Date: 09/07/2018

Number: 4

The native red Cardinal Flowers are fading so Great Blue Lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica) are getting noticed. Jewel Weed, Zinnias, and Common Red Clover are being visited. I’ve seen one try to chase monarchs from the zinnias and get frustrated when the determined butterflies barely notice. Goldenrods are just showing color in my garden I have several kinds and they are always popular. The weather this weekend here in the Ohio Valley and far surrounding is unfavorable for all of the pollinators. Yesterday had pockets of calmer winds and mostly cloudy skies. This morning I could get out long enough to see 1 bird at the feeder and 1 busy high in a mulberry tree. She must’ve found insect activity and was stocking up on protein for the 30 minuets I could watch. Only brief pauses to perch indicating active hunting. From the ground I can confirm ants find the old tree attractive and are nesting beneath and in a deeply decayed pocket up the broken trunk. Woodpeckers love that stand of old trees and there’s likely more insect variety than I can count. So I can’t know what the hummer was eating 30’ up. But she was sure fun to watch from my lounge chair. I sat Lil Little’s feeder on its table so she could drink in relative peace while I shooed away the sweat bees. I wish I could somehow get her banded. So her life could be documented with more proof than my certain opinion that she’s the same chatty individual retuning to her birthplace and well trained human each year.

Elsmere, KY

Latitude: 39 Longitude: -84.6

Observed by: Jypsi
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