you must be present to win

Whether it’s educating a family about the importance of native bees or standing in an alpine meadow watching for the next Dufourea calochorti to land, the OBA gives us so many chances to win at the game of summer. Read on to see the many ways your fellow members have been striking the jackpot.

And, please, read and consider the eloquent request from the Oregon Flora for support in completing their journey to record the flora of Oregon. The OBA owes them a debt for the information they have shared as well as for the model they provided for the creation of our organization.

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). Photo credits are at end of newsletter.

In this issue

Jerry Leroy Paul (April 5, 1945 – July 20, 2023)

Jerry Leroy Paul
APRIL 5, 1945 – JULY 20, 2023
Jerry Leroy Paul, age 78, of Corvallis, Oregon passed away on Thursday, July 20, 2023.

I am very sorry to be sharing with you that one of the finest in our ranks passed last Thursday. For those of you who had the good fortune to know Jerry, you no doubt recognized he was the most genuine, dedicated, hard-working, caring, and unassuming person. I understand how difficult a loss this is for you.

But this tribute is primarily directed to those of you who didn’t know Jerry. I am here to point out that although didn’t know him, you encounter his imprint across every inch of the Master Melittologist program. If you went out collecting today and were glad how easy it was to capture your plant record, you can thank Jerry. Jerry made this program user-friendly. As he frequently pointed his career was dedicated to breaking systems to reveal their flaws. And he was generous in bringing this skill set to us. You might not see Jerry’s chisel marks today because he subsequently went back and sanded those marks away (Jerry never did anything half-way). We all benefit from Jerry’s tireless work to spot problems and produce simple and elegant fixes.

You might be more familiar with Jerry’s role on our Advisory Committee, a position he served since the start of the program. He was a key voice on this Committee advocating for scientific integrity, but also making sure everyone who wanted to contribute had a path to contribute. Personally, I considered him a mentor and I would text him whenever I needed advice. He would pick up the phone and give help me work through sticky aspects of the program. Also, as many of you know, Jerry and his wife Judith stepped forward in the early days of our program and started a Pollinator Health Endowment at the Oregon State University to ensure the bee atlas would continue in Oregon for years to come. Jerry was dedicated to building a solid foundation for melittology in Oregon to move forward.

But, Jerry’s commitment to service went WAY beyond melittology. When I last saw Jerry back in the spring, he was busy organizing the installation of windows at the Willamette Community and Grange Hall. He also was a very active board member of the Benton Soil and Water Conservation District. Jerry directly put thousands of native plants and mason bees into the hands of people across Benton County. I know Jerry’s volunteerism goes a lot deeper these two examples, but Jerry was humble, modest, and hardworking and NEVER wanted to take credit for anything. He preferred to make sure the work got done, and that the work was done right.

We know Master Melittologists will want an opportunity to gather and celebrate Jerry’s life and we are the early stages of planning something. We know this and we will keep you posted. But as an immediate opportunity to celebrate Jerry if you are in the Corvallis area, consider coming to the Corvallis Knights game next Saturday (August 5). Jerry was a season ticket holder (note his Knights ball cap in the picture above) and loved the Knights as a local initiative. But more to come.
https://happsnow.com/team/corvallis-knights

I know this news will come as a shock. Jerry seemed to overflow with a love of life that seemed to have no end. This is what makes Jerry’s passing so hard to process - he was just so ALIVE! We will all miss this remarkable man and his indomitable spirit. Rest in peace Jerry.

-Andony Melathopoulos, Pollinator Heath Extension Specialist (July 27, 2023)

Field Notes

Mt hood meadows collection day

Penstemon Prairie — Triepeolooza

Thanks to Carol Yamada for submitting this reflectiion on her experiences collecting at Metro Parks properties (Portland metro area).

Living in the Metro area, I’ve collected several times at all of the properties for which we have permit access. But there’s a new property out near Forest Grove, Penstemon Prairie, and it’s absolutely my favorite. It’s a 260 acre prairie that has been restored from an old farm. It was originally called Lovejoy, but after they found rare penstemon growing there, it was renamed.   Since then Metro has been propagating more of these tiny penstemon at their Tualatin location and re-seeding it. Penstemon hesperius is considered endangered in Washington State. Not finding any means we’ll have to go back next spring! Beyond that though, there are several more hit-list favorites blooming out there.

There’s also some rare bird nesting going on, and so when you ask Metro if it’s OK to collect there, they’ll give you all the details you need to know about avoiding the birds. The night before we went collecting, I got an email at 11PM about where some rare bittern were spotted that day, so we could avoid them. 

I went there with two different groups, a week apart. Different flowers were in bloom and I caught different bees each time. Right now there are lots of male Melissodes, waiting for their lady friends to arrive. Our group caught maybe 30 Triepeolus, also waiting for the ladies to arrive!

