More Gumweedpalooza!: From Agapostemon to Vosnesensky

 

 

I headed down to the shore of the Gorge again and saw more bees in the gumweed. It was thrilling to find this Agapostemon texanus female hunkering down on the blossoms.

 She's cleaning her antenna here. You can see the branched hairs on her legs she uses to collect pollen.

 

Looks like she's mostly using the flower to fuel up on nectar at this point.

 

I also found this delightfully tiny shiny Dialictus sweet bee. She definitely has pollen on her minute pollen pantaloons.

 

It's amazing to see the size variation of the different bees foraging in the gumweed.

 

Got mandibles?

 

Oh yeah!

 

A cuckoo bee does a deep dive for nectar. It doesn't collect pollen because it outsources its childcare to true bees.

 

You can see the "happy face" markings on its thorax.

Finally, a sweet little Bombus vosnesenskii drinks his fill in the gumweed cups.  It's wonderful to see so many bees on a busy beach where humans are swimming and kayaking and the bees are just going about their daily routines. Let it always bee so.

Sunday Afternoon Cyanotypes from Forest and Sea

 

 

I brought back a few treasures from the forest and the beach on Malcolm Island to experiment making more cyanotypes. I thought this coral algae would make a good print.

 

 

I was also fascinated by these long individual strands of Methuselah's beard lichen on the forest floor. They got a little bit dehydrated in my backpack so I revived them by soaking them in water for a bit.

When rinsing the print I realized the giant garry oak in my friend's back yard was reflected in the water. Such a magnificent tree!

Gumweed Palooza!

 

 

It's that glorious time of the year when the gumweed is blooming in Vancouver Island. Who's hiding in the sticky stamens?

 

Here's a blue-eyed beauty with exceptionally furry pollen pants: Ms. Melissodes microsticta! She's just taking a breather in between trips to drink her nectar powerade and collect pollen to provision her nest in the ground.

She deserves a break!

 

And in a flower nearby, her long-horned male counterpart is chillin' too. 

 

He's doing a bit of grooming on his long antennae to look good for the ladies.

 

And while he's sipping nectar, the female gets right back to work.

 

 

 Meanwhile, back in the boudoir, the Dianthidium subparvum are makin' baby bees. These lovely black and white resin bees use the pollen and nectar from gumweed as food, and the resin as nesting material.

After mating, this female goes right back to work. Note the pollen on her hairy belly.

 

 

 The males like to perch in the grass on leaves and stems.

Mr. pebble bee is ready for his closeup.

 

There were a couple of other critters hanging around the gumweed patch, including this tiny shiny fly.

 

Sand wasps (Bembix spp.) also nest in the sand around the gumweed. Take the time to do your own gumweed bee safari and bee sure to post your findings on iNaturalist! These photos were taken in Victoria on the shore of the Gorge near the Craigflower Schoolhouse. If you are in Victoria on July 11-13, consider joining in the Uplands Park Insect Bioblitz. It's gonna bee a blast! Hope to see you there.

More Studies in Blue

 

Three Plant Portraits in Blue

 

 

Bleeding heart,

alumroot,

and oceanspray.

Forest Light

 

 

Darren and I walked the forest paths, the birder and the beespeaker, listening for the songs of the creatures we love so much. We each have our own agendas, but they happily overlap.

Creating cyanotypes of plants has sharpened my eye for the details of pattern, shape, and light. The forest edge is full of beautifully complex relationships among the native and introduced plants there on the sides of the path. I want to be fully present to appreciate and celebrate every stamen and petal, every leaf miner pattern and leaf edge.

 The dappled forest light is glorious, lighting the salmonberries from within like enchanted lanterns.

 

This bush in particular was growing berries that reminded me of salmon roe.

 

There are bumble bees that travel along the edge of the forest, pollinating the delicate flowers on the sides of the path, spotlit for their pollinators, as if the stage was set for them.

 

 

Darren found a sad little boy on the path, lost and dusty. I put him on a log for a chance for him to warm up and fly again.