Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Goat Mountain- week 3

The ground is drying out on Goat Mountain. Most of the creeks that the trail crosses are dry and many of the early flowers are done blooming. Black Huckleberries and Cascade Blueberries are even starting to ripen! The weather was very warm and the bumble bees were spending most of their time on Fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium). One patch of Fireweed that was no bigger than 30 feet in diameter had more than 30 bees! Perhaps on account of the abundance of bees, their visits to individual flower blossoms were very brief. However, I noticed that the bumblebees would spend a minute or more on Edible Thistle (Cirsium edule).


Bombus melanopygus on Canadanthus modestus
Bombus melanopygus on Canadanthus modestus



Bombus melanopygus on Chamerion angustifolium
Bombus melanopygus on Chamerion angustifolium
Bombus melanopygus on Angelica arguta




Bombus sylvicola on Chamerion angustifolium
Bombus sylvicola on Chamerion angustifolium


Bombus sylvicola on Cirsium edule
Bombus sylvicola on Cirsium edule






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