A roundup of recent shots

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The spider fieldwork Catherine and I have been doing at Island View Beach progresses slowly. Natural history observations and experiments take up most of our nights, but I have still been getting the opportunity to do some photography and arthropod outings here and there. Here is a sampling of some recent shots that I think you might enjoy.

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This is Island View Beach, near our fieldwork site. It is a gorgeous beach, and a rare habitat type: dune vegetation is in short supply around here.

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One of the rare plants to be found on Island View Beach is the yellow sand verbena, a gorgeous dune plant with lovely-smelling flowers.

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This moth, the sand verbena moth (Copablepharon fuscum) depends on the yellow sand verbena, and is endangered. Catherine is working on a blog post about the controversy surrounding this species.

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On a recent outing to the beach in the daytime, I was very excited to find this robber fly, which I believe is Laphria franciscana. Wonderful blue eyes!

I have still had my eye out for spiders, and this Misumena vatia with a honeybee was a lovely find in Uplands Park.

I have still had my eye out for spiders, and this Misumena vatia with a honeybee was a lovely find in Uplands Park.

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I have been finding some bee flies lately resting on grasses. Here is one I shot with the A720IS.

This Lorquin's Admiral we saw at Island View Beach, resting on a rose bush

This Lorquin’s Admiral we saw at Island View Beach, resting on a rose bush

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Nighttime fieldwork on Cordova Spit allowed me to shoot this Ammophila against the darkening sky.

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The next morning, I found this purplish copper resting on a dead flower.

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I also found a beautiful potter wasp, an insect I do not often see resting on vegetation.

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During nightwork on the beach, I found this mother woodlouse with a load of babies.

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This sleeping aggregation of Coelioxys and Ammophila was particularly impressive. I wish I had been able to shoot hem at dawn!

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Early this morning at Mt. Tolmie, I found this beautiful little cuckoo wasp sleeping on some grass.

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A stinkbug against the dawn sky.

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This lovely cuckoo bee is either an Epeolus or Triepeolus…I found three of them at Mt. Tolmie this morning.

 

2 thoughts on “A roundup of recent shots

  1. hi Sean why don’t you send some of these pictures to the times colonist is some of there weekly photo contests etc..

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