Pollinator Posts by May Chen

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

It’s a calm morning at Crab Cove.  I have come to walk this familiar stretch of beach which appears to be all mine today. As I sit down to take off my shoes, a small

Along the shoreline of Bay Farm, extensive patches of the Oregon Gumweed, Grindelia stricta are infested with Spittlebugs whose young create these white spittle-like masses as they feed on the plant.  I train my eyes

Since the Oregon Gumweed, Grindelia stricta started to bloom along the shoreline of Bay Farm, I have never had a dull moment on my walks here.  One of the few native plants in this altered habitat

A Bristle Fly, Archytas marmoratus (family Tachinidae) has landed on a cluster of Coyote Brush flowers.   The family Tachinidae is by far the largest and most important group of parasitoid flies.  All species are parasitic

It’s almost noon, but the skies are still overcast over Bay Farm.  At least the air is clean and I can breathe with ease! An unfamiliar bee is foraging on some weedy flowers by the

This picture was taken in mid-April this year.  Things have not changed much at this wind-swept spot on the north shore of Bay Farm – the same shrubs are here, the Coyote Brush (Baccharis pilularis),

I revisit the patch of sick Oregon Gumweed, Grindelia stricta and find more of their torturers, the Lace Bugs, Corythuca sp. (family Tingidae).  The bristly, black creatures are the wingless nymphs.  Underneath the fancy, lacy wings and hoods,

It’s high tide at Bay Farm when I arrive in the early afternoon.  The little patch of beach I usually frequent is nearly inundated.   A black-and-white male Leafcutter Bee, Megachile sp. (family Megachilidae) has