens.

Raindrop Spring Crocuses

Raindrop Spring Crocuses

Apr 22, 2021 | Wildflowers

Raindrops on spring crocuses (Pulsatilla nuttalliana) are one of my favourite things.

Just the way the hairs catch the droplets and hold them there for just a little while is something quite beautiful.

Photographed at J.J. Collett Natural Area on April 30, 2017, with (and this may come as a shock) my old Canon Rebel XS DSLR, Canon EF 70-300 mm f/4-5.6 IS USM lens attached. One has to stand a fair distance away just to get close-up shots of these little flowers with a telephoto lens, let me tell you!