Late Season Pollinators

As long as there are flowers blooming and the temperature is above freezing, there will be pollinators active. I have been seeing fewer larger bees, but there are still a lot of small bees and syrphid flies. The hoverfly above was busy sipping nectar while it got pollen stuck to its feet.

This small black bee was busy working the same flower head, but it picked up much more pollen on its hairy body.

These photos were my first attempts at photography using a film canister as a flash diffuser. You can read more about the technique at the link. I like the results so far. Using the film canister allowed for a brighter image, with a sharper look because of the faster shutter speed, and very few harsh reflections from the flash.