Date palms~Nature Notes~061412

The open area at my school is lined with palm trees and I've been meaning to bring my camera for some time.  Yesterday I went to the park early before school and took some photos of the ducks, pigeons, and a turtle doing something strange with a floating bottle!  I've been fascinated by the date palms, however, as one day I looked up and spotted a lot of bees.  And, not just honeybees, but the big bumblebees!  So, since I got to school early yesterday, I took these photos.  The bees were all over the blooms and were very busy.  Yes, these are date palms.  A family of orioles also visits them.  In fact, a few years ago they had a nest up in one of these trees, but the gardeners came and chopped it down along with one of the branches.  So sad.  They disappeared for a few years after that, but I saw one of them swoop down yesterday morning after a moth!  Amazing!  I hear them all the time now and I just hope the gardeners will stay away!  However, I have a feeling they will return to cut off these blossoms on the palms, since I'm sure they don't want dates growing on them.  Nature Notes for June 14, 2012.  To visit Nature Notes, please go to:   http://ramblingwoods.com/