Inspired by the iNaturalist Discord's linking of Rod Crawford's field journal, I thought it might be a good idea to write up some of my outings this spring, both to document some of "the ones that got away" and to put some of my best memories into writing. My outings observing are idyllic moments that shine in my memory like jewels on a necklace - all similar, but each a treasure.
It was a gorgeous sunny weekend, and after spending most of Saturday just getting out to the cottage, I was determined to spend Sunday at Lake Quinault. I wasn't sure I'd see any bees - the historical bee observations on the southwest peninsula are pretty thin, and the first bees of previous years were never before April 5. In order to maximize my chances of observing any bees, I brought my 300mm telephoto, 1.4x teleconverter, and some extension tubes. I've used this combination to good effect before to observe fast-moving, shy pollinators in the Sespe Wilderness, so I thought it would serve me well here as well. I also brought a more traditional macro rig in case the invertebrates were better behaved than I expected.
My first stop at the lake was July Creek Picnic Area, where I'd had decent success with invertebrates on a previous outing, including an Ichneumonoid wasp - so I knew it was a good spot for some early Hymenoptera. I wasn't disappointed, either. The rocky streamside revealed a bunch of blooming Petasites frigidus that I could tell from a distance was a hotbed of pollinator activity. The combination of warm sunny gravel and a stand of flowers has always provided me with good bee sightings, especially when combined with water. And, of course, I expect to see more bees where more sunlight reaches the ground, as at lakesides and along roads.
The pollinators fled the flowers as I approached, so I set up with the telephoto a ways away and waited to see if they would return. Most seemed content to look elsewhere while this weird large mammal was in the area, but a few came back either to visit the flowers or rest on the rocks. I observed several bees and syrphids on the flowers, as well as stoneflies by the water.
Once I was no longer getting any new observations on the coltsfoot, I wandered the area to see what else was in bloom and who was visiting it. I saw the salmon berries visited by a few bumble queens, and the red huckleberry (the first I've seen blooming) by several yellowjackets who were moving too fast for good pictures. Moving on down the trail, I found a cleared spot by the bridge full of blooming Bellis perennis. Small insects were zooming industriously around the daisies, and the clear was wide enough for me to avoid blocking the trail (not that anyone else was around), so I knelt down and spent a few minutes observing. My attention was soon drawn to the insects resting on the blackberry leaves across the trail and on the wood of the bridge. A whole lot of similar-looking bees were using the bridge as a sunning spot. I suspected Andrena, and some photos and the help of identifiers confirmed it.
The trail went on into dense woods unlikely to yield good observing spots, and the daisies were still quite active with rather bold insects, so I went back to them, switched to macro gear, and got some good photos of a Hoverfly. Then back to the car (pausing for a dung fly on the daisies in the parking strip) and on to my primary destination for the day, Kestner homestead trail, where observers had posted a variety of blooms the day before.
