California Bumble Bee!

This past weekend I spotted for the first time here a California Bumble Bee Bombus californicus .

It was late afternoon and I noticed that an Umber Skipper butterfly was circling around another flying creature. That creature was this California Bumble Bee.

The bee constantly flew round and round, in a circle around the back yard, rarely taking a rest.

Then the Umber Skipper would suddenly fly up from wherever it was resting and flit around the bee. After several rounds it rested again.

It was very fascinating to observe.

And very difficult to actually take a photo of the bee at rest.

Here it is resting on an ivy leaf.