Oil and bumble bees

Sometimes one is in despair about the news, the oil that goes on leaking in the Mexican Gulf, the sight of oil drenched birds, no end to be seen for the short term and long term future of this area. Oil is king, we need it for everything, we will not give up our, (or cannot for the time being until new technology comes into being) right to use it in the car, it also grows our food through the use of power, chemicals etc, without it we would run short of most things and starve. Well this is'nt a monologue from the green perspective, I have perhaps given up hope on humankind actually stepping back from the edge of disaster, greed and human folly seems to be part of our nature. BP has been caught deep drilling, a dangerous activity at the best of times but that is where the oil is for the future, or in the tar sands of Canada, so we must either learn to live without conspicious consumption of the stuff or an awful lot of us will get wiped out.
So I shall concentrate on the bees that come to the flowers this day, I have stood spinning with a spindle watching the foxgloves, checking the bees, though the day has been dull.

The delicate flower of a hybrid deadnettle, perfect landing space for a small bee

White-tailed bee deep in a foxglove

Turning round with full pollen sacks

One of the many bellflowers

red-tailed bee in the bellflower

Young starlings having a bath, I could watch them all day, last year we had a creche of about 20 baby starlings on the lawn. Young sparrows and blackbirds are around as well. Keeping the cats at bay is an ongoing project at the moment

The blue holly butterfly - always on the move..

Red valerian in the front

A rather dispiriting hour long lecture on the figures relating to oil exploitation from Stanford University......."The'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTsYjRqPmNA The future of Oil