doviende's Journal

Just a bit hyped that John Ascher told me today that my July 18 sighting of Oblong Woolcarder in Port Coquitlam was the first one in western Canada!

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/53545298

Looks like it's mostly seen south of the great lakes, but a couple have turned up in Oregon and Washington, with mine being the first BC record.

Just had some interesting feedback on male bumble bees. Firstly, a new major resource for ID:
https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/documents/BumbleBeeGuideWestern2012.pdf

In the comments for the attached Bombus flavifrons, it was noted that this was a male because of the leg hairiness, which is something I hadn't seen before.

I've also been using this PDF generally for local stuff, but I notice now that it doesn't list B. flavifrons, so clearly not a complete listing, being so short:
https://eya.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/common-pollinaotrs-of-bc-v40-2.pdf

Practice with the macro lens and patience seems to also be paying off, in terms of identifiable shots. This should also get more interesting once I get my net and can do some bumble-chilling at home to get easy pics.