Flying high

That's how I feel today after the many lovely and kinds comments on my 1500th blip yesterday.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

It's another hot day  so I figured I would get out early.  There were some interesting flyers in the garden, and I pottered away an hour or so creeping and sneaking around snapping shots with the 105 lens.  Have I mentioned that I love that lens?  Yes, it's a little rangy at time on auto focus, but it sure does take nice crisp images.  Very glad I bought it.  And speaking of buying things, I've come up with sufficient justification for buying that 300 mm f/4 lens, too.  Yes, it is ridiculously expensive but it is also amazingly light weight and takes tack-sharp images.  And as the tendinitis in my hands/wrists continues to get worse, carrying something lighter makes sense.  Right?

Today's blip is a hoverfly in the Syrphidae family and I believe this particular one is in the Genus Epistrophe.  It is a fairly large hoverfly, about the size of a honeybee.  And this is the first time I've ever caught one in flight.  

You may recall that about 10 days ago my neighbors came over in a panic because they'd hired someone to trim their shrubs ... exposing a nest with four naked, blind American Robins.  I rigged up some branches to cover, assisted by Hillyblips who was here at the time.  Two of the babies disappeared from the nest in the first 24 hours - not sure if something got them or they fell or what.  But the other two have been doing fine and being fed by Mama andPapa.  Well, today I got another panicked call - when my neighbor was putting some fresh water near the shrub, one of the babies popped out of the nest and fluttered to the ground!  Fortunately, Mama Robin got the youngster up into a nearby tree where she and Papa will take care of it until it can fly properly.  The second (and last) baby is still hunkered down in the nest, but I expect it will fledge in the next few days. Whew. Drama on the Lane...

Hubs should be heading back about now.  He had transmission problems in the race car today so missed a race this morning but was hoping to make the afternoon race - fingers crossed.  He's trying to keep his 3rd place standing in this particular race series, so critical that he finish this afternoon's race.  

The weather forecast for this week is hot, hot, and more hot.  But in another 4 months, I'll be wishing for hot...

Fly high, people!

Debbi

Today's second choice - a tattered hummingbird clearwing moth