Solitary bee takes refuge for the night in a Globe Mallow flower

Tom McKinley was able to answer many of our questions about plant names and ecology in the area. When I shared his boat on the second day, he told me that the orange Globe Mallow flowers close up at night. Solitary bees will hold the stamen and let the flow close around them, using the flower for warmth and protection. I shared this fact with many other folks on the trip, including Anya. On the last night, Anya found several of these bees preparing for the night in their bee hotel. It was exciting to learn something new and them apply it almost instantly. This trip had so many different people with different expertise, most of them completely outside the types of things I ususally think about. Every USGS employee on this segment was involved in different facets of the organization and really highlighted the diverse work that the USGS performs.