This weekend I spent close to home, working on my final thesis tweaks before it goes out to my committee. Instead of going on a proper expedition, I decided to explore our new neighbourhood of Kerrisdale. Right near our house is a largely-disused railway line that has some good habitat, including tall grasses and saplings, so that is where I rambled. In addition to finding the cuckoo wasps on Friday evening, I also saw a bunch of other cool stuff!
Archive | May 2014
Sleeping Cuckoo Wasps!
Last time I got up close with sleeping Hymenoptera, I was shooting Nomada, also known as cuckoo bees. Friday night, about 100 m from my new apartment, I shot some Chrysididae, also known as cuckoo wasps or jewel wasps, which are also nest parasites of stinging Hymenoptera. These gorgeous little wasps are super tough (if you have ever pinned them) with a highly sculptured cuticle and the ability to roll up in a little ball, presumably for defense while dealing with stinging hosts. Peering at a series of pinned cuckoo wasps in Intro Entomology was a big part in winning me over to study insects!
Unlike other sleeping hymenopterans I have shot (Coelioxys, Megachile, Nomada and Ammophila), these guys seem to use their ball-rolling muscles to cling on to the grasses. Because they were so small, I was wishing for more magnification…I could not even find my extension tubes!
Spidery treasures from an exit ramp
This week I have been working in a grassy strip adjacent to an exit ramp on Annacis Island, a small industrial zone in Delta BC. One would think that there would be nothing but invasive species, litter and misery in such a place, but to my surprise, I found a great diversity of jumping spiders! Here is a selection of some of them that I photographed.
Weekend Expedition 48: Iona and McDonald Beach, Pacific Spirit Park
This weekend, Catherine and I made a few quick trips around the area to hit some of our favourite haunts. The weather was nice, but after a long week including a move back to the Lower Mainland, we were not up for major exertion. Here are some of the cool things we saw.
Osprey are always hunting around the ponds at Iona, and this one made several flybys.
Weekend Expedition 47: Some shots from Island View Beach
Catherine and I spent our last full day on the Island visiting her field site at Island View Beach. The weather was cool with a bit of rain, and it was a good time to explore the driftwood and dunes looking for arthropods.
A watery world of gulls
If you have ever taken the ferry from Vancouver to Victoria, the part with the spectacular scenery is Active Pass. This narrow channel separates Galiano Island on the north from Mayne Island on the south, and is a great place to watch out for wildlife. This time of year, thousands of tiny Bonaparte’s Gulls gather in the pass for feeding prior to migration to breeding grounds inland. These gulls have molted into their breeding plumage, and are quite handsome. They are difficult to get close-up shots of, as they are small and shy, and don’t like french fries. Nonetheless, they add to the feeling of abundant life of the sea-land interface of the Pacific Coast in springtime.