Showing posts with label insects. Show all posts
Showing posts with label insects. Show all posts

Gloria's Insects: Spring is back, and so am I, photog -- fire away

Sunday, April 4, 2021

Photo copyright Gloria Z Nagler

Yadira was positively ecstatic to have her portrait taken.

(I've been very close to, and photographed yellow jackets like Yadira (and bees and other wasps) for years and have never been stung. It's not that they favor me:), it's that they're too busy making a living to be ornery for the hell of it.)

--Gloria Z Nagler



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Sound Transit sting operation saves bees in Shoreline

Sunday, January 10, 2021


Beekeeper Peter Nolte and Jarrad Pimentel,
with SKH, get ready for the hive rescue.

By Katie Metzger, Sound Transit

To bee or not to bee, that is the question. The answer: save the bees.

When Sound Transit crews found a honey beehive in a tree along the Lynnwood Link Extension alignment, a rescue operation was in order, and we brought in beekeeper Peter Nolte of Rainy Day Bees.

The bee keeper had to be lifted 25 feet into the air
to cut comb from the hive so it could be relocated.

The tree that was home to the bees is set to be cut down to make way for the light rail line, but Nolte said the bees wouldn’t have lived through the winter on an exposed tree branch, especially considering the amount of honey they had.

“This was the only way they could survive,” he said. “We’re giving them the best chance we can.”


Nolte said the hive was relatively small – 10,000 to 20,000 bees, compared to an average of 50,000 to 70,000 bees – meaning that it was a newer colony. He said it's not uncommon for bees to colonize so high in the canopy, but it's the first time he's had access to a lift (thanks to our contractors) to bring them down.

When honeybee colonies want to reproduce, they swarm. Half stay behind to raise a new queen, while the other half leave in search of a new home. Often, this results in a cluster of bees hanging out under a picnic table, in the eaves of a house or on a tree limb.

These bees created quite a buzz.

These are intermediate locations while bee ‘scouts’ continue the search for a permanent home – like a hollow tree trunk, or an old hive that’s not being used anymore. In this case, the bees decided to hunker down and started building comb in the tree branch itself.

Nolte suggested that the hive rescue take place at dusk, when all of the foragers come back from collecting pollen and nectar during the day.

He cut out individual pieces of honeycomb by hand and put them into a frame that will hopefully become their new hive.

Time will tell if the bees, especially the queen, will survive the transfer and adapt to their new surroundings.

Getting ready to transfer the bees to their new home.


Nolte is a member of the Puget Sound Beekeepers Association, and he sells honey and pollen (which is rich in B vitamins - really) at local farmers markets. He has been interested in social insects since he was a kid.

A visit to the Puyallup Fair sparked the interest in beekeeping.

He also said he had done theater in college (“where they put us on all kinds of teetering ladders”) so going up in the lift wasn’t too uncomfortable, though he had never been up that high while beekeeping before. Usually, swarms are on the ground, or can be reached with a 20-foot pole.

There are many threats to the bee population in the U.S., from habitat degradation to incorrect use of pesticides to invasive species. But Nolte said honey bees are “a complete necessity” for agriculture, especially here in Washington where they pollinate our apple orchards and berry fields.



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"The sunflower is mine, in a way."

Saturday, November 14, 2020

 

Photo by Gloria Z Nagler



Quotation from:

--- Vincent Van Gogh

--- A honeybee





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When hive politics got too polarized,

Thursday, November 5, 2020

Photo by Gloria Z Nagler


Hedy liked to bury herself in her work...
--Gloria Z Nagler



 

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My best guess is Common Pillbug

Tuesday, November 3, 2020

Photo by Gloria Z Nagler


a kind of wood louse (there are 50,000+ kinds, my guide says). Saw her on a fence post last week.

Armadillidium vulgare is her formal name, and doesn't she look like an armadillo? She stores her eggs in a pouch on her underbelly, and the babies, after hatching, spend a few days in the pouch before emerging into the scary world!

--Gloria Z Nagler





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The Lavender Queen

Saturday, October 10, 2020

 

A single tall stalk of lavender with a butterfly perched near the top. The butterfly has lovely, draped deep gold wings that look like a designer gown.

Photo by Gloria Nagler



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And then immediately after our photo session,

Saturday, October 3, 2020

 

A bee from the left rear, just taking off, apparently hovering an eighth of an inch off the counter
Photo by Gloria Z Nagler



Harriette was off to her appointment with her investment analyst... busy as a bee indeed!

--Gloria Z Nagler





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Orb weaver web necklaces

Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Photo by Colleen Weum


I am so puzzled by the orb weavers this year. I received several photos like this recently. I have never seen an orb weaver create a necklace like this. Obviously there is web in the center because that's where the spider is sitting.

Maybe the webs have always looked like this - but what makes the outer area so distinct?

I really like orb weavers. They guard my front door every year and keep most of the little flying things out of my house. There are sometimes a couple of them and we often have to have discussions about where they can build and where they can anchor their webs.

[Yes, I talk to spiders. I also talk to inanimate objects. Get over it.]

This year there is a large one who anchored her web on the hand rail. I broke that strand and she wisely moved up and away but still near the door and the porch light. Yesterday, I realized that she was sharing or overlapping her web with a smaller orb weaver. And today there were three of them, working peacefully with small webs side by side.

I haven't seen a flying creature in a week.

I have to find the Spider Man and have him tell me what's happening.

