A whole mess of eagles

Jul3

Ah, the majestic Bald Eagle, soaring regally through the clouds, bringing freedom and democracy, and sitting at a freshly-hayed field to eat dismembered voles. Yadda yadda yadda, Ben Franklin, turkeys, whatever…Lamenting of the Bald Eagle’s varied and practical diet has been done to death. I myself do not feel any letdown in watching these gorgeous birds earn their keep. …It reminds me of the caracaras!

We spotted this group Monday on the way out to Boundary Bay in an unsuccessful bid to find a rumoured population of black widows.

This one wasn’t taken at Boundary Bay, but rather at the Victoria Airport last week. Like the ones we spotted the other day, this eagle was grabbing injured or newly-exposed voles from a freshly-mowed field.

Date Night at Iona

Jul2

Friday night is date night, and for the past few weeks, Catherine and I have been going out to Iona Beach for outings. Rather than stroll on the sand hand in hand, we move slowly down the beach, scanning the ground and vegetation for spiders and insects.

The evening light was pretty nice.

Here I am trying to shoot a reluctant ant queen. Photo by Catherine Scott.

A very pale Tegenaria.

Catherine investigates a log for spiders.

First Coelioxys of 2014!

Jun17

I am so excited to have met up with (on Saturday) my favourite little bees, Coelioxys! Something about these streamlined little wonders is just so appealing to me. Of course, they were sleeping in their usual manner on the rainy morning, so I had good opportunities to play with the lighting.

Here is what a cluster of Coelioxys looks like, on a dead flower stalk.

Because of the rain, this one had quite a bit of water accumulated.

Like with the Ammophila yesterday, the water adds something to the already pretty texture.

For this shot and the one at the top, I used some hard light from the rear and to the right to make these droplets shine. The green streak is a plant stem in the background.

This bee is starting to wake, and grooming begins even before detaching her mandibles.

In the midst of waking up…

Now the bee is detached, and looking for a place to groom all this water off.

After a couple swipes with the feet, the thorax is drier.

This pretty little bee had a bit of a drier perch for the night.

Sand Lovers

Jun16

In addition to the bundles of sleeping bees I found at Iona Beach on Saturday, I also encountered some Ammophila wasps. Their name means “Sand Lover” and they are major predators of caterpillars in sandy habitats. They sting their prey precisely to paralyze it, then bury them in dungeons under the sand for their larvae to eat. The wasps I was shooting were resting on various vegetation, especially stiffer dead flowerheads. The rain made for some beautiful texture and reflections.

Most sleeping Hymenoptera I find seem to have a preference for dead vegetation. Perhaps this is less attractive to other animals and makes for a disturbance-free night? In addition, the dead twigs and flowers are often stiffer and don’t blow around as much.

In sleeping mode, these wasps grasp tightly with their mandibles. If you disturb them, they quickly re-grasp the substrate rather than waking and moving.

Here is one on a living plant. I like the way the droplets highlight the smooth abdomen.

It can be a wet business sleeping in the rain. I suppose while they are sleeping they must shut down their grooming responses.

Here is another Sphecid, not Ammophila, but perhaps Isodontia?

Tomorrow I will thrill you with some more sleeping hymenopterans…I have saved the best of them for last!

Sleeping (Colletes) bees!

Jun15

Yesterday was cold and wet at Iona Beach, where I set out for an insect photography walk. The conditions were a bit uncomfortable for me, but it was not raining so much that I could not use my camera. To make up for the wet misery, I found such a lot of cool things that it will take a series of blog posts to cover them all!

This subject came up as I was just leaving the beach, aiming to warm myself up in a hot shower when I glanced down and saw a little cluster of sleeping bees. Looking around on adjacent flowers, I found that there were 5 such clusters! This was too good to pass up, so I buckled down and started shooting despite the cold.

Here are a couple of the other clusters:

I am no expert on solitary bees, so I would love to know what these are. I initially thought they were Halictus, but I am beginning to wonder about that…Whatever they are, they are all males, as they have very hairy faces (most female solitary bees are all business in the front).

Update! These are apparently Colletes males. Thanks to John Ascher for the ID!

Having such still subjects allows some experimentation with lighting and background…

Here they are against the overcast sky. This was a single diffused flash to the upper left of the cluster and a white bounce card held immediately to the right.

Here I have the diffused light to the upper right, and the bounce card behind (with a flash pointed at it) to blow out the background. In hindsight, maybe I should carry two cards!

Here I am using a single diffused light to the upper left, a bounce card to the right, and the background lit with the second flash using the Monster Macro Rig.

Here the setup is similar to the above, except the background is mostly dark and the second light throws hard light to the right and rear.

Sleeping bees are awesome…Now I have yet another search image burned into my brain for when I go out in the mornings and evenings!

