King Of the Insect world

I captured this monarch butterfly breathing through its wings and storing some nectar for its amazing fall flight to Mexico.

Beetlemania

These "mate guarding" Japanese beetles have made quite a feast of this beach plum flower.

Busy Bee

Bee & Blossom

Here are some beautiful shots of a busy bee hard at work. Blossom is everywhere in Poland and the trees are looking their best. Wish we could say the same for us hayfever sufferers...the pollen count is very high at the moment. Cue: a lot of sneezing and itchy eyes!!

Spring is in the Air (part 2)

Some more signs that spring is here in Poland: Green grass (and not that horrible white stuff)...and a beautiful, bright red ladybird. The only ladybird I've seen for the past few months is the one planted on that damn Biedronka logo (a cheap and nasty Polish supermarket chain). Great to see you little ladybird...thanks for bringing spring back to Poland!!

The Polish Art of Mushroom Picking or How to Avoid Getting Bitten by Hundreds of Mosquitoes!

With the damp weather comes pros and cons. The good thing is that this year there are thousands of mushrooms in the forests. However, the bad thing is there are also thousands of hungry, blood thirsty mosquitoes lurking below the trees!!! This doesn't seem to stop the Poles who over the past few weeks have been wandering into their local forests eager to find the prized mushrooms!!! As you can see, yours truly also headed into the forest...but instead of bringing back a bucket full of mushrooms...I brought back a neck FULL of bites!!! ;-)