Archive | July 2024

BACKYARD SECRET – BUMBLEBEES HAVE AN ODD WAY TO COOL DOWN DURING HOT WEATHER

Jul31

       When it gets extremely hot, humans can go inside to escape the heat.  However, this is not an option for the bumblebees.  Although bumblebees have a number of ways to cope with extremely hot weather, probably the most bizarre is they can regurgitate nectar onto the bodies.

BLACK WITCHES SEEN IN GEORGIA

Jul28

       When you read the headline to this blog, you will probably wonder what in the world is he talking about.  Of course, I am not referring to images we associate with Halloween.  Instead, this witch is a very large nocturnal moth known as the black witch (Accalapha odorata).  While I have never heard of this moth breeding in Georgia, Georgians throughout the state do see it on rare occasions.

       The black witch is a dark moth with pointed wings.  In flight, it is sometimes mistaken for a bat.  It has a wingspan that ranges in size from 6 1/2 – 7 inches. This moth is the largest moth you will see in Georgia.  To give you some idea how big it is, its wings are wider than a dollar bill is long.  Females are larger than males.  Its wings have pointed tips.  Females display a pale pink scalloped band across the upper surfaces of its wings.

       The breeding range of the black witch extends from the southern portions of the Southeast to Brazil.  Experts believe the black witches that appear in Georgia and elsewhere throughout the South are individuals that migrated from Mexico.  At any rate, for some reason, from late spring to autumn some of these huge moths take off and fly northward.  As a result, black witches have been seen in most of the United States on into Canada.

       Here is the Peach State they have been seen in a number of locations including Ringgold, Jonesboro, Columbus, and elsewhere.  Amazingly earlier this month three black witches were spotted in Barnesville and Forsyth in just a couple of days. 

The first was seen by a homeowner that lives a few miles from downtown Barnesville.  This moth was resting beneath the overhang of a shed located near her home; a couple of days later she found a second black witch near her home. 

      In the meantime, a close friend saw one flying about his garage when the closed his garage doors late one evening.  Knowing I had never seen one of these rare visitors, he called me at 7:00 am the next morning to let me know he had trapped one in his garage.  I immediately jumped in the car and drove the short distance to his house.  I took a number of pictures of the moth, as it remained motionless on the windshield wipers of his car.  Interestingly the moth remained perched on the car even after he pulled the vehicle out of the garage.  Later he told me that the moth did not leave until the sun burned through the clouds later in the morning.

       I do not believe we know how common these moths are.  What are the odds that the three moths were seen a few miles from one another in Barnesville and Forsyth just happened to stop in the yards of two folks familiar with moths and butterflies.  If they did not know these insects were rare, their presence would never have been reported.

       Consequently, keep your eyes peeled for a really big moth that appears near your outside lights or on the wall of your garage.  Who knows?  You might be the next person to see one of Georgia’s rarest moths.

       If you have seen such a moth in the past, or happen to spot one in the future, please let me know.  Simply drop me a line that includes the date of the sighting and the name of the city where it was found.  Perhaps more black witches are flying about Georgia than we realize.

BACKYARD SECRET – AMAZING RUBYTHROATED HUMMINGBIRD MIGRATION FACTS

Jul24

       Throughout the summer range of the ruby-throated hummingbird, these tiny birds are currently preparing for their long journey to their winter home in southern Mexico and Central America.  The fuel that will power this trip is stored at fat.  Those hummers that fly across the Gulf of Mexico to reach their winter headquarters can use all of its fat reserves during their 20-hour flight over water!

       As amazing as this sounds, consider the fact that while the birds are winging their way over water, their oxygen consumption per gram of fat muscle is approximately 10 times higher than an that of top Olympic athletes.

       I find it fascinating that the more we learn about hummingbirds, the more it becomes obvious that they are truly amazing creatures.

HOSTAS ARE HUMMINGBIRD PLANTS THAT WILL GROW IN THE SHADE

Jul21

       When we think of hummingbird nectar plants the plants that immediately come to mind are those that do well in direct sunlight.  However, if you are one of those homeowners that has a shady yard or portions of your yard remains shady throughout most of the day, you will be pleased to know that hostas are nectar-bearing plants that grow well in shady locations. In addition, hummingbirds regularly visit many of them.

       Hostas are native to Asia and are widely grown across Georgia for their attractive foliage.  There are some 70 species and more than 300 varieties of this hard perennial.

       While I am far from a hosta expert, the hostas that I grow in my yard produce beautiful long pink bell-shaped blossoms. Since my plants are pass-along plants, I do not know the name of the variety is rooted in my yard.

       One of the varieties that been people say is a hummingbird magnet is a variety known as lance-leaved hosta (Hosta lancifolia).

       While some gardeners report that the varieties of hostas they grow attract hummingbirds, others say the birds rarely use them. With that mind, if you are looking for a hosta that will attract hummingbirds in your neck of the woods, talk to local hummingbird gardeners as see what works for them.

       Another thing to keep in mind is some hostas are more deer resistant than others are.

       If you are lucky enough to locate the right variety for your yard, please share the name of this special plant with your fellow bloggers.

FEED THE BEES

Jul17

        There is a growing interest in promoting both honeybees and native bees in backyards throughout Georgia.  One way that you can enhance both the number and diversity of bees in your backyard is to provide them with plants that provide these important pollinators with food.

       Here is a list of ten plants favored by bees. They help provide food for bees from spring into fall. These special plants are blueberry, redbud, beebalm, blanket flower, black-eyed susan, milkweed, goldenrod, horsemint, blazing star (liatris) and fleabane.

