Still Squabbling

Wasps
Not only was there a wasp nest under the front hedge but also one in the roof. The indoor one I knew about but as they were entering high up I didn't bother about it too much, until recently. Over the past week or so more and more wasps seemed to be finding their way down to the living area and the last straw was when one landed on Bobby and he obviously removed it with his mouth. First job late last Friday was to find a pest controller. The local council no longer provide that service and they would have shut down for a long weekend anyway. Plenty to choose from on the net so I eliminated those with non geographical phone numbers and chose one who lived a few villages away. Emailed for a price late Friday night and had a reply within the hour. Phoned Saturday morning and after arranging a Sunday morning visit he then phoned back to say he could fit me in that morning. Within the hour he was doing what was needed to eliminate both nests. Today there seems to be a very welcome absence of wasps.

Squabblers
Since the temperature took a tumble several days ago there have been more small birds visiting the Birdy Bistro. There just aren't enough perches and a lot of squabbling takes place. This morning there were about twenty House Sparrows competing for the six perches on the feeder. For once the Sun was shining so I was fortunate enough to take a few action shots.





It looks as though today will be reasonable weather so I had better get some more tidying up done in the garden as the green waste bin gets emptied tomorrow. The fat cats may well be able to laze in the sun on their yachts or be wheeler dealing on the golf course but the grafters who keep the country ticking over work on a Bank Holiday Monday.

Friday at the Flicks - Feathered Squabblers

What a week! Can only think of one thing which has gone right over the past five days but as a failed political party used to say - things can only get better.

In spite of several cleaning sessions this Summer the pond waterfall is more than a little covered in blanket weed so the Starlings have returned to the bird bath:



It has been great to see the amount of visiting Goldfinches increase. Their numbers had dropped drastically after two years of finch disease but this year they seem to have been breeding well and arrive with their youngsters which have the occasional altercation:



Wherever you may be have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you.

Anagrams

This has got to be one of the cleverest
E-mails I've received in awhile.
Someone out there
Must be "deadly" at Scrabble.
(Wait till you see the last one)!



PRESBYTERIAN:
When you rearrange the letters:
BEST IN PRAYER

ASTRONOMER:
When you rearrange the letters:
MOON STARER

DESPERATION:
When you rearrange the letters:
A ROPE ENDS IT

THE EYES:
When you rearrange the letters:
THEY SEE

GEORGE BUSH:
When you rearrange the letters:
HE BUGS GORE

THE MORSE CODE :
When you rearrange the letters:
HERE COME DOTS

DORMITORY:
When you rearrange the letters:
DIRTY ROOM

SLOT MACHINES:
When you rearrange the letters:
CASH LOST IN ME

ANIMOSITY:
When you rearrange the letters:
IS NO AMITY

ELECTION RESULTS :
When you rearrange the letters:
LIES - LET'S RECOUNT

SNOOZE ALARMS :
When you rearrange the letters:
ALAS! NO MORE Z'S

A DECIMAL POINT :
When you rearrange the letters:
I'M A DOT IN PLACE

THE EARTHQUAKES:
When you rearrange the letters:
THAT QUEER SHAKE

ELEVEN PLUS TWO:
When you rearrange the letters:
TWELVE PLUS ONE


AND FOR THE GRAND FINALE:


MOTHER-IN-LAW:
When you rearrange the letters:
WOMAN HITLER

Wings for Wednesday

Lots of winged insects about the garden and house at the moment.

A small Cranefly on the kitchen window.



One sunny day there were three Common Darter Dragonflies around the garden pond. All were males. One stayed for several hours and chased away any others which dared to make an appearance.





There continue to be Blue-tailed Damsel Flies from time to time which are still breeding.



I have a wasp nest under my front hedge so I don't hang about there. Occasionally one strays indoors where my rule is 'The only good wasp is a dead one'.




Also found dead in the kitchen was this which was about 6mm long.
Probably an ichneumon wasp though no idea which.



Back outdoors found several Greenbottles



and this black bee.



Not sure what type it is - a miner bee maybe.

Finally there were plenty of hoverflies doing their best to thwart me snapping one in flight.

I Really Shouldn't Laugh at Them

Just a link today. This is a section from the wildlife film 'Animals Are Beautiful People' so be warned it is in CinemaScope type format. While watching this tears of laughter were rolling down my face.

You can see the four and a half minute clip by clicking HERE for the link.

We shoudn't laugh at the misfortunes of others but this is well worth a look.

Macro on Monday - Guess What

Congratulations and virtual gold stars go to Glo, Keith and Wilma. Yes indeed they were different parts of a Chinese Lantern Plant.

   

Another plant from my garden for this week's mystery object.

Guess What:


No prizes, just for fun.

The collage pictures are put together using Comic Life which I have found to be versatile enough to use for more than just making comics.

Bumblebees Sleeping on Flowers - Update

After my observations last Friday I did a bit of Googling on the subject of Bumblebees apparently sleeping on or in flowers overnight.. It turns out that some do, especially males towards the end of the breeding season when the females have no use for them. As for my observation that they sometimes seem to freeze while feeding on flowers. Again this can and does happen. They need an internal body temperature of 30C to be able to fly and when cold they will stop and appear to shiver as we do to raise their temperature. The day I was watching them the air temperature was about 14C so the bees were having their work cut out to get enough nourishment to enable them to maintain their body temperature. In fact it will take a bee about 5 minutes to raise its temperature in those conditions.

A good source of information can be found HERE at bumblebee.org.

How to stop Bobby using part of the garden.
Yesterday I noticed that Bobby was avoiding visiting his favourite barking position in the garden. It seems that he wouldn't use the path as there was a dead male Blackbird blocking his route. The bird must have flown in to the wall of a shed, probably during one of the many altercations they have over territory. Once the offending corpse had been removed Bobby was quite happy to use all his garden again.