Thanks to everyone who joined at James Gardens, for a beautiful hike south through Lambton Woods and across the Humber River swollen with spring run-off. It was warm enough for the Eastern Plasterer Bee to be out foraging on snowdrops and catkins, and swarming around their nest holes in the sandy Hydro cut. We saw several other insects–butterfly, drone fly and woolly bear. There were many Skunk cabbages pushing up through the marshy ground, and Trout lilies coming up through the bright green mosses.
Thanks to Monica for a mini-history of the Humber, and leading us in a food chains game. Anne passed around mosses and helped us see some distinguishing characteristics.
Below are links for further investigation:
- Plasterer bee digging a nest (YouTube)
- Colletes inaequalis enters nest burrow in Franklin County Ohio (YouTube)
- Mosses life cycle (YouTube)
- How to create a wild bee sanctuary
- Introducing Bee-bnb
- Bees of Toronto (City of Toronto Biodiversity Series)