Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

A sweat bee collects a great deal of dandelion pollen on a warm summer day.

Belknap Hot Springs, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

A honey bee awakes on a chilly morning after much rain... what better place to awake than a flower?

Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

A honey bee enjoys a tasty meal on a dandelion before buzzing off to another flower farther afield.

Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

A solitary bee awakens to a cold, dewy morning, clamped firmly to a grass seed held in its mandibles.

Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

A cuckoo bee cleans its outstretched tongue, readying for the next sips of nectar.

Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

A cuckoo bee clamps onto a rhododendron leaf to make cleaning a little easier, and stays for the night held only by its mandibles (read the buzzy moment in full).

Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

On a bright and sunny spring morning, dandelions attract a number of these mining bees.

Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

A mining bee on a crocus looks playfully towards the camera, with tongue outstretched in readiness for the next sip of nectar.

Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

A honey bee collects pollen industriously on another crocus, buzzing quickly from one crocus to another on this early spring afternoon.

Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

A honey bee laden with pollen pauses for a quick clean inside this crocus.

Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

A bumble bee covered in crocus pollen pauses on the edge of a crocus petal, surveying flowers across the patch, before deciding to take off in what it deems a favorable direction.

Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

A mining bee with its astounding mandibles feasts upon this crocus on a sunny April afternoon.

Belknap Hot Springs, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

A bumble bee poses for a picture before buzzing off to the next aster on a late summer afternoon.

Belknap Hot Springs, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

A bumble bee, having fallen from an aster above, desperately struggles to retain a grasp on this piece of vegetation (read the buzzy moment in full).

Belknap Hot Springs, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

A bumble bee pauses to clean its tongue before flying off to another aster for more nectar.

Belknap Hot Springs, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

So often, bumble bees don't bother flying, instead dangling off the edges of flowers in order to drop lazily into surrounding flowers.

Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

Iridescent green sweat bees are amazing to behold, somewhat smaller than honey bees, and even more energized – and they're not keen on photographers.

Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

An iridescent green sweat bee cleans its antennae before darting off, its three simple eyes protruding noticeably on its head.

Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

A leaf-cutter bee, covered in pollen, spends much of the early afternoon probing this thistle.

Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

A leaf-cutter bee's mandibles look impressive, and in our photographic confrontation, it appeared accustomed to having the upper hand.

Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

A honey bee cleans its tongue after a great deal of buzzing over this sedum.

Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

A bee covered in dandelion pollen... some days there's a bee inside every dandelion.

Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

A honey bee with tongue outstretched, sipping from the abundant nectar in Queen Anne's Lace.

Belknap Hot Springs, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

A bumble bee on an August morning after the summer rains of the prior night, totally drenched and clinging to a flower.

Belknap Hot Springs, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

A sweat bee with tongue plunged into a sunflower on a sunny and warm late summer's afternoon.

Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

This bee spent the night on this flower, waking up to a dew-covered morning.

Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

A honey bee drinks nectar from a dandelion on a mid-summer's day, wings at the ready to take off.

Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

A brightly-colored beetle lifts its wings and eagerly takes off into the air.

Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

A weevil slowly trundles along a young fern branch, sequestered in a shady glade by the river.

Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

A beefly suns itself on some freshly-cut fir before starting out on a chilly spring morning.

Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

A dragonfly cleans its eyes and readies itself for a new day, still covered in dew droplets.

Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

Still cleaning itself thoroughly of spider's web, a paper wasp considers taking off.

Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

A beewolf finds a vantage point from which to survey the surrounding grasses for a few minutes.

Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

A ten-lined June beetle noisily scrabbles up a grass stem at twilight before circling high into the sky.

Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

Climbing up a piece of driftwood, this stag beetle eyes the photographer warily.

Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

A golden buprestid basks in the sun to warm up before taking off from atop a blade of grass.

Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

A woolly bear caterpillar walks swiftly along a piece of dead grass – these caterpillars are almost always on the move.

Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

A ladybug awakes to another chilly late summer morning, clinging to grass seeds and holding a drop of dew in its mandibles.

Belknap Hot Springs, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

A hover fly mimicking a bee loves the aster nectar just as much as bees do, and mingles with the cloud of small bumble bees surrounding this aster bush.

Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

A stink bug with proboscis partially outstretched pauses on some grass seeds for a picture.

Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

An assassin bug – with deadly proboscis tucked in towards its body – blends in with the seeds and flower stems while awaiting its next victim.

Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

A grasshopper surveys its surroundings from atop a broom seedpod in late summer.

Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

A leaf-footed bug flits amidst the dense and twiggy broom on a late summer's afternoon.

Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

Two hover flies pause for awhile on a blackberry leaf before flying off, still coupled, in search of another spot – they fit together so neatly, all the odd shapes of their bodies explained or at least taken advantage of – they form a miniature biplane flying together.

Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

A praying mantis spends many minutes cleaning each of its legs, its unusual mandibles appearing to act as useful extra appendages.

Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

A boxelder bug surveys its surroundings as it climbs towards the top of a stalk of grass seeds.

Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

A boxelder bug, climbing down a stalk of grass seeds late in the afternoon on a late summer's day, looks towards the camera.

Nimrod, McKenzie River Valley, Oregon

A green sawfly buzzes with incredible speed in the midday sun in the middle of summer – a primitive relative of bees and wasps.

Leaf-cutter bee waking up