One of the big advantages of a prairie garden is that when good photography lighting conditions appear, it only takes me a few steps to find possible photo subjects.  Since I’m hobbling around on crutches right now, that short distance is an even bigger perk.

Yesterday, I enjoyed a few minutes photographing prairie spiderwort (Tradescantia occidentalis) in our garden.  A couple tiny hover flies (Syrphidae) were visiting the spiderwort flowers as well.  While these flies are usually characterized as pollinators, that might not be completely accurate.  Because they aren’t fuzzy, the flies probably don’t do much pollen transport, and essentially just “steal” pollen from the flowers.  I wonder if they steal enough to have any significant impact?  Regardless, through my macro lens, I was able to watch one repeatedly deploy its tongue as it fed on the bright yellow pollen.

Oh, and there were still some dew drops on the leaves, so I photographed one of those too.

Enjoy your long holiday weekend (if you’re in the U.S.), everyone!