Long Hiatus

If you read this blog regularly, you have noticed I have been away for several weeks. The summer has been lazy and busy all at once, but more than anything, it's been a hot one! The birds have been plentiful and there has only been one new exciting sighting: a Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher. He buzzed me one morning while I was trying to determine the source of an unfamiliar song. At first I thought it was a Tufted Titmouse, but then he flew directly by my face and landed on one of the feeders. The white orbital ring and body shape made for easy identification. He was a light-bodied, perky little guy, or gal, as they look similar.

The hummingbirds have become increasingly active and numerous as they have certainly bred by now and are staking out territories and preparing for their long haul to Central America. It's been a dry summer, so it's been difficult combined with the heat, to keep my flowers full and healthy. The butterflies have been plentiful also this year and I had the opportunity to participate in some Monarch tagging during the Parks and Recreation Nature Camp. I have also seen many Hummingbird Moths which are also referred to as Sphinx Moths. ***Incidentally, they are the product of my garden nemesis, the very destructive, highly-camouflaged, Tomato Hornworm. I learned that this summer and also that the white egg-like structures on their back are actually the larva of a parasitic wasp. Grow a garden and you will learn something everyday!

So, there has been some competition for the flowers when you add bees to the mix! And I have seen more honey bees this year than any other, which was good for the garden. It has been a bumper year for tomatoes and cucumbers and my squash was doing well until it was secretly attacked by borer worms and squash beetles, which look like stink bugs. It's very hard to keep it organic. And the Hornworms were especially bad, most likely because they laid eggs last year in the soil. I even found a cocoon of one. The parasitic wasp eggs don't take effect before they decimate a tomato plant. I saw one who looked like he was on his last legs, but removed him anyway.

Who knows how much damage would have occurred if I had let nature take its course??!!