Phoca vitulina

Annette and I drove up the coast a ways to join the Channel Island Nature Journalers for a windswept nature journaling session at Carpinteria. (Note to my Australian friends: the emphasis is on the penultimate syllable, Car-pin-ter-REE-a) A good (blustery) time was had by all.

Bombus vosnesenskii

According to iNaturalist, there are 24 species of bumblebees in California. The one that is busily pollinating our sage is the Yellow-faced Bumblebee. Bombus vosnesenskii is among the most common bee species on the West Coast of the United States, and the most common bumblebee from Oregon northward. The bee nests underground, usually in colonies of 200-300 workers.