Nature

[lemonjelly]

Interesting photo , well not the subject really but the image from crop , this is taken with the ED60 Mzuiko , and although not in great focus shows great IQ IMO .

and crop

Looks like some sort of fly impersonating a bee, similar to a hover fly

[Goompa]

Maybe , I was not sure of the subject although it did seem to " hover " upon inspection .

[sometime]

Update on the caterpillar, it’s not pollinating the plant its eating the buds, so less for the little bees.

So should they go?

[sunshine51]

Yesterday I posted the Traveling bees on their hive/nest. This morning

I went to have a look & found this....

They buzzed off somewhere & the ants were having fun with the leftover

honey, royal jelly & wax.

While I was pondering where the bees may have flown off to, I heard

a bird vocalise a call that sounded like...WoooOOOT....long pause then

....WoooOOOT. Seriously, that's what the call sounded like, so I strolled

in the direction of the sound...about 30 meters towards our curry leaf tree

(Murraya koenigii) and saw a medium size many coloured bird fly away.

I looked up into the tree and saw this....

Most likely the same bees I suspect. This time their hive/nest lays directly

East-West, the wide flat bits, while the thin edges lay North to South.

When they were in the wild fig tree their nest laid in an NE-SW direction

for the wide bits. Hmmmmm...perhaps the Queen wasn't satisfied with

the initial lay out? Hive not getting warm enough? Beats me...I don't speak

bee at all.

No groovy video today y'all....couldn't find anything that fit quick enough.

Edited May 9, 2015 by sunshine51

[Robby nz]

Peacock Pansy.

[samuijimmy]

Friendly little guy! ...he hung around for quite a while!

[Goshawk]

Secret Squirrel . . .

[Mousehound]

Interesting photo , well not the subject really but the image from crop , this is taken with the ED60 Mzuiko , and although not in great focus shows great IQ IMO .

and crop

Looks like some sort of fly impersonating a bee, similar to a hover fly

It is as you suggest, a Hover Fly.

[Mousehound]

Update on the caterpillar, it’s not pollinating the plant its eating the buds, so less for the little bees.

So should they go?

P1050372.jpg

P1050420a.jpg

I was referring to the adult pollinating the plant. it would be interesting to take a couple of these and rear them in a box to see what they hatch into.

[sometime]

This tiny? I will call him ET, head size 3mm

[Goshawk]

While I was pondering where the bees may have flown off to, I heard

a bird vocalise a call that sounded like...WoooOOOT....long pause then

....WoooOOOT. Seriously, that's what the call sounded like, so I strolled

in the direction of the sound...about 30 meters towards our curry leaf tree

(Murraya koenigii) and saw a medium size many coloured bird fly away.

you do realise you got me saying that call out aloud to myself...? sat here in front of the screen sounding like a complete turkey (or something, lucky nobody's here) racking my brains for some glimmer of hope . . !

nada !

[sunshine51]

GH....You are not alone with this dilemma. The missus was out doing town stuff while I was

shooting the bees. When she returned I was vocalising the birds call to the dogs, who btw,

must have thought their main human just flipped out by the looks they gave me. Rin asks

me what was that sound so I vocalised it for her after explaining the fleeting glimpse of

the bird it comes from. She had me doing it for many minutes then I cought on to her prank.

It was a good giggle to say the least.

She has absolutely no idea what bird it comes from either.

The colours I made out in that fleeting fly away were red, yellow, a greenish-blue and black

brown for the underside. It's appears to be about the size of a pidgeon & has a normal looking

beak. This was the first time I have "seen" it and have only heard it around 5 or 6 times in

the time we've been living here. If any help the vocalisation is about half as loud as a Koel

and like the Koel...this birds noise carries a long way.

[Fiddlesticks]

GH....You are not alone with this dilemma. The missus was out doing town stuff while I was

shooting the bees. When she returned I was vocalising the birds call to the dogs, who btw,

must have thought their main human just flipped out by the looks they gave me. Rin asks

me what was that sound so I vocalised it for her after explaining the fleeting glimpse of

the bird it comes from. She had me doing it for many minutes then I cought on to her prank.

It was a good giggle to say the least.

She has absolutely no idea what bird it comes from either.

The colours I made out in that fleeting fly away were red, yellow, a greenish-blue and black

brown for the underside. It's appears to be about the size of a pidgeon & has a normal looking

beak. This was the first time I have "seen" it and have only heard it around 5 or 6 times in

the time we've been living here. If any help the vocalisation is about half as loud as a Koel

and like the Koel...this birds noise carries a long way.

Sounds like you are describing a coo coo. But I have no idea what the bird is you are talking about!

[Goshawk]

@ SS . . . vocalising the birds' call to the dogs is fine . . . doing the flappy flying away actions to them for more clues isn't (hope you didn't stray that far)

not a clue mate . . far too late in the drink morning for me to even blurt out Barbet, so i won't bother . . . (hiccup)

[sunshine51]

It's ironic that the Koel makes a similar vocalisation to this mystery bird.

