Our Backyard Garden was the hot spot for pollinators on this sunny July afternoon. by Sandy Garland The only way to learn to identify pollinators is to keep looking for them. As a member of the Wild Pollinator Partners network, the FWG has been participating in a number of pollinator surveys this year. We want [...]
This very small bee was exploring the various nest holes in this bee box. This tiny bee is in the Tribe Osmiini, and in the genus Heriades (thanks to Bug Guide for identifying the genus). by Sandy Garland Mason bees are named for their use of mud or clay in their nests. They [...]
by Christine Hanrahan Mid-afternoon at the Fletcher Wildlife Garden, August 14th. A sunny and pleasant afternoon to be looking for things to photograph for the PBase Blog. My first sighting was of the Sphex ichneumoneus, the Great Golden Digger as it is sometimes called, nectaring on swamp milkweed. Its counterpart, the Great Black Digger, S. [...]
by Christine Hanrahan Tuesday afternoon at the garden, June 4th, and a lovely day to be wandering through the FWG. Mating pair of silvery blue butterflies Silvery blue butterflies were fluttering around in many locations, including this mating pair near the new woods. Common ringlets were indeed common that day but hard to [...]
by Christine Hanrahan I arrived at the FWG at 5:30 this morning, a major effort for someone like me, normally a night owl. I'd hoped to hear a dawn chorus of migrants - warblers, vireos, flycatchers, and so on. That didn't happen. Until the sun came up fully, the only birds singing were robins and [...]
by Christine Hanrahan Eastern Phoebe It was our first real scorcher of a day at 25 degrees C (anything above 15 C is a heat wave to me). I was expecting to see butterflies, even perhaps a few spring azures, as I've seen them elsewhere recently, but no butterflies showed themselves to me. [...]
by Christine Hanrahan Our Insect Hotel, photographed by Aroop Ghosh This is a simple overview of various types of accommodations for bees. I won’t be providing instructions for building bee boxes, but I do provide a reference below for the best all-round source for creating different types of bee houses. Much media attention [...]
