Explore Outdoors ~ bugs on blooms

 I spent a lot of time last month taking photos of bugs - a great many of them on flowers. Here are three that I particularly enjoyed.

 

Now it's your turn -

look for bugs on flowers

where you live 

 

 

Explore Outdoors ~ local pollinators

 This is Pollinator Week!  Pollinators, like people, come in all shapes and sizes. Those visiting my garden include bumblebees, carpenter bees, sweat bees and tons of other bees I don't have names for (yet), syrphid flies and other flies, wasps - from bald-faced hornets to paper wasps to tiny wasps, butterflies, skippers, hummingbird moths, beetles, and hummingbirds. I'm sure I've left some out. 

 

Here are a few  of the pollinators visiting my garden and the "weeds" along the road.

Who do you see pollinating your flowers?

 

 

Explore Outdoors ~ Mullein Watching

 For the past couple weeks, I've been watching the mullein that grows along the roadside where I walk. It's a tall plant that grows like a spear, topped with yellow flowers that make it look like a torch. Sometimes I'll let it grow in my garden because the bumblebees like it. 

But you know who else likes it? Flies! Every time I walk by, the flowers are busy with syrphid flies. You can tell they're not bees because of their huge eyes and tiny antennae. Also, if you get close enough you can see they have only one pair of wings (bees have 2 pair). 

This week go mullein watching and see who you find on the flowers. You might find flies, bees, beetles, and more. Check out this article to meet some of the mullein visitors.

Explore Outdoors ~ Who's hanging out in the Crocuses?

 

Last week I noticed crocuses popping up in yards down in town. Lots of crocuses. So I wandered over to see whether any insects might be checking them out. I expected bees - maybe early bumble bees, though to tell the truth, March 10 is very early for anyone to be waking up and heading outside.

I didn't see any bees, but I did notice flies. Some were tiny and dainty; others were like this stout fellow.

What flowers are blooming in your neighborhood?

And what insects are visiting them?

There are Flies in my Flowers!

 

Flies are important pollinators. Many of the flower flies (syrphids) are yellow or orange and black, mimicking bees. Some even look like fierce wasps.

This week pay attention to the flies you see on flowers in your garden and neighborhood. 

• Take their photos. 
• Draw a picture of them. 
• Write a short fly-ku!
  

Celebrating Flies, party-style

 One of those warm, sunny days sandwiched between snowy storms, I noticed flies swarming above the lilac tree. Tiny flies, to be sure, but just enough to remind me that Fly Season is on its way. And by this, I don’t mean the season where you grab your waders and pole and head to the trout creek. Oh, no. I mean the time of year when cluster flies and black flies and – oh so many kinds of flies – emerge or hatch or whatever they do so they can buzz around and … bug us.

Although, to be fair, they do play an important role in the world. They help decompose dead things, pollinate flowers, and provide fast food for critters of land, sea, and air. I bring up their nutritional contributions because I’m celebrating the one-year anniversary of my picture book, 13 Ways to Eat a Fly. 

 Over at Melissa Stewart’s Info-liscious blog, I share thoughts about writing it. (Thanks for inviting me, Melissa!) 

Meanwhile, I thought that over here we'd celebrate with party favors. And since you're wherever you are and I am probably a great distance away, they are going to be Make Your Own party favors.  

So grab some paper (origami paper or recycled gift wrap – even a sheet of graph paper will do) and some scissors, markers, and glue because it's time for arts & crafts!

If you don’t have origami paper, cut a 6” x 6” square of paper. Then fold one corner of the square paper to the opposite corner to make a triangle.

Turn the triangle so the longest (folded) side is nearest you. Now fold the left and right corners to meet the central point of the triangle.

Unfold, so you have your large triangle again. Then, slide your finger between the layers of the top point. Fold the top layer down so that the point meets the center of the long, bottom side.

Remember that right corner you folded up and unfolded? Well, you’re going to bring it up to meet the peak of the triangle again. But this time you tuck it into the pocket, right behind the middle triangle. 

Now do the same thing with that left corner: bring it up and tuck it in. At this point it looks like a diamond. But we’ll fix that…

Bring the tip of the diamond down to the bottom corner of the triangle, and crease it. Then tuck the flap of paper inside the pocket. 

Add wings and compound eyes to turn your bookmark into a fly. Or add eyes, wings, beak, legs, and other features to turn your bookmark into a fly-eating creature. Slide your bookmark over the corner of the page and – ta-da! – you’ve got a bookmark to slide over the top corner of whatever page you want to mark. 

Explore Outdoors ~ Pollinator Week!

 This week (June 21 - 27) is Pollinator Week! The entire week is dedicated to recognizing the unseen - and unsung - heroes of our world: bees, butterflies, flies, beetles, and other insects that pollinate our plants.

 

 Most people are familiar with honey bees and bumble bees pollinating flowers. But tons of flies do that work as well.

Sometimes you'll find different types of flies hanging out together on an umbel.

I often let part of my yard go wild. Buttercups blossom in the tall grass, and about three weeks ago I noticed a fly hanging out in the buttercups. I think this is a tachinid fly, and I've read that they pollinate buttercups. But this spring is the first time I've seen them - or at least paid attention to what the flies buzzing around me are doing.

Learn more about pollinator conservation over at the XERCES Society - and what you can to do save the bees, flies, and other insect pollinators.

And on Friday, join me for a look at Begin With a Bee, a new picture book about the rusty-patched bumble bee.

Explore Outdoors ~ Flies

I'm ending our month of bugs - I mean, insects! - with one last post. So slip on your garden boots and grab a magnifying glass and head out to look for FLIES!

 

You'll find flies just about anywhere: lazing about on a sunny porch railing, buzzing around a pile of trash, and even collecting pollen from flowers. So head outside to check out the flies in your backyard and neighborhood. Flies are a diverse group, as you can see here. Find flies that:

• look like a wasp
• are metallic
• have long legs
• are as big as a bumble bee
• hang out on fruit
• are tiny
• look like giant mosquitoes

If you have a camera, capture them in photos. Or draw some pictures and share them with your friends.

Wednesday Explorers Club ~ pollinators

While out looking for bees, I came upon this guy. Not a bee at all - look closely and you notice that it has only one pair of wings. A flower fly. Look closer, and you see another, off to the right, caught in flight.

About a half hour later, tiny bees headed out on pollen-gathering trips.

There were a couple of butterflies and a hummingbird flitting about the area, too. What sort of pollinators visit the flowers in your yard and garden? Look closely. Take a photo if you can, and then see if you can find out what kinds of butterflies, bees, wasps, or flies are visiting the flowers in your neighborhood.