This being the third and final year of my study for my PhD, many things are coming to a close and many things are repeating similar patterns from previous years. But, some new things are popping up, for instance:
This year was the first year I got stuck in the mud at a field. That was fun!
This year I nearly passed out from heat exhaustion. Surprised it's the first time in 3 years! I made it this far! Fortunately my bad**s assistants Hannah and Julianna carried on without me while I took refuge in the air conditioned car--it was about 95 degrees that day.
On a more positive note, this year we saw our first Bombyliid fly (or flying floof as I like to call them) on our wildflowers we planted. This is one of my favorite groups of insects--they hover above flowers and just look like a little flying fluffball with a long needle-thin proboscis. This little guy or gal alighted on our Zinnias as we were planting them at a watermelon field in Sumter, SC two hours west of Charleston. What a beauty! Other pollinators visited the flowers as we were planting them, which was amazing to see that they were already finding that food source.
This year I have had the new pleasure of working with 7 incredible and dedicated undergraduate volunteers from Clemson and College of Charleston. I had volunteers in 2017 as well, but this year has been a particularly dedicated and large group, most of them coming in at least 1 day a week if not more. They are expert pollinator collectors, pinners, and learning to identify as well in the field! I couldn't be more grateful for their hard work.
