Birds and Bees

I heard a buzzing at our hummingbird feeder and it wasn't the hummingbirds. A small swarm of honeybees had taken over the feeder.



Hummingbirds are territorial and weren't very receptive to sharing the feeder with the honeybees.



It was a battle of size vs. numbers. The larger hummingbirds were outnumbered by the honeybees.



In the end, the honeybees drained the sugar water from the feeder and returned it to the hummingbirds.

Black Bear

I was out doing my evening wildlife drive at our cabin property when I found this black bear sitting under an apple tree, scratching its chin, in my food plot.



The bear started to walk away and stopped to look at me less than 100 yards away.



The bear then slowly walked into the woods.

Fritillary Butterfly

I was checking out some the summer wildflowers and found several of these Fritillary butterflies on the Orange Milkweed (Butterfly Weed).

Barn Swallow

I was at our barn today working on a couple of small projects when I noticed this fledgling barn swallow had been watching me as I worked.

Blue Heron

We are into the forth day of a heat wave, so I decided to see if anything was happening at our pond. The only activity at the pond was a Blue Heron looking for a meal.



As I watched the Blue Heron slowly walked around the edge of the pond looking, then a quick head strike into the water. It was "a swing and a miss".

Our Deer are getting Soft and Lazy

Our neighbor was preparing to bale some hay this afternoon but some of our local deer thought it was a good place for a meal and nap.



Along with these two deer rolling in the hay are the local geese in the background.

Wildflower - Moth Mullein

Moth Mullein is one of my favorite summertime wildflowers. Most years I'm lucky if I can find a dozen plants growing wild on our property, this year it's popping up all over. Since moth mullein is a biennial plant, last year's wet weather may have contributed to this year's abundance.

The flower's name, Moth Mullein, comes from the resemblance of the flowers' stamen to a moth’s antennae. The flowers can be white or yellow with a purple center.



Yellow Moth Mullein.



My wildlife food plot looks more like a wildflower plot with both the white and yellow flowers poking above the mixture of grass and clover. I am hoping to collect some of the seeds this year for redistribution and sharing.