polar bumble bees expedition day 7: toolik on independence day

Day 7 - Toolik on Independence Day,  7/4
 Today was Field Station day. We sent two teams out collecting, and my team went out to the Kuparuk River. We spotted a total of 3 bumble bees, but only managed to catch one foraging on Oxytropis campestris. We also saw some dwarf fireweed (Chamerion latifolia) flowering, along with Arnica sp. and bog rosemary (Andromeda polifolia). The bumble bees seem to be very sparse near Toolik and we’re not sure if this is the usual state of affairs for bumble bees here or if this is a weird year. We were told that the spring was unusually warm to begin, followed by periods of intense cold and some snow, leading to two periods of nest initiation in birds, both of which failed for many species due to cold and snow killing the eggs or hatchlings. As such we were seeing very few fledglings or territorial behaviors, a notable absence observed by Alan Brelsford, our team’s most bird-savvy member.
 
Some researchers deploying pan traps around Toolik to identify insect prey for local birds heard that we were interested in any bee data from the area, and brought us their bumble bee bycatch. Michelle and I worked on drying the bumble bees for identification while The Profs (Hollis, Jess, Alan, Jeff) took over a room with couches and whiteboards and talked science and grant proposals for a while. Once the bees were prepped, Michelle identified them and we realized we had a Bombus polaris individual, collected less than a week before our arrival! We celebrated our find with Instagram posts, toasts, and foosball games. Not a bad way to spend the 4th of July.