As I urge you always, go out and find some sleeping Hymenoptera! They are great subjects for photography!

I mentioned that I had a good photography day at Iona Beach…Here is a hint at what comes next:

Weekend Expedition 50: Richmond Nature Park

Jun2

Wow! I can’t believe Weekend Expedition is turning 50! Seems like just yesterday we were at Richmond Nature Park, bringing bugs to kids and speculating how cool it would be to walk around and see the place. Catherine and I saddled up after a long week to see what we could see in this Richmond gem, a bog forest habitat just off Westminster Highway. The day was bright and sunny, but it was cool on the trails.

A male linyphiid (sheetweb weaver) hangs out on Oregon Grape.

These staphylinids seem to be having a sex party on a flowering Labrador Tea.

Catherine and I got our animal feeding jollies at home before setting out: we now have some really fat spiders!

Some prime spotting by Catherine: a female Snakefly!

This (lauxaniid?) is feeding on the corpse of a barklouse.

I really like how this chironomid blends into the lit-up leaf.

This one, in contrast, stands out.

This place is full of blueberries, all along the trails. None ripe yet though!

Here is a male Philodromus dispar in silhouette.

We found a whole bunch of rhaphidophorids (camel crickets) under some bark.

Back out toward the entrance was a newly-fledged Rufous Hummingbird.

Mama would come periodically with food.

The fledgling was already feeding itself as well!

This throat-stabby feeding looks painful, but seems to work well enough.

The whole scene was quite wonderful to see. In only a month and a half, they will be shipping out for a long migration south.

Sleeping Cuckoo Wasps!

May25

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!

These wasps are some of the most gorgeous insects around.

Here you can see the wasp’s feet clinging on, as well as the concave abdomen which also facilitates the defensive posture.

I tried getting both of them to sleep on the same flower, but they seemed to maintain a sizable personal space. While I was doing this, late-foraging yellowjjacket queens were examining the tops of the grasses as well. There were also many sleeping blowflies on the grasses, which may have been what the yellowjackets were hunting for.

Here the two cuckoo’s are finally settling down again. They both appear to be male, with 13 segments on the antennae.

A bit of stretching before bed.

They seem to be connected by a detached bit of spider silk.

In the morning I went back to the site, and both were still on the same plant. Here one of the wasps cleans his eye.

And appears to be ready to start the day!

Spidery treasures from an exit ramp

May14

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.

A female Phidippus looks out from a hole in the scorching concrete of a barrier rail.

I presume this elegant male is a Habronattus or Sitticus of sorts, but I am not sure what it might be. Any suggestions?

Here is a male Evarcha. This genus has some absolutely stunning eyes.

This is a male Habronattus decorus, and I am afraid my photos do not do it justice! The abdomen gleams like brushed copper in the sunlight.

These little guys seem to be great posers, and I would like to do some more shots of them soon.

This is one shot which captures the metallic copper abdomen.

I believe this is the female Habronattus decorus, and she too has some coppery gleam, but is more camouflaged than the male.

I have both of these in petri dishes now, so I will try to introduce them after they have had a feed.

What a great haul of spiders! I did not mention any of the great number of Synageles I saw, but will definitely post some shots when I get them!

The empty nest…

Apr28

Yesterday, Catherine and I went to see the Great Horned Owls, and found this scene. The nest was empty, and the adults were gone. We searched all around, but found no trace of them. We did, however, find the previously-missing chick, dead right below the nest. I am not sure what could have killed it, although a bad fall could have done it. With the primaries that far developed it should have been able to break the fall somewhat, but there is no telling whether it hit something on the way down, or perhaps was grabbed by an eagle or hawk.

We are hoping what happened with the other chick is that it fledged, although who really knows…We will keep an eye out for the family, as they will probably stay within this patch of woods. I will remember this unique experience of seeing these bold Great Horned Owls, nesting so close to a walking path in an urban forest.

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Nomada

Apr27

For macrophotography, no bees are better subjects than sleeping bees. When these normally busy Hymenoptera decide to turn in for the evening, it takes a lot to disturb them. Because of their single-mindedness, they make excellent subjects, and they can be found at a convenient time, such as the early morning (before work) and in the evening (after work). The leaf they are grasping can often be detached from the plant and then the whole setup can be posed with one hand while shooting with the other. If you are dextrous enough, you can even hold a white bounce card on the opposite side to your key light in order to provide some nice creamy fill.

I got the chance yesterday to try out some of these tricks with sleeping Nomada. The members of this genus are cleptoparasites of other bees, such as Andrena, meaning they seek out the other bees’ nests and oviposit within them. Then the Nomada larva consumes the provisions that the host laid in for her young. Nomada seems to be a tricky group to identify, and hence I cannot provide specific identifications, but I suspect all of these are in the Nomada ruficornis species group.

I hope you enjoy the photos!