Anyone can contact the Metro contacts listed in the permit, available on Canvas, and request to go out there. Check out the permit sheet to see who to connect with and details on your visit. There’s still more blooming to happen in July!  

A Pipeline of Bees

The OBA is giving a bit of help to the Hood River Watershed as they improve their irrigation water delivery and pollinator habitat, too. New pipelines replacing ditches have been planted in areas with native plants and several OBA members got out last month to see who has made them home. It’s a work in progress, but we did find some nice flowers and a great view.

A heck of a trip…to HelL Heck

From Sarah Gardner, who led an intrepid group to the rescheduled Hell’s Canyon trip: The trip to the Hells Canyon Rec area was such a hoot, I enjoyed myself immensely. We hit bloom at a great stage, and for the most part the weather cooperated. I am actually quite excited to go back next year, and have some day trip locations in mind that we have not yet hit. 

outstanding outreach events!

Congratulations are Due

OBA’s own Carol Yamada organized a myriad of pollinator educational activities for adults and kids alike as part of the shindig held by Luscher Farm to celebrate National Pollinator week. Everyone from bats to butterflies and of course, bees showed up, along with OBA information and volunteers. Nice job, Carol!

Yet More Congratulations are Due

NW Naturals put on a great event for pollinator week, too, shepherded by our own Michael O’Loughlin. With a keynote speaker like Doug Tallamy, it was bound to be a success. The OBA booth being situated right next to the Washington Bee Atlas booth was the cherry on the top.

Sunriver Nature Center Wildflower Festival plus OBA equals lots of education!

Booth volunteers Toni Stephan, Phil Paterno, Jerry Freilich, and Heike Williams shared info with over 200 visitors and Toni led two pollinator walk-and-talks. Jerry borrowed a neat set-up from the Bend High Desert Museum: a digital microscope and camera which he used to show interesting details of bees, wasps and flies projected to a monitor to visitors. Says Heike, “The little girl was so interested. I had to explain every circle on the Four Bee-safe Gardener Tips card to her.”

OBA announcements

Catch a Buzz

Catch a Buzz is the FIRST Tuesday of the month at 7pm. To join, go to https://oregonstate.zoom.us/j/97230252365?pwd=TURyTXNMZ1M5SHl2TFQvajBxemtRdz09 | Password: bees

HOLD THE DATE: OREGON STATE FAIR IS AUGUST 25 TO SEPTEMBER 4

The OBA will have a strong presence at the fair and you are needed to help share our information. Watch for details on signing up to help, but mark your calendars NOW!

location, location, location.

No, we aren’t selling or buyinig a house here. We’re talking about how to edit your location in iNaturalist before you update your bee count. (Remember, changing your bee count from 0 to the actual number of insects in that sample is the very last thnig you do and is what triggers your location labels being printed.)

iNaturalist automatically fills in the location based on your GPS coordinates, but it uses a format that doesn’t fit bee labels very well. All you have to do is select the location field when you are editing an observation and type in a better location format. We are shooting for something with either of these formats:

City, ST, USA or Landmark, ST, USA

For example:

“Elm St, Forest Grove, OR, US” should be edited to “Forest Grove, OR, USA”

OR

“Clackamas County, US-OR, US” could be edited to “Salmon Mountain, OR, USA”

Don’t include any county — the OBA labels automatically capture that. Instead, use either the nearest town/city or a natural landmark like a mountain or canyon.

While we are discussing iNaturalist…

Remember to only take an identification to the taxon level that your are highly confident of, by which we mean if you know your plant is in the rose family but aren’t sure if it’s a Nootka or a baldhip, choose Genus Rosa, NOT one of the species on a hunch.

Likewise, be alert that there may be two very similar species in one area. As an example, if you see two different cinquefoils, and you aren’t sure what the species are, please don’t put all the bees you collect off either one in a single kill jar labeled “cinquefoil”. If in doubt, make two jars and label them cinquefoil 1 and cinquefoil 2, and 2 iNat observations, both with the taxa selection of “Cinquefoils, Genus Potentilla”.

Finally, did you know there are two common dandelion species in Oregon that look nearly identical? I just learned that, so from now on I’m going to just ID my dandelions to Genus Taraxacum instead of choosing Common Dandelion, Taraxacum officinale as I had been doing. this will make Linc and the staff’s job of cleaning up our data much easier and will also make our data more accurate!

kudos and thanks are always in season

Multiple “seasoned Atlas students” were thanked for helping train new field attendees at last month’s Camp Polk Meadow Preserve Field Training. That’s what we do here in the Atlas!

Do you know someone else who deserves a big thank you for the work they do on behalf of OBA and its volunteers or just deserves a shout-out for their achievements, big or small? Nominate your personal hero by filling out the nomination form, found by clicking HERE. After committee approval, they will get a handwritten note and a call out in the Roundup.

