Dandelion attraction

At this time of year the Dandelion flower (Taraxacum officinale) becomes a yellow beacon for attracting bees and flies for it’s pollen, and the fields around Whitemill are a good place to look.

Today’s visit also involved a field test of my latest camera, the Olympus OM-D EM-5 MKII, replacing my EM-5 which is now in serious need of repair after many years of faithful service. Although early days I am pleased with the results so far.

I used the legacy Olympus 80mm F4 macro lens at F11, Olympus OM Telescopic Auto Tube 65-116, 25mm extension tube, and diffused flash lighting to achieve the following images.

Solitary Bees are up 1st.

I caught this one as it climbed out of the depths of the Dandelion flower

Whilst this one appeared to have had a pollen overdose

The majority spend most of their time burrowing down through the petals to get to the pollen, hiding away from the camera.

and the other type of insect photographed today was this Rhingia campestris fly which is easily recognisable by it’s rhinocerous type snout. It also has long mothparts as shown here.

[mappress mapid=”46″]