Not being a native English speaker I was pronouncing the name of this lovely yellow flower (it's not a weed, its a herb ... ) incorrectly:
My version was: Dan-de-lion (as in 'leon'). Does sound a bit like an Italian Restaurant, no? ;)
Although sunny, there was a chilly breeze in the morning and some of the bees struggled a little with take off and where generally fairly slow moving. I picked a spot behind a stone wall to shelter from the cold wind and also the have a more or less wind still set up. I didn't have to wait for long and the dandelions became very busy.
I have for now stopped trying to ID all the different bees ... mason bees, mining bees, solitary bees, bees bees bees ... It's great to see so many out today. I even spotted the odd honeybee but they seem, like last year, a fairly rare sight. Hopefully, as summer approaches, the sightings will increase.
For now I am happy to spend time with these little chaps here.
As it was still quite early and the ground still damp from morning dew, the slugs were busy devouring dandelions. Apparently, they do have very fine teeth, but I didn't manage to capture them with my camera.
Nom nom ...
... mmmmmm ...
... clearly irresistable!
The 'left overs' once the slug has disapeared ...
As always at weekends, the area nearby is busy with walkers (mostly dog walkers) and althought I prefer to have 'privacy' when photographing, sometimes a spot of interest is right next to the public footpath.
Not only was I shadowed by the claves who were all to keen to remind me just how sticky their tounges are, I was also greeted by various dogs who wondered whether I was friend of foe when they found me crouching over some dandelions in the middle of the field.
One gentleman this morning was most inquisitive and we had a pleasant converstion. And the end of it he wanted to know why I am taking these photographs .... a good question which I shall respond to here when I have a little more time.
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