I was trying to decide what the highlight of the month was, the Swallow-tailed Kite (a lifer and LA county species 400 for me) or some cool bees. I chose the bees.

We're getting into the slow months for birding, but the Swallow-tailed Kite at Ken Malloy Regional Park gained a tremendous amount of attention from the birding community. Literally hundreds of people had come to see it, from many parts of the state, and even from out of state. The bird stuck around for several weeks and was even reported on the last day of the month. We'll see how long it sticks around in July. So why all the attention? It is a lovely, somewhat large bird. In the US, Swallow-tailed Kites can be seen in Florida and along the Gulf coast. Their range extends to the Caribbean, Central America, and South America. There are less than a handful of records from California, and this is only the second LA County record. I don't always chase rarities, but this one was relatively close and well worth the trip. 

I enjoyed Dominguez Gap for Green Heron babies and Least Bittern. Arbor Park in Orange County had quite a few swallows returning to a sand pile. I couldn't tell whether they were picking up insects for food or the sand for nest building.

My yard provided hours of joy watching birds splash in my water feature and visiting the feeders.  My mother is learning about birds and recognized some variation in Allen's Hummingbirds. I even had one that was missing a tail. I enjoy checking my night cameras each morning. Skunks visit almost every night and sometimes multiple times a night. They dig deep holes looking for insects that bury in the ground, such as beetle grubs and moth pupa. Instead of posting all the images, I decided to draw some.

My monthly wetlands survey again was pleasant, but unremarkable. A young Northern House Wren was sweet.

So, about those bees...

I was surprised by a bee in my yard with vivid red eyes. Its eyes were what caught my eye, and I didn't really notice the legs until later. It is a Red-legged Oil-Digger Centris rhodopus. I guess the legs are the prime characteristic because, although the females have red eyes, the males have green. Another cool bee is the Spotted Woolcarder Anthidium maculosum. They are named woolcarders because the females scrape or 'card' fuzzy fibers from plant leaves to line their nests. I had never heard of these bees until about a week before when two friends talked about them in my entomological zoom group. Then luckily, I found one in my own yard.

In the same family as the woolcarder, are leaf-cutter bees in the genus Megachile. I have often seen several different species in my yard. In the past, I have seen them cutting the leaves of my rose bushes and my redbud tree, but this time I saw one building and provisioning its nest. These bees use pieces of leaves to construct a chamber in a cavity or in the ground. They then fill the chamber with pollen and lay an egg. They repeat this over and over again. I sat patiently (or at least somewhat patiently) watching the comings and goings under a log in my yard. It was very difficult to photograph the leaf-cutter darting in and out, but since it kept repeating the process, I was able to get a few shots. One time, I saw a sharptail bee Coelioxys sp. sitting near the entry to the nest. Sharptails are kleptoparasites and will lay an egg in the nest of the Megachile bee that does all the work. The young of the sharptail steals the food. Knowing the behavior, I waited. Sure enough, when the first bee brought in pollen and then left, the sharptail darted in. I photographed the sharptail bee but could not get it entering or leaving. About a week later, curiosity got the better of me, and I gently lifted the log. There I saw the nest of leaves. I gently and carefully returned the log. As I said, Cool Bees! (... and a few cool wasps too)

Enjoy the photos!
 

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Local Stuff:    https://kimssight.zenfolio.com/new_jun-2025

Los Cerritos Wetlands Survey:    https://kimssight.zenfolio.com/hellman_jun-2025