I am trying to put together a unit on pollination... and one "kernel object" will be insect transport.
Every April and May, Fort Ord is carpeted with these beautiful little sky lupines (Lupinus nanus)(1)(2)(3) and bicolor lupines (Lupinus bicolor). But by mid June there is often not even a trace of them... all withered in typical drought-avoider fashion.
Several Bumblebees (Bombus) (4pdf)(5)visit them and I should really take the time to get to know them. Because of the frequent cool sea breezes and abundant rodent burrows this is good bumblebee territory. This photo was taken about 2 miles inland from Marina State Beach.
Also thinking about possibly involving capstone students in this project (LeBuhn, San Francisco State University).
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