Bent Tree Visit

May 1, 2001

Rod joined Mark and friend Cindy at Bent Tree to meet an insurance adjustor for inspection of the water damage of the failure of the roof boot around the drain stack, and the freeze break of a couple of the hot water pipes.

One of the treats of this visit was getting to see this scarlet tanager. Mark called me to the deck to see this brilliant red bird. When he had first seen the flash of red, he thought it was a cardinal, but it was actually a more brilliant red. It played around in the trees in front of the deck for quite a while, gathering nest material. I had never seen one before. According to our bird book, this is the extreme southern edge of its range.

In a rare moment of relaxation, Rod watched a bee working on a leaf. In the frame to the immediate left, he is taking off, but the wings move so fast they are invisible to the camera.

The bee was going over the leaf surface with its tongue, like a miniature vacuum cleaner. He looked like he was hoovering up the pollen or something on the leaf surface. At right he is hovering on the way to another leaf.

Above you can see the full length of the bee's probe, stretched out straight.