We met a half hour early today so we could do pollinator observations during what we thought would be their peak time. We were wrong. Hardly any bees were out and about on this very windy morning. Everyone finished around 10:30 and we met down in P1 to weed the birdsfoot trefoil.
This little mouse greeted us in G3 this morning.
The lunch table was very crowded today as we had a number of special visitors. Ruth Shaw, Dan (a grad student from U of M), and Amy and Brad Dykstra all came to help out. They also brought yummy chocolates and muffins for a lunch treat.
After lunch, everyone set out different ways. Some people went GPSing and some went to catch pollinators. I got to stay back to teach Lea, Scott, Alyson, and James my special talent, aphid exclusion and addition. Last summer, I worked a lot on the aphid project so it was a lot of fun to do again! Alyson even sang to the aphids to sooth them into their new homes. Roxy saw how much fun we were having and decided to join us for awhile in P1. We found 70/100 original addition/exclusion plants, including 33/50 addition and 37/50 exclusion ones.
Here’s some aphids I found on a collection plant in P1.
Team members learning the ways of aphids.
Today I also took my first trip to the infamous bog with Alyson and James! Roxy, the bog dog, took me on a wonderful tour of the place. On our way up, we stopped to pet the goats.
Alyson trying to escape the treacherous bog waters.
Scape Goat eats out of James’s hand.
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