This Weekend Expedition was to the wilds of Stratchcona Park (no not that one). This is a large park in East Vancouver that features some huge cottonwoods, playing fields and a big community garden! Also, there is a bald eagle nest in one of the cottonwoods, so it is just the place for an insect/raptorophile such as myself.
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These chicks will likely fledge in a week or so. I thought this was a cool shot showing them all stacked up in the morning light.
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There are many ways to enjoy the park, like biting your best friend’s head at full gallop!
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A Cranberry Girdler (Chrysoteuchia topiaria) rests on a grass stem. The gardens are a good source of pests!
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A male Wool Carder Bee (Anthidium manicatum: Megachilidae), a European import, waits on Lamb’s Ear (Stachys byzantina) for a female.
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A female Wool Carder gathers Lamb’s Ear fibers for her nest.
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The Varied Carpet Beetle (Anthrenus verbasci) is a gorgeous flower feeder in the summertime.
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Coming in!
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Honeybee in a poppy.
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A pretty little ichneumonid (Mesostenus thoracicus)grooms.
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The under-log fauna. Isopods are actually quite attractive little beasts.
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A large stinkbug on a dead daisy.
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A Linnaeus’s Spangle-wing (Chrysoclista linneella), sits on a trunk. There were hundreds out today, flying around a grove of European Linden.
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This crab spider enjoys the haul of Spangle-wings.