In 2016 I’m doing a 365 Nature project. Each day of the year I will post something here about nature. It may be any format, a photo, video, audio, sketch or entry from my nature journal. It could be a written piece. Each day I will connect to nature in some way and share it here by the end of that day. You can keep up-to-date by subscribing to the RSS feed or be notified by email. See all the 365 Nature posts.
After our day-long adventure yesterday, we decided to stay home and get tasks done today. Fortunately, there’s always plenty of nature to see at home and this morning I sat out back on this sunny day and watched the insects buzzing around. The Pacific Ninebark is done blooming now, but the Mock Orange and Twinberry have taken over the bloom and are a constant draw for pollinators. The Twinberry has regular visiting Anna’s Hummingbirds along with bumble bees and solitary bees. I’d love to know if the Mock Orange attracts moths at night. It has white flowers and a strong aroma, so in theory it should be an ideal moth plant. But I have not yet stayed up late enough to sit outside watching for visitors.
As I watched the insects, I noticed some small bees landing on a pile of dry soil regularly. I sat down to watch them and they looked like the same small yellow and reddish bees I watched flying around the Pacific Ninebark back on Day 124. Looking through my Attracting Native Pollinators book, and they look like Cuckoo Bees (Nomada), but I’m not sure. I’ll submit the photos to BugGuide and see if I’m right.
