Sunday’s high was 69 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celcius). It’s kind of hard to believe since it was only two weeks ago that we had below-freezing temperatures and a brutal ice storm.
Alders are blooming. I want to say this one is a white alder, but, for me, they can be tricky to tell apart from red alders in the winter. Anyways, there were many of these cool syrphid flies with black and yellow bodies roaming around on the catkins eating pollen. This must be a very appreciated food source for this time of year. I read that some species overwinter as adults, which this one seems to be doing. They were cooperative in allowing me to look at them and take their photo. There were also lots of honeybees collecting pollen. I could see yellow pollen baskets or saddlebags clinging to their back legs. I found two other flies on the catkins too and they were a little more jumpy if you got too close or moved too fast. Other small flies were on the catkins but they are small and are easily stirred into flight. I saw a jumping spider catch one of them and crawl out onto a twig with it.
It’s interesting how many insects are still active and how many plants bloom in winter.
