This week, we’re honoring the small creatures behind one of the most essential processes on Earth, pollination. Welcome to Pollinator Week! From bees to butterflies, bats to hummingbirds and so many species in between, these animals quietly keep our food systems running. One week feels like a small thank you for what they do every day. While their work is integral in plant reproduction and food system development, pollinators’ hard work also results in the creation of certain raw materials, the prevention of soil erosion and increased carbon storage. Pollinators are tiny in size but large contributors to the health of this planet. 

It’s not a big stretch to see where photography fits in. Nature photography is consistently one of the most popular genres on Flickr. Search the term pollinator on Flickr and you’ll find hundreds of thousands of photos. Run another search for more specific terms like caterpillars or butterflies and the search results keep rolling in. Photographers take great care in capturing these small, hardworking heroes and if you haven’t taken a look through Flickr to see them at work and in their habitats, today is a great day to start!

Life on a Leaf: Celebrating Caterpillars and Host Plants

Butterflies and moths are among the world’s most recognizable pollinators. Before they earn the title of pollinator, they go through one of nature’s most remarkable transformations. This year’s Pollinator Week theme: Life on a Leaf: Celebrating Caterpillars and Host Plants celebrates every stage of that journey, from caterpillar to pollinator along with the plants that make it possible

Caterpillars depend on host plants for food and shelter but those can be overlooked as an important part of the cycle that ultimately supports our food supply. This Pollinator Week we’re honing in on that earlier chapter: caterpillars, their habitats and the plants that sustain them. 

Flickr for the Planet 

For a full list of Pollinator Week events and ways to get involved, visit www.pollinator.org  If you’re heading outside this week, bring your camera! Sharing your photos of pollinators does real work when it comes to building awareness around species that are easy to overlook. If you want a first hand look at pollinators, Flickr is the perfect place to start. Photographers from all over the world share gorgeous pollinator shots everyday that help bring these tiny animals and insects into focus so that we can see every detail of their little lives as they carry out their very big jobs. Looking for a place to start your pollinator search, make sure to visit our Flickr for the Planet group where you will find a nature focused group of photographers who share their gorgeous captures. 

See you out there!

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This edition of 16 Questions About 1 Photo features Pete Rowbottom, an award-winning landscape photographer based in Wigan, North West England. Dive into his story and the thinking behind the shot.

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