Mystery of the Swiss Cheese Leaves
In recent weeks, we've been noticing more and more leaves around the garden that look as though someone's been going around hole-punching them. And while seeing punctured foliage usually elicits a sense of concern about pests and disease, something about the smooth, skillfully-crafted shape of these holes makes them seem benign to me... artful even!
A potter wasp mama puts the final touches on her vessel-like clay nest, and lays an egg inside. These beneficial insect ceramicists are not aggressive and can help protect nearby plants from caterpillar damage. So if you see a tiny pot appear unexpectedly in your garden, you might want to leave it be!
A robber fly celebrates a successful heist by slurping out the liquefied innards of its ambushed prey.
A tiny metallic green cuckoo wasp timidly peeks out of a habitat log hole, taking in the world beyond through its periscopic antennae.
A hover fly tours the snowberry blossoms as an olive-sided flycatcher leads a chorus of trills and chirps.
A sweat bee (Lasioglossum?) eagerly gathers pollen from the anthers of a camas flower.