At close range

If a neighbour had casually seen me on my garden this morning, he or she could have rightly thought either that I was out of my mind or that I was practicing some tai-chi. But no, in one of the few sunny spells we had on an otherwise windy, cold morning, an Anthophora plumipes male stopped to sunbathe for a bit longer than usual. It is the longest time I have seen one of these fast high-pitched buzzing bees sitting still. The spot was quite near to the wall where I photographed the male in yesterday's post, possibly the same individual, but the background was much more interesting and I wanted to get a closer picture. Unfortunately, a barrier of lavenders, plum branches and primroses separated me from my subject, so I had to stretch and contort, while supporting myself with one hand on the mud, moving very slowly to take this photo one-handed. I just cannot hold it for a future post, as it is since now my favourite A. plumipes male photo. After a few minutes, the male started looking around nervously, flicking his antennae and, having warmed up, flew away.