Bees and Grasshoppers and Some Birds

I went out for a quick jog this morning as soon as I got off bed - the only time that makes sense for me to go running - not too hot and with an empty stomach. Then in the afternoon, I biked to South Dyke Trail. First stop, the community garden. It was cloudy and windy today so not many insects were spotted.

Saw this honey bee cleaning its tongue and wiping pollen off its body - quite neat to be close-up and see this beautiful creature doing its things without it flying away.


Grasshoppers, on the other hand, are much more nervous about people looking at (and stepping on) it. I think this is a Melanoplus spp. (Family Acrididae), but I am not too certain.

Saw this strange looking flower beside someone's garden plot. I have no idea what it is.

Then I biked eastward towards Finn Slough. Next to the railroad tracks, I saw a Sand Wasp on the ground digging for holes again, just like the last time.

I saw a few birds today. Black-capped Chickadees and then this House Finch.

Then I saw something strange near my leg. It was a (dead?) bee hanging on tight to the end of a grass. I poked it with a grass stem and it did not budge. I took some photos and decided to bring it home for a more detailed examination (and possibly pin it). Long story short, I still had it when I opened the door to our apartment building, but then it was not on the grass anymore when I entered my room. So either it was still alive or there's a dead bee somewhere between the building door and my room. Anyways, the pointy abdomen of this little critter seemed to suggest that it belongs in the Coelioxys genus. Man, now I wish I had some vials in my backpack to collect some insects (just like what I was doing everyday in Ivvavik).

Anyways, while heading back, I heard some eagles calling and spotted an adult as well as this first-year fledgling.