The following photographs were taken two months ago, at the end of May 2021 ...
(Enlargeable)
... on the hill with a great view on the sea, around the remains of the castle of the Old Rakalj, a fortified medieval town built during the 11th century, at the site where once stood the Roman fortress and a prehistoric settlement before that. I'll pin the post to the @Pinmapple map, so you can see where in the world this is.
(Enlargeable)
In this period, the dry, stony landscape looks fantastic, and that's mainly because of one plant ...
... the common sage (Salvia officinalis) that produces plenty of flowers in spring.
Sage flowers are rich in nectar, so it's no wonder that many bees were buzzing around.
Although I saw a couple of common European honey bees (Apis mellifera), all of which escaped from my camera, so you won't see them in the post, the majority of bees in this place were of some species, or variation that I never noticed before ... and you can see them on these shots.
Their head and thorax were black, and the abdomen was red or dark orange in combination with black stripes. The size was like the common honey bee ... maybe slightly bigger. I tried to find the exact species on the internet, but after a couple of hours - just gave up.
The sage flowers are shaped in a perfect way to guarantee the pollination by bees.
To get the nectar, the bee must dive deep into the flower ...
... and there's no chance to avoid the pollen.
After this close up look at bee activities at the foot of the hill, it's time to climb and reach the old castle walls ...
... and explore a bit ...
... the plants that appeared from the cracks in between stones.
This is the Helichrysum italicum, aromatic and edible just like the sage, but with different aroma.
Here you can see a growth of fleshy red leaves, of the Sedum album plant ...
... that looks very decorative on the restored (or reconstructed) part of the wall.
In this, more or less quadrangular niche, I found a mix of two plants ...
... Geranium rotundifolium and Saxifraga aizoidess.
(Enlargeable)
Beside these plants that grew on vertical surfaces, I photographed plenty of interesting flora spread before my feet ... but before continuing with those plants, I thought that taking a quick, wider look at the archeological site ...
(Enlargeable)
... and the sea down below, wouldn't be a bad idea.
The ground, in the middle of what once was a castle, is now a meadow. Here you can see the Wall barley (Hordeum murinum) grass and Anthemis arvensis flowers.
The lady beetle larva was resting on the Dactylis glomerata grass.
On the large thorny leaves of some thistle, I photographed the Sphaeroderma testaceum flea beetle ...
... and this young bush - cricket ...
... well hidden and camouflaged among the thorns.
At one point, the cricket jumped on the Rhagadiolus edulis plant ... and here, on the open, I was able to take a shot using only the natural light.
This herbaceous plant has some distinctive little fruits.
The spiral fruits of the Medicago orbicularis plant are also pretty cool.
Here you can take a look at the other side that wasn't exposed to the sun. I have more plants and insects to show you, but now ...
... it's time to take another short break from the macro - view, and take a look at the sea.
(Enlargeable)
Some relatively large ship was sailing out of the bay, directed to the open sea ...
... and seagulls were silently gliding above the scene.
These are the flowers of the Coronilla cretica.
The color vary from white to pink and violet, in various combinations on the same plant.
On the flower of the Vicia cracca, I photographed another larva of the Coccinella septempunctata lady beetle.
These minuscule Hispa atra leaf beetles were mating nearby. The pink flower is blurred in the background.
Here you can see something completely different :) ...
... some relatively recent sculpture ... or monument ... I don't know anything about it.
This is a look at some small signaling light at the end of the bay ... and on the following photograph ...
... you can see the wider view from the hill.
This is a small detail from the Lolium perenne grass.
Here you can see some small grasshopper nymph resting on the leaf of the same kind of grass.
These are the elegant white flowers of the Vicia grandiflora plant.
After an hour of so of shooting on the meadow at the center of the fortress, I walked to the church of St. Agnes built in 1495.
In front of the church, on the short grass that gets regularly trimmed, I found this interesting weevil ...
... I saw this species only a couple of times, and I haven't found out the name.
(Enlargeable)
From here onwards - it's all downhill. I mean, the following photographs ...
... were taken in the evening ...
... on my way back to the car ...
... and the sage is in the focus again.
This time I found some very beautiful leaf beetles ...
... the shiny and colorful Chrysolina americana, commonly known as Rosemary beetles. Despite the "americana" in the scientific name, this species that feeds and reproduces on various Lamiaceae plants, like rosemary, lavender and sage, is native to Southern Europe, North Africa, the Near and the Middle East.
Here you can see some more sage and other vegetation seen on the way down ...
... here is another view on the landscape down below and across the narrow bay.
I took quite a few slightly repetitive shots because the surrounding nature looked very attractive.
This and the following enlargeable shot ...
(Enlargeable)
... were taken earlier in the day, on the way up, when the post was bound to reach its peak ... and now I used them to break the descending atmosphere.
On this photograph is evening again ...
(Enlargeable)
... and I just found the larval stage of some fly from the Syrphidae family. You can see plenty of aphids all around the larva. They are its main source of food.
As the sun was going down ...
... the bees were getting calm and easy to photograph on the sage ... It looked that they will spend the night sleeping among the flowers ... and I was ready to drive back home.
As always in these posts on HIVE, the photographs are my work - THE END.
Wonderful images and theme.
Reminds me of one of my favorite quotes:
"Today, as in the days of Pliny and Columella, the hyacinth disports in Gaul, the periwinkle in Illyria, the daisy on the ruins of Numantia; and while around them the cities have changed masters and names, while some have ceased to exist, while the civilisations have collided with one another and shattered, their peaceful generations have passed through the ages, and have come up to us, one following the other, fresh and cheerful as on the days of the battles."
-Edgar Quinet, historian
Great quote :)
It looks idyllic. The photos look absolutely stunning as well - you could get a job as a wildlife photographer for National Geographic.
:)
Oh, I'm going to be mad. Nature is beautiful, and so are the photos 😍😍
Thanks :)
Great shots!!
Thanks :)
Congratulations, your post has been added to Pinmapple! 🎉🥳🍍
Did you know you have your own profile map?
And every post has their own map too!
Want to have your post on the map too?