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Posts Tagged: pollinator garden

First Flameskimmer of the Year

It was a little late. The first flameskimmer of the year usually arrives in our yard in early April. Not this year. The...

A flameskimmer, Libellula saturata, perches on a bamboo stick in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A flameskimmer, Libellula saturata, perches on a bamboo stick in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A flameskimmer, Libellula saturata, perches on a bamboo stick in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Another view of the flameskimmer,  Libellula saturata. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Another view of the flameskimmer, Libellula saturata. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Another view of the flameskimmer, Libellula saturata. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Wednesday, May 24, 2023 at 5:40 PM
Focus Area Tags: Environment, Yard & Garden

'My Old Flame' Returns

"My old flame" returned Saturday, July 2. A strong north wind aided him. It wasn't the "old flame" from last year, but a new generation. Still,...

A red flameskimmer or firecracker skimmer  (Libellula saturata) perches on a tomato stake in a Vacaville pollinator garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A red flameskimmer or firecracker skimmer (Libellula saturata) perches on a tomato stake in a Vacaville pollinator garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A red flameskimmer or firecracker skimmer (Libellula saturata) perches on a tomato stake in a Vacaville pollinator garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A strong north wind engulfs the red flameskimmer, turning his wings into head gear. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A strong north wind engulfs the red flameskimmer, turning his wings into head gear. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A strong north wind engulfs the red flameskimmer, turning his wings into head gear. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Big Red, the flameskimmer, agrees to another portrait. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Big Red, the flameskimmer, agrees to another portrait. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Big Red, the flameskimmer, agrees to another portrait. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

What's on the menu? Big Red, the flameskimmer, returns to his perch to eats his lunch. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
What's on the menu? Big Red, the flameskimmer, returns to his perch to eats his lunch. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

What's on the menu? Big Red, the flameskimmer, returns to his perch to eats his lunch. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Wednesday, July 6, 2022 at 5:34 PM
Focus Area Tags: Environment, Yard & Garden

The Day a Clothespin Sprang to Life

Saturday, April 9 was the day a clothespin sprang to life. Some 200 praying mantis nymphs emerged from an ootheca that Mama Mantis...

This is what the ootheca looked like in mid-March. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This is what the ootheca looked like in mid-March. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This is what the ootheca looked like in mid-March. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Saturday, April 9 was
Saturday, April 9 was "Hatch Day." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Saturday, April 9 was "Hatch Day." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Some of the praying mantis nymphs climbed to the top of a metallic quail sculpture on the clothesline, getting a bird's eye view. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Some of the praying mantis nymphs climbed to the top of a metallic quail sculpture on the clothesline, getting a bird's eye view. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Some of the praying mantis nymphs climbed to the top of a metallic quail sculpture on the clothesline, getting a bird's eye view. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Well, howdy there, sibling! What big eyes you have! (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Well, howdy there, sibling! What big eyes you have! (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Well, howdy there, sibling! What big eyes you have! (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 2:00 PM
Focus Area Tags: Environment, Innovation, Natural Resources, Yard & Garden

The Beekeeper

 Ishai Zeldner, a beekeeper turned businessman, would have been proud. Zeldner, who died in 2018 at age 71, would have been proud to see...

These are Ishai Zeldner's bee boxes in The Hive, Woodland. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
These are Ishai Zeldner's bee boxes in The Hive, Woodland. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

These are Ishai Zeldner's bee boxes in The Hive, Woodland. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A close-up of Ishai Zeldner's bee boxes in The Hive, Woodland. He documented his work on the bee boxes. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A close-up of Ishai Zeldner's bee boxes in The Hive, Woodland. He documented his work on the bee boxes. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A close-up of Ishai Zeldner's bee boxes in The Hive, Woodland. He documented his work on the bee boxes. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Ishai Zeldner loved starthistle honey; his business began with this varietal. Here a honey bee forages on a starthistle, a weed loved by beekeepers but hated by farmers. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Ishai Zeldner loved starthistle honey; his business began with this varietal. Here a honey bee forages on a starthistle, a weed loved by beekeepers but hated by farmers. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Ishai Zeldner loved starthistle honey; his business began with this varietal. Here a honey bee forages on a starthistle, a weed loved by beekeepers but hated by farmers. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 at 4:46 PM
Focus Area Tags: Environment, Family, Food, Innovation, Natural Resources, Yard & Garden

Ooh, an Ooth! And on a Clothespin, at That!

No doubt you've seen a praying mantis egg case, or ootheca, on a tree, shrub, fence or post. But have you ever seen one attached to a...

An eggcase or ootheca warming on a clothespin in Vacaville, Calif. This is from a Stagmomantis limbata. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
An eggcase or ootheca warming on a clothespin in Vacaville, Calif. This is from a Stagmomantis limbata. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

An eggcase or ootheca warming on a clothespin in Vacaville, Calif. This is from a Stagmomantis limbata. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This image of a gravid Stagmomantis limbata, taken last summer in a Vacaville pollinator garden, may have been the mama. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This image of a gravid Stagmomantis limbata, taken last summer in a Vacaville pollinator garden, may have been the mama. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This image of a gravid Stagmomantis limbata, taken last summer in a Vacaville pollinator garden, may have been the mama. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The predator and the prey. A female mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, eyes a honey bee in a pollinator garden in Vacaville last summer. She missed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The predator and the prey. A female mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, eyes a honey bee in a pollinator garden in Vacaville last summer. She missed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The predator and the prey. A female mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, eyes a honey bee in a pollinator garden in Vacaville last summer. She missed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Friday, March 25, 2022 at 4:40 PM
Focus Area Tags: Environment, Food, Yard & Garden

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