Tag Archives: Kathryn Arnold

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Kathryn Arnold and Michael Kleeman sent in a fascinating video of three Yellow-faced Bumblebees. She wrote, “Michael and I came across some bees behaving mysteriously. There is one large bee and two smaller ones. They appear to be the same species. Are the two smaller ones attacking the larger one? Trying to mate? Hitching a ride? Thanks for helping us solve the mystery!”

I sent Kathryn’s video to Peter Baye and he shared it with entomologist Will Ericson. Peter wrote, “That’s was a Bombus vosnesenskii – Yellow-faced Bumblebee - queen copulating with two males. Will said he’d never seen the actual act before!”

Here's the video:

Thanks to Kathryn for allowing me to share her photo and video with you here.

Cloudy and cool-ish today, quite nice for a walk.

Spring doesn't know...

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Kathryn Arnold wrote, “I found this stunning flowering plant clinging to the bluff at Shell Beach. Do you know what it is?” It was new to me so I queried Peter Baye and he wrote, “It’s Seashore Dock [or Willow Leaved Dock] in the Buckwheat family. Those are mostly immature fruits. The fruits mature into corky, floating structures for water dispersal.”

A beautiful and rather unusual native plant for you today. Thanks to Kathryn for allowing me to share her photo with  you here.

We are having thunder and lightning and spatterings of rain, quite unusual for the Mendonoma coast in July!