Summer activities are heating up!
June and July hold a lot of potential for bee activities — collecting, outreach, and observation. Keep an eye on the OBA calendar (click the button below to zoom right to it!) for collecting events and field education opportunities.
If you have any feedback or submission for Field Notes or if you want to post notes for your regional team contact Ellen Silva (e.silva@comcast.net). Please try and get your submissions in the Monday before publication.
In this issue
Field Notes
Master Gardeners and OBA members meet the mason bees and their friends!
Susan Albright master-minded a wonderful Washington County Master Gardener event on May 14 in the WCMGA Education Garden at the Portland Community College Rock Creek Campus. Those Master Gardeners really put on a good show, with tents throughout the garden where attendees could get pollinator garden info, play “What Bee Are You?” (hint: Susan is the busy bee), pick up free seeds, and even go on a bee collecting expedition. That’s where the OBA volunteers came in. The kids would find a bee (an easy task as the garden was really humming with bumble bees, honey bees, and of course, mason bees), and the OBA volunteer would then net it and get it into an observation vial. Everyone had a blast. You can join in the fun next year; Susan plans to make it an annual event!
Photos below are courtesy of Missy Martin unless otherwise noted. Children were photographed with the permission of their parents.
To everyone’s delight, Martha Richards caught and showed off a great big Bombus nevadensis who had been foraging on the wallflower. Despite being caught several times, this bee kept coming back. That wallflower must have been tasty! (photo: E. Silva)
Another beautiful place to collect bees. This one is the upper bench of Clear Creek Canyon Natural Area, one of the Metro Parks in which we have permission to collect. Check out the permit details on Canvas and coordinate with Ellen Silva (e.silva@comcast.net) to borrow the key for access.
OBA announcements
Catch a Buzz
Catch a Buzz is Wednesday June 1 at 7pm. To join, go to https://oregonstate.zoom.us/j/97230252365?pwd=TURyTXNMZ1M5SHl2TFQvajBxemtRdz09 | Password: bees
MODULE 5 is up
We have redesigned module 5 in Canvas and it is now up. Thanks for feedback from last year’s class and we hope this leads to an improved experience from this year’s class.
Surveying for Franklin’s Bumble Bee
The search for Franklin’s bumble bee continues. This year the event, coordinated by USFW, will be held July 11 – 15 on Mt. Ashland. In addition to surveying for Franklin’s bumble bee and Western bumble bees, lots of networking with PNW bee organizations and experts will take place. Check the email from Jen Larsen (4/20/2022) for further details on how to join in.
Calendar
Lots of great events happened in May — June promises to be just as great! The Mt. Pisgah Field Training Event on June 4, led by August Jackson, outdoor training promises an education in both bees and plants. The day after, our northern members can join in the Nanaimo, British Columbia Field Training led by Bonnie Zand. And rumors (rumours, translation to Canadian) abound about additional collecting outings to be posted.
Which reminds me, if you are planning a collection outing and are open to company, please post it to Canvas to let others know.
Team news
If you want to include your own team’s news in the Roundup, send it to Ellen Silva (e.silva@comcast.net) the Monday before we publish (typically, the 1st and 3d Monday of the month).
PDX
PDX OBA’ers got together on a cloudy and cool day mid-month to meet some new bee buddies and enjoy food and beverages.
Noelle Landauer is taking on the role of liaison with Scholls Valley Native Nursery. Watch the calendar for collection days at this wonderful site that combines a working farm growing native plants for the restoration trade and a large area of restored wetlands. Feel free to contact Noelle if you’d like to set up a day to go collecting on your own or with a bee buddy or two. Check the details and get Noelle’s contact info by clicking HERE.
Greenleaf Manzanita - Debbie Spresser
What’s blooming
Combing through iNaturalist over the last week, we note our volunteers have come across some great plants on the hit list or have found bees in areas of special interest. You should be able to revisit these sites. Remember to check the permit requirements for these sites in Canvas.
Popcornflowers - (Genus Plagiobothrys) - Noelle Landauer - Gales Creek (May 25)
Clearwater Cryptantha - (Cryptantha intermedia) - Mark Gorman - Josephine Camp (May 24)
Greenleaf Manzanita (Arctostaphylos patula) - Debbie Spresser - Sisters, OR (May 15)
Please remember to include images of the flower, the leaves, and the entire plant with all your submissions. Only include images of the plants you collect on, not bees.
miscellany (not to be missed)
Catch a Buzz Summary (Martha Richards)
Remember to check the calendar on Canvas periodically as new events get added, sometimes with such short notice that Jen doesn't get a chance to send out an email.
There are two field trainings coming up soon: 5/21 in McMinnville at the O'Loughlin's farm and 6/4 at the Mount Pisgah Arboretum near Eugene. Everyone is welcome to attend, as there's always more to learn and more bees out there to catch. The events are particularly targeted at new students and will include instructions on using iNaturalist and documenting your catches.
There are two collection events coming up as well: 5/17 at Oxbow Regional Park east of Gresham and 5/25 at Camassia Nature Preserve in West Linn. These both have limits to the number of people who can attend, so be sure to RSVP soon. You can also collect at those locations on your own, so long as you review the permits for Metro (Oxbow) or Nature Conservancy (Camassia) and comply with the requirements. And remember that you're always welcome to set up your own collection event and earn service points for doing it.
(Editors note: many of the above activities are in the past as this Roundup goes to publication, but the message remains: lots of good stuff happened this month and be sure to keep an eye on the Calendar of Events!)
For people new to using iNaturalist, Jen will soon be sending out a request to get your iNaturalist user name. Leah (the current label czar) will be reviewing recent iNaturalist records for completeness and will check in with individuals if the records are incomplete.
The Advisory Committee is made up of a revolving set of OBA members and exists to advise the OBA staff and act as a sounding board for new ideas (thanks for all you do!). There's now a link on Canvas to the inner workings of the committee, including committee member bios, contact information, meeting minutes, and the 2021 Strategic Plan.
If you're looking for a new and different place to plan your next collection trip, here are some ideas:
Rebecca Cheek spoke of a good bee meadow south of Bandon, but access is extremely limited so check with Rebecca for more information.
Carol Yamada reported that Camassia Nature Preserve has been a great spot to visit.
Pam Hayes reported that Sutton Mountain near Mitchell has good early-season bee activity. It's on BLM land (so we are free to collect without additional agency coordination) but is a proposed wilderness area, so go there while you can! It's near the John Day river and is definitely a hike up the mountain, but worth it.
Pam also raved about Steens Mountain, and noted that because of the elevation range, it's possible to find something blooming at any time of the year by either going up or down. The road up the back side of the mountain is closed to cars until quite late in the year, but is great for riding a mountain bike (bees and bikes -- what could be better?).
Susan Albright has developed a clever individual bee display. A set of these is so useful for outreach events - the bees can be seen up close and many activities are possible.