One of our important pollinators

[Mousetoescamper]

Eastern carpenter bee on my back deck.

[AllaN01Bear]

1. ""

[Mousetoescamper]

2. Thanks, AllaN01Bear!

[Easterncedar]

3. Beautiful and fuzzy

[Mousetoescamper]

5. Bumble bees are even fuzzier. Both are beauties.

[Easterncedar]

7. Sometimes on a cold morning

I have found bumblebees chilled out on flowers, quiet enough to pet before the sun warms them up and they fly away. They don’t seem to be bothered. I hope not.

[Mousetoescamper]

8. I've done the same

I don't believe that a brief, light brush with the back of a finger harms the bees.

I once had a tame chickadee who'd come to a feeder mounted outside of the window above my kitchen sink. The window had an expandable screen that I could easily slide to the side to fill the feeder. Sometimes while I was washing the dishes the bird would come to the feeder. I'd open the window and lightly stroke the chickadee's back while it had its fill of seeds. That's among my sweetest memories. I don't miss the house or the town I was living in at the time, but I miss that window and the tame chickadee that brought me so much wonder and joy.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. A great photo with wonderful wing detail! Thank you, my dear Mousetoescamper . . .

[Mousetoescamper]

6. Thanks and you're welcome, Peggy!

[calimary]

9. And we NEED 'em! Every single one!

We need our bees!

[Mousetoescamper]

11. We also need our wasps

While considered pests, they too are pollinators.

[Callalily]

10. We specifically plant for pollinators!

And by the way, nice photo!

[Mousetoescamper]

12. I planted native milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) seeds last fall

Thanks, Callalily!