Guess where we are…

Boating again…..I posted pictures and a video on my boating blog   www.alwayslingerawhile.blogspot.com   of a Yellow Crowned Night Heron and her 2 little ones on 5.21.10     and pictures and video of an Osprey on her nest with 2 little ones on 5.25.10

Thanks for stopping by. Should be back home shortly.

female Blue Dasher 4.27.10

I got all excited today….I saw something buzzing around my newly set up bee hive…..so I grabbed my camera and headed out back…..

Unfortunately it was not a Honey Bee….but a female Blue Dasher.

So I started following her round the yard.  She finally landed on the remnants of a jasmine bush.

Once she started posing for me it was hard to stop snapping away.

The light reflecting off her wings show beautiful colors as if thru a prism…but I couldn’t capture it …she’s a pretty little thing though…..

Not as stunning as the Eastern Amberwing I managed to catch last year…(June…Dragonfly?)    but still beautiful.

Pileated Woodpecker 4.23.10

I have seen this Pileated Woodpecker in the driveway several times. I toss Babe’s (my Lovebird) oyster shell out there for the birds to pick over. I wonder if that’s what she’s after.

This is a very big bird….about 12” tall. Very beautiful

I took these pictures from the video at the end.

I am sure there is one nesting in an old tree out back.

Wild Hogs

In Dec ‘09 I posted a video of a Momma Hog and her little ones….again in Jan ‘10 another Momma showed up.

Yesterday a Momma and the 6 little ones  ( not so “little” anymore")paid a surprise visit.

I doubt this is the same Sow. In the Jan video there were only 4 babies…and I think there were only 4 in the Dec video.

It’s possible this is the same Sow and I missed a couple but they usually stay in such a close group ..I doubt it. There are a lot of wild hogs running around here.

So far, they’ve just checked under the feeder and left…no digging in the yard…….…yet.

Honey Bees 4.26.10

Has anyone else noticed that Honey Bees seem to like our boats? I’ve even had them land on or follow us when on the water…usually only one or two but they are there.

Yesterday I had 3 Honey Bees trying to get behind the teak on the side of the boat. They didn’t bother me as I went in and out but they always returned to the same spot. No hole there that I can see……this morning there were 4…I do believe they think that big white boat is a giant beehive….

So…..I have set up a hive. My sister, JoAnne, gave me most of the parts…but I had to borrow the “porch”  and the cover from my neighbor, George, who has 4 hives of his own. He gave me instructions on what to do to get it ready….and will help me when, and if, I am able to attract a swarm.

Bees send out scouts for new homes when a hive gets too large and wants to split…I am hoping that’s what looking at my boat…scouts…now….I can’t say that Jim is thrilled with this idea…but he is going along with it for now…

This is what the bees make their honeycomb on…

I think this hive has 11 …once that one is dropped into the slot on top…the panel lying on it’s side with the hole goes on top of them..it leaves a small space so they can get from one panel to the other.

Then the top covers the whole thing.

So….after I get this all together…sitting on a wheel barrow so I can move it once they decide they like it….I sit in the boat and watch the bees….they don’t show any interest at all…I couldn’t even get them to look at a plate with a bit of honey on it.  So I washed the area on the boat that they were so interested in with soap and water…then put a piece of wet paper towel over the spot to discourage them…

The next thing I knew…I had 7 Honey Bees flying in an out and landing on the wet paper towel…so I sat and watched for awhile longer. I finally realized they were after the water in the towel. Each bee would drink …then fly away…..

I made up a bee water bowl… the paper towel in the tray is so they don’t drown…and they seemed to like having it to sit on. I placed it on the stepladder and removed the wet one from the boat…it only took a few minutes for one to find it and then they just kept coming back to it. At first I moved it when no bees were there and they wasted a lot of time trying to find it…you could almost tell where it had been sitting when a bee came back…..I kept moving it until I had it on a small step ladder and then I moved it a few feet at a time until I had it near the birdbath… the next step was to put a piece of paper towel on the bird bath…

I’ve had bees coming to the bird bath in the past…but these were happy with what they found on the boat…we get a lot of condensation in the snaps..perhaps that was it…I figured the thunderstorms we had last night would create better places for them but they were working on the paper towel at the bird bath early this morning….and none on the boat…..so I guess these are the “water” bees.  Every bee has a job and honey was not in their job description…may be “union” bees.

I put the hive in the only spot that doesn’t get a lot of mowing. I will have to keep the plants cut back so the ants can’t get to it…the legs of the stand have engine grease on them to prevent them climbing…If no one moves in…I’ll store it until next year…

It’s really amazing what you can learn if you just take the time to observe something.

Ruby Throated Hummingbird (April ‘10)

I have a tough time getting any pictures of the hummingbirds…but I did get a couple of this Ruby Throated on the Bottlebrush Bush.

and this short video.

Indigo Buntings 4.18.10

A couple of the Indigo Buntings are still here. One was at the feeder this morning.

Two Green Painted Buntings showed up to share the feeder.

4 Indigos came in this evening. They will all be migrating sometime this month. We were gone for a week and I was surprised there were still a few here. I hate to see them leave.

The blue is so striking it is easy to see them as they fly around. They spend more time on the ground now…they did that last year just before they left.

This one and the squirrel are sharing the seed.

Sometimes they are more visible in the camera than with the naked eye.

In this video there is a Cardinal…green Painted Buntings and a couple of Indigos.

I will miss them when they leave.