היומן של loblolly

It's been a rainy spring here in the Sand Hills east of Austin. Our wildflowers have been spectacular. The Bluebonnets and Paintbrushes have gone to seed, but our meadows are filled with Gaillardia, Coreopsis, Daisies, and Coneflowers. With all the flowers, we've seen the arrival of butterflies - Pipevine Swallowtails, American Ladies, Buckeyes- and honeybees and native bees. I so worry that all of this growth will lead to increased fire danger later in the summer.

This is Texas, so our weather is anything but predictable, but after some spring like days with temperatures reaching the 80's, we're having some freezing mornings for the next couple of days, so it's a busy morning for the birds at our feeders and water tub. The temperature has hovered around 30 degrees, but I'm warm inside my kitchen watching all the visitors. There's a flock of American Robins competing with Cedar Waxwings, Pine Siskins, and Chipping Sparrows for perches around the tub. A Pine Warbler has been visiting the meal worm feeder , and the Pine Siskins, Chipping Sparrows, and even a Red Bellied Woodpecker have been feasting on millet.

As hot summer days stretch into August, we have fewer flowers blooming in the butterfly garden. 19 days over 100 degrees have taken a toll on even the drought tolerant native plants. The Turks Cap, Mexican Oregano, Desert Willow, Salvia , Purple Lantana, and Russian Sage still have flowers, as does a volunteer bright yellow wildflower that fills in the spaces, and attracts some interesting wasps. Pretty sure the wasps I'm seeing are Scolid Wasps, which my Kaufman Field Guide says are "large , usually hairy wasps that are parasitic on the larvae of scarab beetles". As it happens, Dung Beetles are common here, so I am guessing the Scolids are feeding on their larvae. Kaufman also says that Scolid species are late summer visitors to flowers. Last night, I watched what seems to be a striking yellow and black striped Feather -legged Scolid Wasp feeding on bright yellow wildflowers at sunset.
Another interesting wasp turned up floating in our small pool. I fished it out, and photographed it as it climbed around on my net. It appears to be a Tiphid Wasp- another parasite on beetle larvae. Not sure if it is a male with a "pseudostinger" (at the tip of the abdomen) or a female with a real stinger. Luckily it wasn't interested in stinging me, and flew away. Only seems fair, since I had just rescued it!

Our hot dry weather pattern continues, with 18 days of over 100 degree temperatures ( including one day when the high reached 111). Our little seasonal creek has nearly dried up, with only a couple of puddles remaining as water sources for the wildlife. Our trail camera captured a picture of a Gray Fox drinking from the tub, and a few days ago, I was surprised to see a young White Tailed buck and a young doe in the middle of the day, drinking water from a tub we keep near our birdfeeders. Thinking that these may be the twins born year before last. On one of the hottest days, I spotted a Fox Squirrel stretched out on its belly in the middle of the birdbath!

The birds, of course, are daily visitors to both the birdbath and the sunflower and millet feeders. We are seeing lots of Northern Cardinals, including a number of this year's chicks. Painted Buntings visit our millet feeder daily, and we've been seeing two of the brightly colored males, as well as females and immatures. Red Bellied Woodpeckers are other regular visitors. For a time we were seeing a male Red Bellied and one of this year's babies. The baby would hang out on a nearby tree trunk while the male patiently got a seed from the feeder, cracked it and fed the baby as it flapped its wings.

Despite almost fall-like temperatures in the 80's Monday, record-breaking high temperatures came back yesterday, with our thermometer recording 102 yesterday afternoon. The May blooming wildflowers like Coreopsis, Gaillardia, and Brown Eyed Susans are all going to seed and fading, along with the native Salvias in my butterfly garden that had been attracting a variety of native bees for weeks.