Tag Archives: Lavender

Butterfly on the Lavender

While playing with the macro lens, I have spent plenty of time watching the insects in the back yard as they feed on the flowers.  The butterflies are quite fascinating as they have a proboscis that they curl up when they are not using and then extend to extract the nectar from the flowers.  As I was observing them at work, it occurred to me that the stills didn’t really give a good way of seeing what they are doing.  Instead, I switched to video and filmed them as they fed on our lavender bushes.  Here is some video of them busily getting fed!

https://youtu.be/OpzZAb30sZs

Bees On The Lavender

Nancy has been busy planting in our back yard at home and one of the plants she has gone with is a lavender plant.  Some of the plants take a while to get established and even longer to attract the wildlife but the lavender seems to be an instant hit.  It has had a steady stream of bees visiting it as well as other creatures.  Bees are the focus today.

I spent a little time lying on the ground by the plant with the macro lens fitted.  This is not necessarily an ideal choice as my macro is not a high end lens and it has pretty slow focusing motors.  The camera tries to drive it but often it can’t keep up.  However, stick with it and you can get some shots that work out.  One of the things I had not anticipated was the proboscis that the bees have.  Maybe they tuck it away when not on plants but, as they move between parts of the plant, it stays out and it is rather an intimidating looking item!

Fields Of Lavender

Nothing like making a mistake and having it work out better than your original plan.  We were driving across San Juan Island after visiting Roche Harbor heading to Lime Kiln State Park.  We had been discussing the lavender festival taking place at Sequim during the day but it was not close enough that we were seriously considering a visit.  I thought I knew the route to the park but I managed to miss the turning and, after going for a while, realized the mistake.

I put the destination in to the GPS and it told me that my turning was coming up.  As we headed back in the right direction, we came around a corner to see a purple field in front of us.  A rapid turn off and we checked out this lavender farm.  It was not on a road we would otherwise have used that day so we really were lucky to see it.

They have two main types of lavender that they farm but there was a pick your own field in which there were dozens of varieties.  I had never thought about different types of lavender before visiting this place!  There were pathways throughout the fields so it was easy to wander through looking at the patterns that the plants made as they were grown.  Too close and you could see too much of the orderliness and the raised beds and irrigation system.  However, stay back a little and it all blended together nicely.