In our comfy apartment in east-end Wolfville, Pat & I had some difficulties with aggressive unidentified wasps on our tiny deck on the third floor of our building. This morning Pat enlisted some help from a near neighbour and solved the problem. She killed a couple of the wasps, and I identified them as a small kind of yellowjacket hornet or wasp. There are about a dozen kinds of hornets in N.S., including the familiar bald-faced hornet, which nests in globular nests made of paper from chewed wood.
Well, guess where the smallish nest was? It was attached to the underside of the seat of one of our two deck chairs! When Pat found it, she unhesitatingly yanked it off the chair and tossed it over our deck railing and down to the ground below. Later we checked that nest, there were still hornets in it, and we quickly threw the nest away to the north of the walking path next to our building.
Then the poor displaced yellowjackets kept coming back and looking for their nest for the rest of the day.
P.S. The yellowjackets and hornets are “good guysâ€, in the sense that they catch and eat other insects during the life of their colonies. Then only the queen overwinters in a new small nest, and she starts another colony the following spring.
Another way these wasps become pests is on account of their sweet-tooth. They are attracted to spilled sweet liquids, e.g. at picnics etc., and to honeydew on leaves from infested aphids.
Cheers from Pat and Jim in Wolfville.
On Sunday, every bird nest on the property brought out their babies. All
Except the Tree Swallows. oh and the Baltimore Orioles. The entire family
came to help give a push to the Swallow family. At times there were 4 or 5
waiting to fill an empty mouth. I thought when Dusk came they would spend
the night in the house but at Dawn all were gone. I wait so long for them to
come and now they've been and gone. It is lonely in a way.
There were Starlings, Robins and several Sparrow families about the property
on Sunday all cheeping and learning to fly.
The Orioles visit the Hummingbird feeders a lot. The Hummingbirds don't get
much satisfaction when they try to chase the bigger birds away. I am not
sure where the Oriole nest id, I think in the rear in the last Apple but I
don't want to disturb the female who is very cautious when she moves about
the property. So, it is July.
My neighbours have a security light set up so we likely will never see the
Fireflies again.
The Milkweed stand has at least 4 varieties in it and all seem to be doing
very well. I have yet to see a Monarch. After a flush of Tiger swallowtails,
there are small one, I don't see well enough to ID and nothing even like a
Red Admiral or a Painted Lady. No Mourning cloaks and not even Cabbage and
Sulphurs. It has been that damp with fog moving in and out. I have only seen
a few bees and other flying creatures except Hornets and wasps and after a
lot of them, we don't see many of them. I do not know why.
Stay safe, Marg
White Point Artist, Marg Millard
19 White Point 2 Rd., White Point, Queens Co.,
R.R. # 1 Hunts Point, Nova Scotia
B0T 1G0 Canada (902) 683-2393
MargMillard.ca By Appointment, please
"Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tunes without the words
And never stops–at all." (Emily Dickinson)
Dear All,
   Yesterday afternoon, while drinking a pot of tea outdoors, I had a
long look at a male Cardinal who sat facing me about 20 feet away, on a
branch in full view for roughly 1/2 hour. Meanwhile the female, twice as
far away, came out briefly from under a partially enclosed platform many
times. They usually don't linger in the yard.
   I planted some Black Currant bushes in 1990. So this is year 30 and
the set this year is 2-3 times as heavy as any previous crop. Many of
the shoots are bent over horizontal. Much can happen between now and
maturity but there appears to have been roughly 100% set. Lower vehicle
emissions and other air pollution due to Covid-19 and/or ample water early ?
YT, DW, Kentville
-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: Fwd: Cardinals and Black Currants
Date: Sun, 5 Jul 2020 13:21:13 -0300
From: David Webster <dwebster(a)glinx.com>
To: Naturens <naturens(a)chebucto.ns.ca>
-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: Fwd: Cardinals and Black Currants
Date: Sun, 5 Jul 2020 08:26:18 -0300
From: David Webster <dwebster(a)glinx.com>
To: Naturens <naturens(a)chebucto.ns.ca>
Note this was sent Saturday and did not get through.
DW
-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: Cardinals and Black Currants
Date: Sat, 4 Jul 2020 21:41:51 -0300
From: David Webster <dwebster(a)glinx.com>
To: Naturens <naturens(a)chebucto.ns.ca>
Dear All,
   Yesterday afternoon, while drinking a pot of tea outdoors, I had a
long look at a male Cardinal who sat facing me about 20 feet away, on a
branch in full view for roughly 1/2 hour. Meanwhile the female, twice as
far away, came out briefly from under a partially enclosed platform many
times. They usually don't linger in the yard.
   I planted some Black Currant bushes in 1990. So this is year 30 and
the set this year is 2-3 times as heavy as any previous crop. Many of
the shoots are bent over horizontal. Much can happen between now and
maturity but there appears to have been roughly 100% set. Lower vehicle
emissions and other air pollution due to Covid-19 and/or ample water early ?
YT, DW, Kentville
As far as I can tell, everyone is now moved over to the new server and
should be able to post.
Doug
--
Doug Linzey
Administrator, NatureNS e-mail list
naturens-owner(a)chebucto.ns.ca
In our comfy apartment in east-end Wolfville, Pat & I had some difficulties with aggressive unidentified wasps on our tiny deck on the third floor of our building. This morning Pat enlisted some help from a near neighbour and solved the problem. She killed a couple of the wasps, and I identified them as a small kind of yellowjacket hornet or wasp. There are about a dozen kinds of hornets in N.S., including the familiar bald-faced hornet, which nests in globular nests made of paper from chewed wood.
Well, guess where the smallish nest was? It was attached to the underside of the seat of one of our two deck chairs! When Pat found it, she unhesitatingly yanked it off the chair and tossed it over our deck railing and down to the ground below. Later we checked that nest, there were still hornets in it, and we quickly threw the nest away to the north of the walking path next to our building.
Then the poor displaced yellowjackets kept coming back and looking for their nest for the rest of the day.
P.S. The yellowjackets and hornets are “good guysâ€, in the sense that they catch and eat other insects during the life of their colonies. Then only the queen overwinters in a new small nest, and she starts another colony the following spring.
Another way these wasps become pests is on account of their sweet-tooth. They are attracted to spilled sweet liquids, e.g. at picnics etc., and to honeydew on leaves from infested aphids.
Cheers from Pat and Jim in Wolfville.
This is an interesting sound picked up at 5am today. Sounds like a mammal wailing and I hear some heavy breathing. I heard more of the same for 20s during this bout and a few other shorter sessions during the 10min recording. I will remove it from eBird afterwards.
https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/247485181
Nancy
This AudioMoth sound was recorded at 3am. It could be coming from the pond/bordering alder thickets (microphone pointed in that direction) or the mixed woods behind. Not a great recording (turn up the volume). It is the call at 0.3s and 2.5s. Any ideas on what this might be?
https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/247475891
Thanks again, Nancy
Subject: White-throated sparrows change their tune from 3 notes to 2 -
Google Search
My daughter sent me this. I find this very interesting because this year I
have been wondering why I was not always hearing the White-throated
Sparrow's distinct call 'Canada-Canada-Canada' part of their song when these
sparrows called near my home. I began thinking it was my hearing but now I
am beginning to wonder.
https://www.google.com/search?q=White-throated+sparrows+change+their+tune+fr
om+3+notes+to+2&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari=
Take care, stay safe.
Judy Tufts
>>>>>>>>
Judy Tufts
Wolfville
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