Obssession of Carpenter Bees

Carpenter bees whizzing past is a common sighting in my garden. They flew by fast and furious, buzzing loudly at the same time. When there is a handful of them buzzing around, the drone can be quite intimidating. Sometimes I have to duck when they buzzed just inches away from my head.

This one flew purposely towards the object of its desire ...


a blushing red Hibiscus rosasinensis bud.

 
Eventually it landed on the coveted Hibiscus bud.


Bud hugging is a favourite past time.

 In the background are the orange clusters of Bauhenia kokiana. 

They bloomed profusely for most times of the year.


It continued doing so for all eternity, flying off for a brief interlude and back again to the same bud. I think they could be suffering from a psychological condition, OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder).

Under the overhead sun, the dark wings glimmered with hues of blue, purple  and tinges of red. The body is absolutely jet black.

Every now and then, it flaps its parchment-thin wings rapidly ...

 
in readiness for take off to God knows where.

A Hibiscus in full bloom.

 

Another bee was sighted on a similar flight pilgrimage to its object of obsession.

It landed on the bud and perched on it possessively.


I always wonder why they do not fancy fully matured blooms such as this but instead chose the buds. There were no signs of pollen or nectar gathering.

A seed pod

Bulbul Fledlging and Red Hibiscus Rosa sinensis

Cute little Bulbul fledglings were seen learning to fly and fend for themselves. They could barely fly, let alone forage for food.

This 'toddler' sat on top of a ledge of the concrete fencing. It appeared rather lost and forlorn.

Suddenly, it stood up and chirped loudly.

The source of its excitement was the arrival of mummy bird with a morsel of food in her mouth. It looked like a green berry harvested from my shrubs.

A soon as the feeding was done, mummy flew off, leaving the young one to its own device.

Here it perched and rested under the dappled sunlight, framed with foliage and a single red hibicus.


Not long later, the preening started ... 


and continued ...

to other parts of the body. A good pecking was done all over.

Strangely, it then began to peck at its feathers, laying bare a patch of pink skin.

Plucked down feathers were carelessly casted off.

My concern was about the bare patch on the left side 

When the preening was done, it laid down on its side to soak in the glorious morning sun.

It was then ready to face the day. Attempts at flying take top priority. 


Hibiscus rosa sinensis

Hibiscus-seeking Bulbuls

Yellow Vented Bulbuls (Pycnonotus goiavier) love to visit Hibiscus plants, to partake of its sweet offerings or merely to perch and chill out.


To access the sweet nectar, the Bulbul will perch on the stem just behind the flower stalk. It then insert its beak into the base of the flower and drink long and hard.

  A red Hibiscus rosa sinensis from a bush in my garden.

When satiated, they like to perch on its stems and branches to soak in the filtered sunlight.

They often hang out in pairs. Male and females birds are  similiar in plumage.

Most of the time it is really easy to spot them as I have many Hibiscus plants. 


This bush was propagated from a cutting.


Its flowers point upwards while ... 

the flowers of this species (our national flower) point downwards.

Red Hot Double-petaled Hibiscus

Double-petaled Hibiscus has all the beauty of the single-petaled ones but double the charm. It's the tropics version of roses minus the nasty thorns and of course the fragrance.

This double-petaled variety can measured up to six inches in diameter.

A Carpenter bee perched on a bud to soak in the sun, flying off and then returning. They can do this for the entire day. From my observation they do not gather from Hibiscus.

A damselfly emulates the carpenter bee in this bud-hugging activity.

The flower bud of a double petal Hibiscus.

The bud develops while a clueless ant scrambled over it being too early for the party.



 
The maturing bloom, just before it unfurl its petals.

In double-petaled Hibiscus, the stigma and anthers are at the same level while part of the seminal tube is fused to the petals.


Staminal tube of single-petaled Hibiscus

In single-petaled Hibiscus, the stamens and the style share the same staminal tube with the stigma held aloft. This way the chances of reducing self-pollination is better. The pollen grains are ready for harvesting by unsuspecting insects looking for nectar. An unidentified insect huddled up.

This is older variety of double-petaled Hibiscus is often refered to as the 'kampung' type which means village in Malay.

The flowers are smaller, measuring about two-three inches wide.


At this early stage, the flower petals are firm and rosette-like.

When in full bloom, the petals appear papery.

 The flowers are small and globular and look almost like pom-poms.

The next day the blooms are suspended by a thin thread which are the seminal tubes.

 Unfortunately, they can be prone to infestation by aphids and mealy bugs.

Hibiscus on old silver trinket box from Java, Indonesia.
(From my sister's antique silver collection)