       All of these plants are growing in my yard.  How many are growing in your yard?

       If you want to promote bees in your neighborhood, encourage your neighbors to plant bee-friendly plants in their yards too.  Studies have revealed that neighborhoods where gardeners plant such plants host more bees than neighborhoods where homeowners do not.

       While all of these plants are rooted in my yard, unfortunately I am certain that most of these plants are not growing in my neighbors’ yards. With that in mind, I need to encourage them the feed the bees by plant bee food plants in their yards too. If they do, everyone in this neck of the woods will benefit.

TIPS ON FEEDING RUBYTHROATS IN HOT WEATHER

Jul14

          Practically everyone that goes to the effort of attracting hummingbirds to their backyards offer the birds food in feeders. However, with daily temperatures throughout Georgia hovering in the high 90s and heat indexes soaring well above the century mark, maintaining nectar that is safe for the tiny birds to eat is a challenge.  Here are a few tips that you might consider adopting to ensure the health of the hummers that dine at your hummingbird cafe.

  1. Clean feeders at least twice as often during prolonged periods of high temperatures. Some people clean feeders twice a week during such times. If you do so, you will prevent the buildup of stubborn bacteria and fungus. Consequently, each cleaning will be much easier.

  2. Keep from offering hummingbirds too much food. Don’t fill feeders to the brim if they consume only a fraction of food every few days. This ensures the birds are always feeding on fresh food.

  3. If possible, move feeders to locations where they out of the direct sun during the hottest time of the day. This will help keep the sugar water from spoiling as quickly as it would in direct sunlight.

  4. Offer hummingbird food in glass feeders. Hummingbird food will not spoil as quickly in feeders equipped with glass reservoirs.  This is because glass is a better insulator than plastic.

  5. Try wrapping the reservoirs of your feeders with aluminum foil. Supposedly, aluminum foil will block UV rays and actually reflect 98% of the sun’s radiant energy, and therefore, keep nectar from overheating.  Folks are beginning to adopt this technique because some researchers are reporting that hummingbird nectar can get too hot.  Their studies suggest that hummingbirds feeding on sugar water heated to 102ºF can adversely affect their metabolic system.

INSECTICIDES ARE REPORTED TO BE AFFECTING BUTTERFLY DECLINES

Jul10

       For quite some time researchers have been trying to identify the factors responsible for butterfly declines across the United States.  Recently The Wildlife Society reported that a group of researchers analyzed 17 years of data relating to the impact of land use, climate, and pesticide application on butterfly populations in 81 counties located in five Midwestern states.  The study was undertaken in hopes of identifying the major factors affecting butterfly populations in the region.

       The results of the study (recently published in PLOS ONE) indicate that, out of all of the factors evaluated, insecticide use is the strongest link between both declines in the size of butterfly populations and butterfly diversity.  It has caused and 8% drop in the numbers of butterfly species in the study area.  The researchers went on to say that crop seeds treated with a group of pesticides known, as neonicotinoids appear to have had the largest impact.  They also noted that the monarch butterfly is one of the species that has been negatively impacted by the use of these insecticides.

       Neonicotinoid insecticides are systemic poisons.  In other words, they are absorbed and spread to all parts of a plant including its roots, stems, foliage, flowers, nectar, and pollen.

       This should be concerning to home gardeners as they often use these pesticides in their own gardens.  Ironically, studies have found that pesticides are often applied by homeowners at rates higher than are used in commercial farming operations.  In addition, even if you do not apply pesticides to the plants in your yard, neonicotinoids can be present in the nursery stock you transplant in your gardens.

BACKYARD SECRET – MILKWEEDS BENEFIT MORE THAN MONARCHS

Jul8

      Whenever you think about trick-or-treat it is impossible to think of any other holiday than Halloween.  Similarly, with all of the interest swirling around milkweed plants, we cannot help but think of monarch butterflies when we think of the milkweeds.  This is understandable since the milkweed is the host plant for this colorful orange and black butterflies.  However, ecologists now tell us that a wide range of range of pollinators and other insects also depend on milkweeds to survive.  These insects include the likes of native bees, hoverflies, true bugs, moths, and even ants.

       This is once again an example of how plants and animals are often linked to one another in an unimaginable number of ways.

 

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE REMOVAL OF A DEAD DEER ALONG THE HIGHWAY

Jul4

       It seems that the number of deer killed by motorists on Georgia byways is increasing every year.  Consequently, those of us that have yards bordering these thoroughfares have an ever-increasing chance that one of these unfortunate animals struck by a motorist will end up on our front lawn.  If this happens to you, do you now is responsible for its removal?

       After living along a highway for a half century my wife and I recently had to deal with this problem.  We found a mature doe white-tailed deer stretched across our driveway.  The first thing we had to do was find out if a government agency would remove the unfortunate animal.  After searching for information online and making several phone calls we finally had an answer. 

       If your property borders a state highway, the Georgia Department of Transportation will remove the animal if it is on its right of way.  This is the 40 feet of land that runs parallel to the centerline of the highway.  The removal of a deer located beyond the right of way is the responsibility of the landowner.  Therefore, if the deer is on the state right of way, you need to call the GDOT office in your county for assistance.  These offices are listed on the GDOT website.

       If your property borders a secondary road, you need to check with the municipal or county road department responsible for the maintenance of the roadway.  Based on our limited research concerning such roads, we found that the rules governing the removal of dead deer found along such highways vary from county to county.

       I hope you never have to face this unpleasant task.  However, if you do, perhaps this information will make the job a little easier.