It's the little things

I've never looked closely at a bumblebee before, but have just spent a while finding out more about them and am quite bamboozled!

This bumblebee is on one of my favourite plants which was given to me by Belgian neighbours. It's a geranium, but beyond that I don't know what kind. The flowers are pretty, a beautiful colour and they come out earlier than the common old garden geraniums and last a long time, but they are small and fairly insignificant. The leaves have black spots on them. One year I was at the sink and looked out the window to see 2 bullfinches eating the seeds from the seedhead. A very good reason not to be too enthusiastic about deadheading and keeping a garden 'tidy' - and also to insist to an architect that you want a window at your sink!

I like being able to see in this photo some of the features of the bumblebee that I have just found out about on the web! The eye, the antennae, the tongue and the pollen on the pile. I had never realised before what acrobats they are, clinging on to different parts of the plants with their claws.

The joys of blipping! I'm off to find and re-read gladders blip on bees! And then do some work .....

Have a good day.

EDIT: Ahhh! The geranium is Geranium phaeum - see gladders earlier blip!