eebee's Journal

I knew I had some good ground-nesting bee habitat when I found the Halictus rubicundus aggregation in my yard last summer, and I had been excited to see whether they came back this year. But I didn't expect Anthophora! I only see one previous record of them in King County on Discover Life, and only three previous records in King County on iNat. But I spotted one a couple of houses down on Feb 9, then another on Feb 26, both days in the 40s Fahrenheit. Yesterday was the first sunny, 50s-temp day of the year, and it was like an Anthophora explosion! I saw many on a walk within a few-blocks radius of my house. When I got home, I spotted one entering a nest hole in my yard, digging a bit, then pushing dirt out. I waited with my camera, and it slowly, slowly poked its head and then its thorax out, staring at me. There were many others buzzing around, and I spotted >30 nest holes, many of them being actively entered or excavated by Anthophora.