Buzz'n And Flutter'n

I'm continuing to monitor my honey bees with the sugar shake mite count. So far, I have found zero mites. July and August is the time when mites reach their highest levels, concurrent with the peak volume of honey bee brood cells that varroa mites reproduce in. I'll continue regular mite sampling checks until the hives are wrapped for the winter.

But I noticed that the great majority of returning worker bees are favouring the top entrance over the bottom board entrance. And traffic jams were occurring during peak foraging hours. So I gave each top box an additional two entrances. Bee traffic is flowing much better now.

When I added a box to each hive, I used thawed frames of honey near the box sides and empty frames for new comb and brood in the center portion. Some of the honey was dripping a bit and the sweet scent lured a hummingbird. She spend a few minutes searching for the source, then gave up and returned to the flowers.

My honey bees are making good use of the two additional entrances.

A hummingbird is drawn to the sweet scent of newly added honey frames.

The nest of Yellowthroat warblers now contains three newly hatched babies (all legitimate, not a cowbird among them). They are growing incredibly fast, thanks to their devoted parents. In only a couple of days their tiny naked wings have sprouted pin feathers. The parents seem to have gotten used to my occasional and brief inquisitive visits and only issue token scoldings.

Only days old, these Yellowthroat warbler babies are growing remarkably fast.

A tree swallow delivering food to his youngsters.

Feral Ginger Thomas is not chatting but licking his lips after a hearty meal.

Egg Fraud

The gooseberry bushes, planted decades ago by my parents, have become badly overgrown with grass and weedy shrubs. A couple of days ago I made a mental note to bring out my pruning sheers and tidy up the mess. But just as I eyed a honeysuckle plant that would be on the hit list, I noticed that it held a dainty little nest, containing two delicate eggs. It belonged to a pair of Yellowthroat warblers. She flew off the nest and then scolded me from a nearby branch. Trimming will have to wait until the nesting season is over.

 A female Yellowthroat warbler waits for me to leave before returning to her nest.

Her tidy little nest held two dainty and speckled eggs.

A male Yellowthroat warbler challenges his reflection in my window.

This afternoon I noticed that the Yellowthroat nest now has four eggs. But something is not quite right about the clutch. One egg is noticably bigger than the others and patterned a little differently. It belongs to a Brown-headed cowbird. Bad news for the Yellowthroats! The illegitimate cowbird egg means almost certain death for the warbler young.

Three Yellowthroat warbler eggs and one Brown-headed Cowbird egg.

Brown-headed Cowbirds lay their eggs in the nests of over 200 bird species, sneaking in at daybreak and quickly depositing an egg as well as throwing out an egg belonging to the host. Red-winged blackbirds are capable of raising both their own young as well as that of the cowbird, but this is seldom the case of the smaller host birds.

Each female cowbird is capable of laying dozens of eggs per season. She never builds a nest or cares for her young. No Mother's Day cards for her!

Feathered Cuties

Today the Yellowthroat Warbler was back and strutting a challenge to his own window reflection. The roof panels on this bird feeder are only two inches wide, which gives you an idea of just how tiny this cutie is. When viewed in a tree canopy, he all but disappears.

Photo composite to illustrate scale.

On a sunny day, one almost needs sunglasses to look at the American Goldfinches, currently in their peak breeding apparel of dazzling yellows.

 
And if Sir or Madam would like to see something in a more magenta hue, might I suggest a raspberry tinted selection from the Purple Finch Department?

A Purple Finch waiting his turn at the black oil seed feeder.

Masked Visitor

Yesterday I was surprised to see a Yellowthroat Warbler peering in through a rain soaked window. The male's unique black mask sets him apart from other North American warblers. Not a feeder bird, this male was either looking for insects or checking out his reflection. At any rate, it was a treat to watch this vigorous little fellow with his sunshine yellow throat pay a surprise visit to my window on such a rainy day.

With a wren-like stance, this male yellowthroat warbler twitters his message.