There are 1000 or so California native bees. I recently watched one of them pollinating the blossoms on my tomato plants here in Anchor Bay. When it went into each blossom it gave a whirring sound just like a small drill. Will Erickson identified it for me - it's a female Solitary Digger Bee, Anthophora species. This native bee is a ground nester. She was indeed a busy little bee as my plants are full of blossoms. Nice to get some garden help from this beneficial bee!
An orange Dragonfly - Libellula saturata - visited my garden in Anchor Bay. In our courtyard we have a small pond with a waterfall flowing from an old-growth Redwood stump. The Rough-skinned Newt is still in residence in the pond. A few days ago I noticed this beautiful naiad flitting around the plants by the pond. This jewel-like Dragonfly eats moths, flies, ants and other insects. Welcome to my garden, male Flame Skimmer!
Salmon fishing has been so good this past week that the commercial fishing fleet has been here. They anchor overnight in Point Arena and Anchor Bay. Their lights twinkle in the darkness, looking like a diamond necklace strung out over the Pacific Ocean. I rose before dawn to take this photo - the ocean was so calm some of the boats stayed out rather than anchor off-shore. You don't see that very often!
This is what the early morning sunrise looked like with the full moon setting as Rick and I watched. To start the day with such beauty is a joy.
Our golden retriever wasn't as impressed. Huckleberry was entirely too relaxed to care about the sunrise.
A Pale Swallowtail - Papilio eurymedon - visited our neighbor's wax myrtles yesterday delighting us with its beauty. One of the caterpillar hosts for this butterfly is the California Coffee-Berry bush, which we have growing on our property in Anchor Bay.