--Diane



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Gloria Nagler to teach class on macro photography for the Audubon Society

Sunday, September 13, 2020

Every day's a beautiful day when you're a Yellow Jacket, thought Yvette,


not without a little satisfaction. Took Yvette’s portrait at the community garden the other day.

--Gloria Z Nagler



Close-up critters in the time of COVID: Tips on bringing home better macro shots of our fellow critters and other garden denizens with Gloria Z. Nagler

Thursday, September 24, 7:00-8:30pm
Register here

$15 sliding scale fee; pay what you can*
Online registration closes the afternoon of the class. Please complete registration in advance.

Strolling through urban gardens, noticing, and then capturing photographs of our colorful insects and blossoms, is a grand way to spend time during this pandemic. Gardens are rarely crowded and generally peaceful places to be. Macro photography is the art of making photographs of tiny creatures and blossoms that are the same size as the subject is in the real world (1:1 ratio is the goal).

My target audience for this class is beginners and near-beginners. We will talk about setting up your camera for macro photography, potential subjects, how you decide what to include in the frame, and more. This is not a hyper–technical class: not about how cameras work, but about how to capture better macro photographs.

* If you are unable to pay a fee, please see instructions on the Classes page on our website (seattleaudubon.org) on how to request a fee waiver +before+ purchasing a ticket. Though the first couple of online classes were offered for free (with donation suggested), classes are now offered with a ticket price or with a pre-arranged fee waiver or sliding scale option.



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Big and bold and beautiful




BIG and BOLD and BEAUTIFUL 
Indeed that is so true

It's plain to see that Buzzy Bee 
Can't get enough of YOU

Indeed you are MAGNIFICENT
So DAZZLING to the eye



And when the days turn Grey and Damp
I think that I WILL CRY

I'll want a view of YOU Boo Hoo
Next summer will have to do



grandma genie 

aka Jean Monce Bryant 

Photos by Wayne Pridemore



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Water plants at Ronald Bog

Thursday, September 10, 2020



Photos by Hitomi Dames

Hitomi usually spends her time fighting through the brambles at Twin Ponds, but decided to stop by Ronald Bog when she heard that it was open.



She identified the green plants in the Bog as Myriophyllum and said they are all over the edge of the water.


The heron looks very much at home standing in the water and the dragonfly appears to prefer dead leaves.





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Krista's bees

Monday, August 31, 2020

 

Photo by Jo Simmons


When your neighbor is a beekeeper, you know your bees are from a good home...


Photo by Jo Simmons


You also know that your fruit trees will be pollinated and where you can get honey from your own flowers.

Beekeepers Brad and Krista Tenney, like many Shoreline residents, have a beehive in their garden and have maintained it successfully for many years.




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Shelley showed up late for her portrait session (that's so like Shelley!)

Sunday, August 30, 2020

 



so that the most I could do was capture a pic of her arriving.

(Shield Bug in the community garden the other day)

--Gloria Z Nagler



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Bee keeper class: Honey Bee Genetic Diversity

Thursday, August 20, 2020

honey bees
Keeping it Wild! Honey Bee Genetic Diversity 

Saturday, August 22, 2-3:30pm

For teens and adults. 

Honey bees' genetic diversity has declined over the last 180 years but there is much we can do to improve this condition! 

Learn from Heather Wood of Urban Evergreen Bee Sanctuary about diverse plantings, hiving, and wild swarming!
 
Each person who registers will receive a Zoom link to join.



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I am awestruck by such beauty...

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Orb weaver
Photo by Wayne Pridemore


The Beauty of Nature 
Right here in full view
Oh spider I wish
I could do what you do

You are so amazing
A beautiful Gem
Like diamonds or crystal
I say an "Amen"

For Nature is awesome
Your webs are the BEST
Your spinning and artistry
Passes each test

We all need to open
Our eyes very wide
To drink in such Beauty
With You as our guide

I am awestruck by such beauty, poem by Jean Monce Bryant




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High-strung Hester hovered humorlessly, hating unhurried honeybees...

Thursday, July 30, 2020

Photo by Gloria Z Nagler


(No, I don't hate 'em, said Hester, I just wish she'd hasten her sips!)



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Photos: Poem Fuzzy Buzzy

Monday, July 27, 2020


Photos by Wayne Pridemore
Poem by Jean Bryant

Fuzzy Buzzy 
Hard at work
ALL THIS POLLEN
I can't shirk


When I get back
To the hive
Into the colony
I will dive


They are quite
A buzzing group
And we do love
That honey soup




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Vera, ever the optimist, hoped to pack just a mite more pollen into her baskets...

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

Photo by Gloria Z Nagler



(Vera is a Vosnesensky Bumble Bee. Bombus vosnesensky, or yellow-faced bumble bees, are native to the West Coast. No passport required -- phew!)

--Gloria Z Nagler



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Jeweled Dragonfly

Sunday, July 19, 2020

Photo by Jarred Solano


I have only ever seen the turquoise dragonflies but Jarred Solano found this beautifully colored and patterned blue and black beauty at Lake Ballinger - and he got it to hold still long enough to pose for its portrait!

--Diane




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Thought she was a fly, but no;

Sunday, July 12, 2020

Photo by Gloria Z Nagler


a Blue Orchard Bee, best I can i.d. her. I never tire of watching bees ply their trade, burying themselves in blossoms, benefiting themselves, the plants, and us! Would that humans were as harmlessly productive:)

--Gloria Z Nagler



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