In the Pink: A Backyard Safari

You don't have to travel to Africa to go on safari.

You can go on a "bug" safari in your own backyard.

And you can stay as little or as long as you like without incurring such costs as air travel, hotel stays, and food expenses.

Of particular interest now in our backyard are the pink African daisies. Now that autumn has surfaced, the salvia, catmint and lavender are scaling back and it's time for the insects to favor the pink African daisies.

Yesterday we saw scores of pollinators "in the pink." They included honey bees, hover or flower flies, sweat bees, white cabbage butterflies and fiery skipper butterflies.

One honey bee was so heavily dusted with pollen that she could barely fly.

A fiery skipper skipped along, sipped some nectar, and then fluttered away.

Meanwhile, a pest, a spotted cucumber beetle, appeared. It was not on the desirable guest list, but it touched down anyway.

However, something about the proximity of the macro lens startled the uninvited guest and off it flew.

Final Score: Pollinators, 5. Pests, 0.