Native Bees and Other Insects at Santa Fe Dam

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Good insect photographers get amazing shots. Don’t expect that here, but I am so excited about what we saw at the Santa Fe Dam that I’m going to upload them anyway. Next time I’ll bring a tripod. And when I win the lottery (too bad I never buy tickets) I’ll invest in a lens with vibration reduction. (I will add plant and animal names as soon as I get a chance.)

see all the neat little holes and the bee in the upper left of middle

From 2009 0501 (santa fe dam)

bees going at it

From 2009 0501 (santa fe dam)

From 2009 0501 (santa fe dam)

From 2009 0501 (santa fe dam)

From 2009 0501 (santa fe dam)

From 2009 0501 (santa fe dam)

From 2009 0501 (santa fe dam)

California cholla (Cylindropuntia californica, formerly Opuntia parryi)

From 2009 0501 (santa fe dam)

Correction: flower fly (Copestylum) on yerba santa (Eriodictyon trichocalyx)
Notice the large fly-like eyes and single fly-like wings. It is a fly! Please excuse my errors as I dabble in the new world of insects.

From 2009 0501 (santa fe dam)

From 2009 0501 (santa fe dam)

From 2009 0501 (santa fe dam)

From 2009 0501 (santa fe dam)

From 2009 0501 (santa fe dam)
From 2009 0501 (santa fe dam)

From 2009 0501 (santa fe dam)

Canchulagua (Centaurium venustum)

From 2009 0501 (santa fe dam)

showy penstemon (Penstemon spectabilis)

From 2009 0501 (santa fe dam)

San Diego County viguiera (Viguiera laciniata), black sage (Salvia mellifera), buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum)

From 2009 0501 (santa fe dam)

5 thoughts on “Native Bees and Other Insects at Santa Fe Dam

  1. beautiful pictures., i especially like the one with the bee crawling out of the yellow flower. it looks like such an insurmountable struggle!

  2. Actually the bee is drunk with pollen – and nectar (not sure whether she gets nectar from this flower).

  3. Great photos Barbara. I’d like to think these little ground nesting bees would set up home in the unmulched part of my garden. Love the Penstemon shot also.

  4. Thanks. We saw what I think were pollen wasps in the penstemons. They would go in and then shake the flower to dislodge the pollen, making a kind of low frequency sound – almost like rolling ones tongue. It was very interesting – didn’t get any photos of it, though.

  5. Beautiful photos of cool bee activity, Barbara. Thanks for popping over to my blog. You’re right–those digging projects can be very tiring, especially for our little helpers. Good luck with your front-yard garden. It sounds great.

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