On Saturday Stan and I headed for Tsawwassen, to visit Centennial Beach and the westernmost end of the Boundary Bay trail.
Centennial Beach, July 5
It seems the tide is always low at this place!
This is a British Columbia miner bee, a species of miner bee found in the Yukon, BC and Washington state.
Miner bees (I’m just learning this too) are solitary, ground-nesting bees mostly built like bumblebees, all squat and fuzzy. It also looks like the back legs of this species don’t have pollen sacs, but are instead coated in dense hairs that trap pollen.
A Northern Harrier, banking.
A Heath Sand Wasp, a new one for me! The build is similar to mud daubers, but they don’t build nests, instead burying eggs with prey in little burrows.
Another BC Miner Bee on a gumweed flower.
Boundary Bay, July 5
It feels like forever since I’ve gotten a good look at a Savannah Sparrow! In reality it’s only been a couple of months.
It’s that time of year, when Red Soldier Beetles get busy making little Red Soldier Beetles. The last time I caught them doing this it was with my old camera, and this time I’ve got enough megapixels to capture every sordid detail!
The Raptor Tree, so called because of a total lack of raptors. I mean, you’d think this would be an ideal spot for a hawk or two, but in spite of all the nearby sign’s promises, we never saw a single one.
Quick glimpse of a Common Yellowthroat, singing and showing off his best attribute.
(I’m talking about his throat.)
I never get tired of these little guys. Some say they’re moths because of their drab colours, but my understanding is that moths have feathery antennae! So there you go.
Hey another Savannah Sparrow!
I had a really fun time shooting this Red Soldier Beetle as it soldiered on! I love its little beady black eyes!
Okay so here’s what I really wanted to see: goldfinches! There were a few hanging around one end of the trail, and I managed to get some decent shots in the light
Centennial Beach again, July 5
And then we hit the northern bit of Centennial Beach again.
Some signs along the beach were advertising the brand-new Barns to Beaches Trail, complete with a lovely annotated map. On that map was a little parking lot right near the top bit of Centennial Beach. So we could go visit the Raptor Trail, the pumphouse with all the shorebirds nearby, and all sorts of lovely trees with lovely birbs? Jackpot!
I’ll be honest: what I really wanted to see was more goldfinches. Sadly that didn’t happen.
There was this heron out on the flats. At one point it decided to use its mighty wings to move about 50 feet. Which, granted, is a lot faster than walking.
Centennial Beach, July 6
I went back Sunday morning, because the previous day’s goldfinches weren’t in great light and I could do better, dammit!
And oh look, I did do better!
Plus, a very artsy look at yellow grasses!
I wanted to get a shot of this gaillarda, because the colours are so intense and the background softened the red just enough.
Thought I’d forgotten about goldfinches, did you?
This is lupine, and I love the yellow / purple contrast here!
A leafcutter bee on another gaillarda. Well, I’m guessing at the family, but it definitely has that golden-yellow underside that leafcutters have, so that’s what I’m going with.
Boundary Bay, July 6
And since it’s like a 2 minute drive, I swung by Boundary Bay. Didn’t stay for long, because I was hot, hungry and thirsty, and with the sun high in the sky I figured most birbs would be hiding. But I saw some nice bugs!
A sand wasp (probably?) on tansy. It’s got the same eye colour as those sand wasps I saw at Iona, but its body colours are brighter. And did they have that fuzzy underside too? I’ll have to go back and check. I do know sand wasps are supposed to be pollinators as adults, so that would make sense.
A Woodland Skipper on yarrow, and probably a Least Skipper on a dandelion. I mean, it looks like it’s in the skipper family at least.
Another leafcutter bee, this time on a gumweed flower? Plus some other unidentified tiny little guy.
