Pollinator Posts by May Chen

Last night was full moon.  The effect, combined with Kelvin waves is visible on the shoreline around Bay Farm Island.  At 11:30 am the tide is high and still rising. Kelvin waves are a symptom

I only have a little time for a walk today.  At Bay Farm I avoid lingering along the trail, but can’t resist examining the Telegraphweed, Heterotheca grandiflora for insects in the end.  Since there’s nothing

Just before I leave Bay Farm Island, a few winged termites fly past me.  It suddenly occurs to me that today is ideal for termite swarming – a warm, calm day after rain!  I quickly

The first rain of the season we had yesterday has heralded in a clear, cool morning at Bay Farm Island.   I find myself checking out the late blooming native Telegraphweed, Heterotheca grandiflora along the

Since there are fewer large insects to find among the Grindelia these days, I can now focus on the smallest of them that have been overlooked before.  Some tiny insects are flying over the Grindelia.

Another beautiful day to walk among the Oregon Gumweed, Grindelia stricta along the shoreline of Bay Farm Island. The edges of the shoreline is exposed in medium tide, with barely a ripple on the water

Another beautiful clear day at Bay Farm.  To avoid the wet conditions I experienced yesterday from the high tides, I walk a different section of the trail today on higher ground.  Not much is blooming

Wow, it’s high tide in late morning at Bay Farm.  I have rarely seen the water level so high along the shore here.  Gentle waves are washing seaweeds onto the narrow beach.  Is this the

At the tail end of a week-long heat wave, the gentle breezes off the water at Bay Farm feel heavenly.  The Oregon Gumweed, Grindelia stricta is winding down its bloom season.  As there’s much less

Expecting a hot day, I head for the Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park for my walk today.  Parched lawns and flaming Japanese Pistachio trees greet me in the picnic area.   A handsome fly is perched

Along the shoreline of Bay Farm Island, a Convergent Lady Beetle, Hippodamia convergens (family Coccinellidae) is hunting aphids on a Bristly Oxtongue, Helminthotheca echioides.  The Convergent Lady Beetle, Hippodamia convergens (family Coccinellidae) is one of the most

A male Fine Striped Sweat Bee, Agapostemon subtilior (family Halictidae) makes a brief nectar stop on a Grindelia flowerhead.  I have not seen a female for a while.  I think their season is coming to

The smoky air from the controlled burn at Angel Island has kept me house-bound all day yesterday.  It’s exhilarating to walk the shoreline of Bay Farm again now that the air has cleared! An insect

  It’s a big day.  I have been asked by a professor who is currently teaching an entomology class at Merritt College to share my experiences photographing insects with her students.  We meet at Shore

A small bee with black-and-white striped abdomen is perched on flower umbel of Fennel, Foeniculum vulgare.   See the “furrow” at the tip of the bee’s abdomen? The bee is one of a few sweat

A plump inchworm caterpillar of the Pug Moth, Eupithecia sp. (family Geometridae) is stretched out across a Grindelia flowerhead. Inchworms are also called loopers and measuring worms.  The majority of the inchworms are the larvae of moths

The bay is calm when I arrive in late morning at Bay Farm.  I have walked this stretch of the shoreline hundreds of times and am by now quite familiar with the vegetation and the

This is one of my regular spots to hang out on my walk along the Bay Farm shoreline.  The three large Coyote Brush, Baccharis pilularis provide much needed floral resources for local insects in this

Fall is fast setting in – the weeds along the Bay Farm shoreline are drying up, or have been severely pruned back.  I stop at this lone Fennel to watch a hover fly on the

I feel a sense of alarm as I approach this stretch along the shoreline of Bay Farm Island.  The low vegetation bordering the Oregon Gumweed, Grindelia stricta has been freshly mowed to the ground!  This

It’s a cloudy and calm morning.  After dropping Fred off for his walk at Bay Farm, I make a bee line to the patch of Oregon Gumweed, Grindelia stricta at the end of Aughinbaugh Way.

Overlooked by most passersby, the Pacific Glasswort or Pickleweed, Salicornia pacifica along the shoreline of Bay Farm is in bloom! Pacific Pickleweed may be perfect, monoecious or dioecious. This plant appears to be female with

The air has finally cleared this morning, and I can breathe easy again as I take my walk along the shoreline of Bay Farm. A Fiery Skipper, Hylephila phyleus (family Hesperiidae) has landed to take

Back to my beloved Oregon Gumweed, Grindelia stricta on the shoreline of Bay Farm.  The white foamy masses of Spittlebugs seem to be increasing in number every day. A Sedgesitter, Platycheirus sp. (family Syrphidae) is