Calendar

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.

Gumplants (Genus Grindelia) — Carol Yamada — Sitka Sedge, OR (July 15)

Davidson's Penstemon (Penstemon davidsonii) — Susan Albright — Dee Wright Observatory, OR (July 8)

Scarlet Globemallow (Sphaeralcea coccinea) — Scott Sublette — Harney County, OR (July 3)

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, in the Oregon Bee Atlas (Plant Images/Sample ID) project.

The Oregon Flora Needs Help!

A message from Linda K. Hardison, Ph.D. / Director Oregon Flora

Imagine:  trying to restore a degraded habitat without knowing what was there in the first place. Wanting to help pollinators without awareness of what—or where—their nectar sources can be found. Attempting to mitigate the climate emergency without understanding what plant species are adapted to hotter, drier places. Losing a cornucopia of not-yet-discovered foods, fibers, and medicines to invasive species, development, and diminished genetic diversity.

You can’t manage, protect, or appreciate what you don’t know.

OregonFlora is the only resource that brings you the knowledge—curated, up-to-date, and freely available—about the vascular plants of the state that grow in the wild. To do this, we are producing a comprehensive resource about the 4,700+ unique vascular plant species of Oregon in both printed and digital format. The three-volume Flora of Oregon and our website https://oregonflora.org documents the presence of every species in the state, and gives detailed descriptions, identification tools, maps showing where they’re found, and photos of each one.

Our website provides interactive tools that help people of all skills and backgrounds learn about plants and the ways plant diversity impacts their interests. Gardeners, restorationists, and pollinator pals will find the Grow Natives tool full of valuable information to create and help your native plantings thrive. Our plant fact sheets can be searched by common or scientific name; one exists for every plant documented in the state! Fact sheets are a digital version of our Flora of Oregon books and are filled with maps, color photos, descriptions, and other resources.

Despite the incredible usefulness of OregonFlora resources to agencies, universities, land managers, and nature-lovers everywhere,  we need your help. Our program is 100% funded by donations and grants, and right now our financial reserves are almost exhausted. Without new funds, our progress on the final volume of Flora of Oregon will come to a halt, and our website will not be updated or maintained.

Will you consider making a generous contribution to ensure we can finish Volume 3 of the Flora of Oregon in a timely manner and keep the oregonflora.org website available for you?

We are on the home stretch of creating a modern botanical legacy for Oregon, and your gift of any amount will allow us to continue providing you with comprehensive and easy-to-use botanical information. Join our diverse team of gardeners, researchers, conservationists, students—pollinator and plant lovers of all kinds—that are helping to build an enduring legacy for the people of Oregon and its diverse and awe-inspiring flora. Thank you--your donation will make a difference!

For more information, visit our website, or contact Linda directly at hardisol@oregonstate.edu

miscellany (not to be missed)

Catch A Buzz: july 4,2023 was cancelled - see you next month!

Instead, this section has been taken over by some ne’er-do-wells. We bring you a selection of unorthodox bee collecting techniques. See if one of these fit your style.

Have you ever felt like you were doing something by the seat of your pants? That’s just what Ellen Silva was doing on her last collecting trip when she felt a buzz between her trousers and her skin. We are all grateful that Susan Albright and Carol Yamada didn’t capture a video of the release of said bee, but we did get a few photos of some other novel approaches to bee collecting, for your edification and amusement.

We thought we’d invented a new way to catch fly-by bees, but research at OSU showed this technique had been used before. We claim an improvement with 4X the netting capability and will be filing our patent soon.

Good advice from great melittologists

Connecting with fellow volunteers is a crucial part of learning and gaining insight and knowledge.

Cool stuff

Thanks to Robin Gill for sending on these tidbits.

The Art of Pollination: Introducing Artist Merry Goldthorpe

Merry Goldthorpe is an artist living in Washington County, Oregon with her photographer husband Chris. She creates whimsical felted bee creatures, nature-themed watercolors, and charming mixed media pieces of animals.

Chris photographs her delightful creations. Check out her website or visit in person during  Washington County Open Studios October 21-22.

Photo credits (note: if submitting photos of kids, please be sure to have permission for their use in our newsletter).

• Hell’s canyon photos: Sarah Gardner

• Mt Hood: Michael O’Loughlin

• Carol Yamada: OBA member in field at Penstemon Prairie, lupines at PP, OBA table at Luscher Farms event

• NW Naturals Pollinator Week event: Marek Stanton

• Sunriver event: Heike Williams and Toni Stephan

• Gator eyes: Robin Gill

• Unorthodox Bee Collecting: Carol Yamada, Susan Albright, Ellen Silva

• Donation photo: Jennifer Gibbins

• The Art of Pollination: Chris Goldthorpe

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