A lone pair, no others around. Oaklands Junction.
Weevil party!
The daisy has a separate observation.
Shhh, the geese are sleeping.
Somewhat like a rock band photo where each member is looking moodily in a different direction. Clarkefield.
This is The Honker. It was the loudest and possibly largest goose at Marita that day.
All the geese were relaxing or eating grass, minding their own business. I was even sitting near some of the goslings which were chirping. Suddenly, The Honker pokes its head up and lets out one loud honk. All the stop, and dirt their heads up in surprise. They looked around for a few seconds and went back to what they were doing. This kept happening. The Honker must have been an attention-hog.
A Western Yellowjacket (Vespula pensylvanica) intervened shortly after the Bee Assassin caught the bee, successfully removing the abdomen for itself. If anyone has a suggestion of how to tag or annotate that, please comment below.
This individual split into two observations, because it was observed preying on two different species.
REF: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/130029299
Timeline:
09:46:14 bee captured by Bee Assassin
09:48:12 Yellowjacket is latched on to bee
09:49:40 Yellowjacket has separated bee abdomen from thorax
Tearing off the abdomen of a bee caught by a California Bee Assassin (Apiomerus californicus).
REF: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/130029872
Timeline:
09:46:14 bee captured by Bee Assassin
09:48:12 Yellowjacket is latched on to bee
09:49:40 Yellowjacket has separated bee abdomen from thorax
Note white spots on back and wings; blue wings and tail.
Note deep blue above and rusty breast.
Note light blue above; rusty breast; white belly.
Note whitish underparts and reddish-orange tail.
Note black mask with white border; bright yellow throat and breast.
Note overall pale gray color; dark eye patch.
Note conical bill; bright blue overall.
Note white spots on back and wings; blue wings and tail.
Note bright yellow color; black forehead and wings; short conical finch bill.
Note bright green face; green thorax and abdomen; black bands on abdomen with black tip.
Note pruinose abdomen and white wing patches.