One of the Koel's vocalisations sounds exactly like it's name...Ko El...

short pause...Ko El...short pause again...Ko El...accent on the El bit,

and repeats ad nauseum until it decides to make anouther sound of

which the Koel has a fair amount of.

The WooOOT...long pause...WooOOT...repeat pause...WooOOT bird

also places the accent on the OOT bit at the end...maybe an octave

increase? That end bit is a bit louder than the leading Woo is.

Anyway...I'm gonna try to save our butts here lads by mentioning we

should not vocalise these calls out loud in the presence of wives. GF,s

and the general public lest we get committed to the local looney bin.

Then again...it is Sunday...WooOOT......WooOOT!

Edited May 10, 2015 by sunshine51

[sunshine51]

@ GH...I did vocalise & the mutts thought it was neat...I guess.

But no...I swear I didn't go as far as to flap me arms about in a

flying motion. They most likely, may have, run for the forest had

I done that....Freakin human's gone whacko...we're outta here...

[Goshawk]

It's ironic that the Koel makes a similar vocalisation to this mystery bird.

One of the Koel's vocalisations sounds exactly like it's name...Ko El...

short pause...Ko El...short pause again...Ko El...accent on the El bit,

haha . . . it's no irony & no coincidence SS, it's onomatopoeic . . . much like the cuckoo is named as it is, or the hoopoe, or the whip-poor-will etc . .

your disyllabic bird probably is a Barbet . . . there's many in Thailand though, and a few sound very similar . . . and are coloured & sized as you describe.

[sunshine51]

@ GH...^^^ Thanks for that info. The bird doesn't come around that often, however in

the past week since I returned from Nepal it has been in our vicinity 3 times from the

distinctive call it makes. It seems to have a fairly large fight or flight bubble though

because I can never get close enough to actually see the thing in a tree, let alone

point a lens at it. When it flew outta the curry leaf tree this was the first time I had

ever seen it and like I mentioned...it shot away in a blur...a very fast blur.

[Goshawk]

^ i don't understand . . . you say you have all this great birders dream tele glass & D810's etc . . but you can't even nail a bird in your own garden?

with that lot, you should be the best bird togger on this forum bar none! whats going on?

[sunshine51]

GH...I've never been into birds. Wars & disasters were my main thing.

That said...these days I only occasionally do a war & a disaster when

called to do em...if the job interests me. Shooting wildlife, the four

legged kind was also somehing I did plenty of in between wars.

disasters & current events. I just never really got into birds; until

recently that is. So I'm new to this genre. Plus I have heaps of

respect for the photogs who go out & spend hours & days in a hide

or elsewhere just to get that one shot or perhaps a few shots that

depict whatever bird(s) they set out to capture in excellent form.

Also...I have no real patience with birds...and never have.

Edited May 10, 2015 by sunshine51

[Goshawk]

^ ok . . i'll buy that, but after decades as a pro then you should instinctively know how to shoot anything . . . especially fast moving objects. Show us your work ! (it must be vast)

[sunshine51]

^^^ GH...Patience is a virtue. One day I will, you can bank on that.

However...being a pro doesn't mean said pro can shoot any subject

and the pix will look great. We each have our genre's where we excell.

Other genre's may or may not work well for us. Birding is a fine example.

I know of no birder who has ever done war photography personally. That's

not saying there isn't some out there.

Take street photography...wonderful genre if you're into it as I am and

really...a war photographer is really a street photographer in a war zone.

Some get addicted to it, many others don't.

One of the best streeters IMO is Joel Myerowitz, he's been around for

decades also. But he's not a birder...unless the bird is in a skirt perhaps.

We have strayed way OT IMO....wars may be a natural phenomena of

man but that's not the case for this thread on Nature is it.

[Mousehound]

This tiny? I will call him ET, head size 3mm

P1050456_cr.jpg

P1050473.jpg

I believe that these look like pics of a "Crab Spider" They are small and hide in the flower of say a rose. They are the colour of the flower and the markings, if any, replicate the stamens. Their bite can be quite toxic but most are too small to be a problem for humans.

[Goompa]

A shot of the back end of a Fly that imitates a bee , I don't know the name of this one , and it would not let me get a front on shot either !

[Fiddlesticks]

A shot of the back end of a Fly that imitates a bee , I don't know the name of this one , and it would not let me get a front on shot either !

Not a bumble bee but rather a bee bum!

[Goompa]

Thanks , maybe that's what it is ... a Bumble Bee .

I thought it was a Big old Horse fly kind of thing .

[Guest]

Dragonfly.

1200mm, F/6.5

Dragonfly by Pekka Oilinki, on Flickr

[Goompa]

Nice colours Oilinki

[Goompa]

This is my Dragonfly attempt today , ED60mm - EM10 - focal distance 25mm - f5.6 - 1/500 -iso 200

Resplendent in Green

[Goompa]

Military Version X5000