The bee and the thistle....

I saw a patch of thistles in the late afternoon, so we stopped for photos. One very busy bee was enjoying them.
I was fascinated by the different stages and looks.

The bee could really get lost in this thing! I have seldom seen such big fat thistles. This is a different type than what I usually see.

A droopy falling apart one. I bet the Goldfinches are hanging around here.

I guess I should have put the stages of opening in order, but didn't think of it until the photos were loaded :-)

I liked the spiny bracts tipped with purple.

A happy flower :-)

I was going to call this post "The bird, the bee, and the thistle", but the bird photo is so poor, I decided not to draw attention to it!

However....I think this is a life bird for me! I saw it land on the rail facing me and had this impression of yellow breast and the head looked like a flycatcher, with that sort of "crest" look they have. I saw it flying, too and it really looked yellow underneath! My best guess looking in a guide book is a Great Crested Flycatcher....but I'm not sure. Anyone know for sure? By the time I got the camera, it turned its back and I got one poor photo through our glass windows that have moisture in them...sigh! I wish it would come back, whatever it was!