Eastern Yellow jacket wasp : Vespula pensylvanica

I had not seen this very large wasp until today. Now I realize it is an Eastern Yellow-jacket wasp (Vespula pensylvanica). At this time of years , the queen, the only one to survive the winter, emerges from her overwintering spot and starts to organize for establishing a colony.

easternyellowjacket-wasp

An Easter yellow-jacket wasp seeking nectar in a rhododendron
An Easter yellow-jacket wasp seeking nectar in a rhododendron

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Suborder: Apocrita
Family: Vespidae
Genus: Vespula
Subgenus: (Paravespula)
Species: V. pensylvanica
Binomial name
Vespula pensylvanica Saussure, 1857

Frogs in Metchosin

This week I took pictures of the two species of frogs which I frequently see here in Metchosin : Both add to the chorus in the spring from our pond beside our house.

Sound of frogs

Native plants of Metchosin April 28

Keeping track of some blooming times of native plants (phenology) .

Click on the phenology tag below for other examples.

Water line to upper field trees and a post-pounder solution.

I extended the water line in the upper field so that it provides two closer outlets for watering fruit, pine nuts and other trees ( fewer hoses to drag around)

Phenology Native Plants in bloom in early April, 2015

Phenology ( Greek φαίνω (phainō), “to show, to bring to light, make to appear” + λόγος (logos), amongst others “study, discourse, reasoning”.

Periodic plant and animal life cycle events are influenced by climate and habitat. Phenology is often the dates of first occurrence of biological events in the annual cycles.

In Metchosin, we are never really without a month when some plant is not blooming, and the Robins and crows don’t really fly south. Unless otherwise noted, all images are from our farm in Metchosin.

 

 

Fixing the front path

Today I made a path extension at the West side of the house using large rocks dug up on the property . placement of a 100kg rock with a backhoe is tricky!

Native plants in bloom March 25- 2015

Another in my series of native plants phenology. These are all found on the farm

Independent Journalism-now needed more than ever.

The_TyeeRecently I contributed to the support
of the Tyee, an on-line newspaper
https://support.thetyee.ca/

In my work as an intervenor for the Board of the Friends of Ecological Reserves on the Kinder Morgan /TMX Pipeline Hearings Process, I have found the Tyee to be  the only  news outlet with regular reports on what is really going on with  the National Energy Board .

I found these quotes particularly appropriate in the article : Bill C-51 Reveals Harper’s Inner Bully–The need to ramp up civic literacy is ‘critical.‘ By Murray Dobbin, 20 Mar 2015: Continue reading Independent Journalism-now needed more than ever.