Pollinator Posts by May Chen

I arrive early at Crab Cove and head straight to the spit stretching into Ballena Bay to check on the blooming Oregon Gumweed, Grindelia stricta growing by the water. The sky is heavily overcast, and

It’s a mild summer morning at Bay Farm Island.  The shoreline is ablaze with the sunny blooms of Oregon Gumweed, Grindelia stricta.   Oregon Gumweed – Calscape At 11:20 am, a Yellow-faced Bumble Bee, subgenus

In the native plant garden at Crab Cove, a jet-black, stocky bee is foraging on the anthers of a very fresh Bush Poppy flower, Dendromecon rigida.  It is a Small Carpenter Bee, Ceratina sp. (family

It’s time for me to visit Crab Cove in Alameda again.  The season has gone by so fast I wonder what plants are still in bloom in the park.   St. Catherine’s Lace, Eriogonum giganteum

The Holm Oak, Quercus ilex at the Shoreline Park on Bay Farm Island has produced an impressive crop of small acorns.  Native to the Mediterranean region, the evergreen oak has been pruned and shaped into

Fred and I are happy to return for our walk at Shoreline Park on Bay Farm Island this cool, mild afternoon.   I stop by this wild Hooker’s Evening Primrose, Oenothera elata to admire its

I participated in a Grass Walk this afternoon at Joaquin Miller Park led by botanist/ecologist Saumitra Kelkar.  The group makes our way slowly down Sanborn Drive, occasionally stepping off road into the low brushes.  We

A loud buzzing alerts me to the approach of a female Foothill Carpenter Bee, Xylocopa tabaniformis ssp. orpifex (family Apidae).  Here she comes, landing on a flower of Amethyst Bluff Sage, Salvia leucophylla ‘Amethyst Bluff’.

Three days ago, when I walked this stretch of Thompson Ave. in Alameda, I have encountered dozens of male Summer Longhorn Bees, Melissodes sp. (family Apidae) mobbing a patch of Coreopsis flowers.  I have wondered

The morning is still young.  I walk a couple of blocks to a tree-lined neighborhood on Thompson Ave.  Although most of the neat, well-tended gardens here are planted with non-native ornamentals, I do often find

The morning is cool and heavily overcast.  Perhaps a good time for seeing sleeping bees?  I head for Jenny and Craig’s garden in Alameda at 9 am.  With their abundant plantings of natives in the

The sky begins to clear as I head north and walk a short stretch of Alameda Beach along Shore Line Drive.   Alameda Beach (officially known as Robert W. Crown Memorial State Beach) is a

It looks like very low tide when I arrive at 9:20 am.  A new sign has gone up at the trail head just south of Alameda Beach.  I finally know whose ground I am treading

After dropping Fred off at Shoreline Park in Bay Farm for his walk, I decide to visit a garden nearby on Aughinbaugh Way.  Passing it several times previously I have noticed many California native plants

I am walking this short stretch of beach at Crab Cove near the Duck Pond this afternoon.  It is rather windy, and I wonder if I’d see any insects.   I waste no time getting

Thwarted by cloudy skies yesterday, I make a return visit to Jenny and Craig’s garden today to pick up where I left off.  What difference a day makes – the sunshine and warmth have brought

I finally look at the most conspicuous flowers in Jenny and Craig’s front garden – the Farewell-to-Spring, Clarkia amoena.  While these large and showy flowers don’t seem to attract many insects, they are useful for illustrating

It seems surprises are always in store when I visit Jenny and Craig’s native garden in Alameda.  Not only am I greeted by a floriferous front yard this afternoon, there is a handsome plaque planted

A Yellow-faced Bumble Bee, subgenus Pyrobombus (genus Bombus, family Apidae) is taking nectar on a flowerhead of Blanketflower, Gaillardia sp., one of the few non-native plants in the garden.  Stefanie has judiciously kept a few

In Stefanie’s side yard, a Thick-legged Hover Fly, Syritta pipiens (family Syrphidae) is foraging on an inflorescence of Sea Cliff Buckwheat, Eriogonum parvifolium.  The prevalence of this species of hover fly is probably due to the various water

It’s time to pay a visit to Stefanie’s beautiful garden in San Leandro again!  The front yard is so lush and full, I can hardly see her house now.  Her garden spills into the sidewalk

After dropping Fred off at Shoreline Park for his walk this afternoon, I head for the Bay Farm Island Library to check on the native plant garden there.  Much to my delight, the young garden

On the Shoreline trail at Bay Farm, a Potato Mirid, Closterotomus norwegicus (family Miridae) is resting on a cluster of Wild Mustard flowers.   The Potato Mirid originated in the Mediterranean region, but is now widespread worldwide.

Another wasp on the Fennel flowers? It has a big, boxy head.  A Square-headed Wasp (family Crabronidae)? The Crabronidae are a large family of solitary, predatory wasps comprising over 9,000 species worldwide.  Often called Square-headed