Nova Scotia and New Brunswick each have plenty of wilderness; PEI not so much. So pictures of bears and cougars and so on would be plausible, as would marine mammals. But no. Herewith, from our recent vacation, birds and bees, with a little lens-geek side trip.

Birds · Having touristed around Charlottetown, we drove down a series of smaller and smaller back roads and ended up at Canceaux Cove near Rocky Point, which I thought might present a nice vista of the city. It did, but the city looks boring. By way of consolation, there were these cute little birds running around on the beach and then flying loops in formation over the water.

I wanted to get a picture of them in the air so I sauntered down the beach, assuming they’d fly away picturesquely. They studiously ignored me and eventually I had to jump and down and wave my arms and even then they took off grudgingly.

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They were graceful and did this mysterious thing that birds can do, staying in formation with no obvious leader. I’ve had the pleasure, very occasionally, of being in engineering teams like that.

Bees · We went to Annapolis Royal because of its Historic Gardens and wow, what a treat. I think even those who don’t see themselves as garden fans would enjoy an hour or more sauntering around in there. I like taking pictures of flowers and a lot of these flowers had bees in them.

This one was cute enough to reward a close-up.

Aren’t her wings cute?

And I ask, what could be better than a cute bee in a pretty flower? Obviously, two bees.

And again, a closer look.

Bees are admirable creatures and I don’t want to make fun of them, but this surprised-looking little citizen makes me laugh. (She’s just navigating from one blossom to the next.)

Lens · All of these are shot with Fujifilm’s 55-200mm lens, which I’ve had for at least eleven years. Up till now, I’ve always pointed it at faraway things, but wow, I think I’ll be taking this to more gardens in future.

I mention this partly so I can link to this awesome (and funny) teardown piece from Lensrentals.

And, on the way out, let’s let that lens show off with a couple of roses.

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Remember, pink and black are the colors of rock & roll. And if you’re anywhere near Annapolis Royal, stop and visit that garden.