Birders keep all kinds of lists. There are Bird Year records, and lots of people keep yard lists of all the birds they’ve ever seen in their yard. While I’m mostly at home for the next few weeks, I thought I’d focus on the insects in my yard. It should be easy to score higher than the best Yard Bird list, which today is 107 species. Sounds like a challenge!
On Day 1, I saw a tachinid fly (top), a gold beetle (above), honeybees, ladybugs, a paper wasp, a cabbage white butterfly, ants and lots of tiny flies. So how to verify my count? I’m going to require photo proof and try to identify each specimen as well as I’m able. (Still working on the beetle.)
As an Oregon Bee Project contribution, I netted this Osmia bee off a dandelion in my yard that same day. It’s tough to photograph its brilliant, iridescent blue color. But what you can see in this picture is the over-long tongue that ends in a red-orange tip. Wow!
My yard insect yard count for day 1 was five. The sun is shining at the moment. I think I’ll go see what’s out there! By the way, insects in the house also count. I’ve seen a couple of those lately, too.
Ticklehead 