Yesterday, I got a reminder that spiders, wasps and bees are not the only cool stuff to see at Iona Beach! Here is a beautiful Great Horned owl, waiting out the heat of the day under the cottonwoods. The long lens also brings in other creatures:
Cedar Waxwing, probably feasting on elderberries.
A skimmer on its hunting perch.
Herons on the rafted logs in the Fraser River.
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.
A Northern Harrier decides not to pose.
On Saturday I saddled up the bike in the pre-dawn hours to get out to Iona Beach, in the hopes I could find a sleeping insect smorgasbord such I I had previously found on Island View Beach. Iona has been productive for me in the past, especially for things such as jumping spiders and wintering raptors, and in previous Septembers I have found quite a wide range of Phiddippus. Saturday was not as productive as I had hoped, and I had trouble turning up many of the creatures I would normally expect this time of year. I did get some cool shots though. I hope you enjoy them.
UPS, delivering on-time and charging exorbitant brokerage fees. More on this in a future post.
My favourite shot of the day, a long-jawed orbweaver (Tetragnathidae), with the dawn light flaring the lens.
There were still quite a few lady beetles about, which stood out on the dying vegetation.
A freshly-moulted harvestperson.
Grasshoppers appeared to be basking in the morning chill.
I was hoping to find more sleeping wasps and bees, but only found a few Ammophila, later in the morning and way down the beach.
This Polistes dominula nest was fallen due to rain and the chewing of isopods, a common fate for nests in the late season.
The skies were dramatic, foretelling the crazy rain that Sunday brought. The beach was a bit desolate, but soon there will be wintering Short-eared Owls, not to mention migrating Snow Geese.
Just like Island View is the heart of black widow country, Iona has an amazing abundance of hobo spiders (Tegenaria agrestis). For some reason, their close relatives, the giant house spiders (T. duellica) are not as abundant.
Trying my hand at bike-borne photography, this is my shot of a jet coming in to YVR. Note the Guaranteed Terrorist Proof® Fence!
This weekend Expedition, my dad and I paid a visit to Iona Beach, a place that has been very productive in the past. We took our bikes out there, the better to enjoy the scorching sun and cloudless skies…
Like many hot and dry days, this trip was not as productive as it might have been, with many critters deep in shelter, and those that remain active remaining VERY active. Nonetheless, we did turn up a few cool animals, and I hope you enjoy the pics!
The unhappy remains of a green lacewing?
This little garter snake was under a log near the beach.
A Philanthus gibbosus beewolf, so called because they feed their young bees.
A Damsel Bug (Nabidae) haunts the under-log world.
There were few jumpers evident this time, which was a bit of a disappointment, but I did find this one female Habronattus.
A Hobo Spider (Tegenaria agrestis) is actually a pretty elegant looking thing!
There were many nymphal grasshoppers around, or as I like to call them, spider food!
A female Wolf Spider with a nest and an egg sac!
Check out the markings on this Hobo!
The dreaded Dysdera crocata, or Woodlouse Hinter.
A tentful of caterpillars on alder.
I wish I knew my grasshopper well enough to even say what genus this is in…
The buttonflowers can be productive for Hymenoptera.
Bembix Sand Wasp. Check out its crazy labrum!
All in all, the Expedition was not terribly fruitful. In the future I need to get out closer to dawn so as to take advantage of the less-active insects and better light…I made up for it Sunday with a bit of grant-writing at home and some prep for Cheapskate Tuesday.
This weekend expedition, I put out the call for our lab members to join me in a trip to Iona Beach, which is just bustling this time of year with all kinds of wonderful creatures, especially some wonderful spiders. I was joined by Catherine Scott, Samantha Vibert, Matt Holl and Nathan Derstine from our lab, and the newly-minted Dr. Gwylim Blackburn of UBC. We were heavily loaded with spider experts, as Catherine studies the western black widow, Sam has studied the hobo spider, and Gwylim is an expert in salticid behaviour and evolution. Luckily for us, Iona Beach was a field site for both Samantha and Gwylim, so they knew the good spots to find the best spiders.
A chrysidid seeks bee nests to parasitize
A male Yellow-headed Blackbird. This population at Iona Beach is a very disjunct coastal population of a normally Interior bird.
A male Salticus scenicus (Zebra Jumper). Look at his amazing chelicerae!
Sam enjoys the Yellow-headed Blackbird
We checked out the progress on the new Wild Research banding hut.
A male Tree Swallow watches his mate’s nest box.
The female peeks out.
Gwylim handles a newly-shed garter snake
So bright!
A male Habronattus americanus traverses a log.
A large female Trochosa wolf spider hides under a log.
A female Hobo Spider (Tegenaria agrestis) under a log at the beach.
A very large female Habronattus americanus was unimpressed with our match making (we tried to bring a male in to see courtship).
The male Habronattus americanus, resplendent with his bright colouration.
This jumper Matt found is is Habronattus hirsutus.
A female Phidippus johnsoni looks out from her egg sac.
Gwillim and Catherine searching for Habronattus ophrys.
Nathan scans the ground carefully. H. ophrys is very elusive!
A beautiful Philodromid (running crab spider) under an aster.
At the end of the day, I did some studio shots with the Habronattus ophrys and the Habronattus hirsutus, as the first one at least has very poor photo documentation.
Habronattus hirsutus
Habronattus hirsutus
Habronattus ophrys
Habronattus ophrys