Holy Grail

For me at any rate.  I love these bees - it a native blue-banded bee and I've been blipping them for years.  A few years ago an image of mine graced the front cover of the ABC Weather Calendar.  My one and only claim to fame.

They are solitary, and nest in burrows, and luckily for me, there's a bank across the road that has rocks and soil, and is the ideal habitat for these gorgeous creatures.  And I provide the food with lots of salvias and other tubular flowers which these bees love.

This is the first one I've seen this year, but I haven't really stood still long enough to spot one until now. 

This one is flying away, so you can't see the spectacular green eyes, but next time..... there's always a next time.  In extras there's the same bee, half obscured by the flower.