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LinkedInPosts Tagged: Bodega Bay
Bumble Bees at Bodega Bay: Lovin' the Lupine
What a beautiful sight...a yellow-faced bumble bee, a queen, foraging on yellow bush lupine blossoms at Bodega Bay. She buzzed from blossom to blossom at Doran Regional Park while packing a ball of red pollen that seemed to increase in brilliance with every floral visit. A native...
A queen yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, foraging on yellow bush lupine at Doran Regional Park, Bodega Bay. Note the bright red pollen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The queen yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, heads for another yellow bush lupine blossom at Doran Regional Park, Bodega Bay. "Bombus" is derived from a Latin word meaning buzzing or a humming sound. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of the head and thorax of a queen bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Portrait of a Yellowjacket
Who takes images of yellowjackets? What, nobody? I don't usually photograph yellowjackets because (1) I prefer to take images of their cousins, the honey bees and (2) yellowjackets are always moving. By the time I observe one, and raise the camera, the insect is long...
A western yellowjacket, Vespula pensylvanica, peers at the photographer. It is on a Myoporum at Bodega Bay. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A western yellowjacket, Vespula pensylvanica, shows its stripes. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Dorsal view of a western yellowjacket, Vespula pensylvanica. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
"Okay, I'm hungry. Enough posing!" A western yellowjacket, Vespula pensylvanica, foraging on a Myoporum at Bodega Bay. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Breeze Blasts Bombus at Bodega Bay
Bodega Bay dawned cold and windy on Sunday, April 24. Windy? 27 mph! We didn't think we'd see a single bumble bee foraging on the blooming ice plants, poppies, wild radishes, or lupines, but there it was, a black-tailed bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, nectaring on a yellow lupine near...
No wind today! A black-tailed bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, foraging on lavender in Vacaville, Calif., on May 16, 2017. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Well, Hello There, Queen Bumble Bee!
So, there she is, an out-of-season queen bumble bee, Bombus vosenenskii, nectaring on an equally out-of-season ice plant blossom at Doran Regional Park, Bodega Bay. The yellow-faced bumble bee bursts from a neon pink blossom in the video below. It's Oct. 19, 2022 and the temperature has...
A queen bumble bee, Bombus vosenenskii, sipping nectar from an ice plant at Bodega Bay on Oct. 19, 2022. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bombus vosenenskii, a native, departs a non-native, the invasive ice plant, Carpobrotus edulis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bombus vosenenskii, with the familiar yellow band on its abdomen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bumble Bees at Bodega Bay: Seeing Double
What's better than seeing a yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, foraging on an neon pink ice plant at Bodega Bay? Seeing two bumble bees on the same flower. That's what we observed on a recent trip to Doran Regional Park, Bodega Bay, Sonoma County. It was bumble bee heaven....
A lone yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, foraging on an ice plant blossom at Bodega Bay. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
"Hey, move over! I want to forage here, too." Two bumble bees, Bombus vosnesenskii, on one neon ice plant blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
"Let's share this flower." Two bumble bees, Bombus vosnesenskii, foraging on an ice plant blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
"Hey, you're getting too close to me. I was here first." Two bumble bees, Bombus vosnesenskii, foraging on the same ice plant blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
"Ah, all mine again!" A bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, rolling in the pollen of a neon ice plant blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
