Bee Report - Olga on Track

The heavens opened up and shone down upon our industrious beehives and made the larvae to sparkle! And it was good. Note the twinkling bee larvae in the above photo? That's gotta be a good omen.

Well, we learned some interesting lessons at the bee hives today. Number 1 - you sweat in all kinds of places when wearing a bee suit in upper eighty degree temperatures while standing in bright sunlight. Hoo wee! Number 2 - Olga is coming along rather splendidly!

She had about 70% of her frames drawn out with comb! The above photo is one of the center frames that we checked last week that had eggs in it. Now the eggs are larvae and the workers are capping them so they can pupate in peace. You wouldn't believe how heavy a frame full of drawn out comb, brood, and honey feels! This is what a good frame of brood looks like according to the books and classes--what do you know, Olga is finally agreeing with the books--and exceeding Kitty's hive in comb construction. Kitty was a full two frames short of the Olga hive.

That's not to say that Olga still isn't showing her individuality. There is some unique comb construction going on, but I believe that is more my fault for not spacing the frames properly. Above is an example of some of the funky comb from Olga's hive. It's elevated and curled upon itself. They Kitty hive had a little of this as well, but not to the degree of the Olga hive.

For some of the comb, we were able to press down onto the frame, but some of it was out so far out, I had to take it off. I felt a pang of guilt because larvae was inside some of the cells--but it had to be done to insure proper frame spacing in the future. There was also some honey mixed in with the larvae from the removed comb that dripped onto my palm. Mr. Neil, Lorraine, and I took a taste. It had honey flavor, not full honey but the potential for flavorful greatness is there. I felt a surge of pride in our girls.

Here's another shot of some uncapped brood. This larvae will probably be capped off within the next day or two. Imagine, two weeks from now, those gelatinous, squirmy blobs will be just like their sisters above. We did not see either queen today, but we did see lots of eggs in both hives meaning both queens were there, but doing a good job of evading our watchful (albeit sweat covered) gazes.

Both hives are taking advantage of the nectar feeder and of the pollen patties. Kitty's hive has gone into propolis overdrive. The flat things in the above photo are the pollen patties and the little bits of tan granules around it are propolis. It's starting to get gooey ad sticky in the hot weather. I have a feeling it's gonna get messy later this summer in the Kitty Hive.

Here's a photo of the workers at the Kitty hive entrance. Notice the yellow around the hole--that's pollen that has fallen off and collected from returning worker bees. It's interesting to observe the more territorial behaviors today. With the Olga hive, we have a very limited time before we wear out our welcome. They start off quiet, but within five minutes, they start bumping our head masks, warning they are about to sting. The buzzing gets more agitated as well. Kitty gives us a bit more time before warning us off. They are an easy going kingdom--to a point. When they've had enough, they get down to the business of driving you out.

Once our frames in our brood boxes are 80% full, it's time to stack another brood box on there. With they way Olga was working today, I might do that this Saturday. For now, cap away girls, cap away.

The Official Bird Conservation Day

Governor Pawlenty has proclaimed the second Saturday in May as Bird Conservation Day in Minnesota

Bird Conservation Day will help to celebrate 427 species of birds that have been recorded in Minnesota as well as the significant amount of bird enthusiasts Minnesota has.

Recently, The Minnesota DNR Nongame Wildlife Program, Audubon Minnesota and other bird conservationists came together to launch a statewide, all-bird conservation initiative in the Minnesota. The collaborative effort, called Bird Conservation Minnesota (BCM), is a voluntary partnership of agencies and organizations with an interest in the conservation of all wild bird species and their habitats.

Along with the DNR, BCM brings together bird conservationists from more than 160 partners.

“The strong connections among this wide diversity of these bird conservation organizations and individuals in the state to help ensure the conservation of Minnesota’s rich and diverse avifauna” said Carrol Henderson, Supervisor of DNR’s Nongame Wildlife Program.

“Minnesota has a wonderful suite of organizations, agencies and companies that are concerned about bird conservation,” said Dr. Scott Lanyon, director of the University of Minnesota’s Bell Museum and chair of the BCM Coordinating Council. “The goal of Bird Conservation Minnesota is to facilitate communication and cooperation between these various groups so that all can be more successful in the process. I anticipate that BCM will identify, and help to address, critical bird conservation issues that are not on any conservation group’s radar screen and are in danger of ‘falling through the cracks’.”

BCM plans to build public support through education, tourism and bird-friendly communities to ensure that a well-informed public understands the importance of conservation and birds.

How I Spent My Wednesday Night

Mr. Neil had a bat in his home and while trying to get it back outside, we shot this 20 second film:

Well, at least he has something to fall back on in case the writing thing doesn't pan out. Bonus points to anyone who can id the bat--I sure can't.

The bat did make it back outdoors safe and sound without any grabbing. I have to say it was fun to just stand there, try hard to resist the urge to duck and let the bat maneuver around you.

Another Bird Not Reading The Books

I mentioned the other day that a rose-breasted grosbeak on my suet log, but couldn't get a photo. Well, here's a female rose-breasted grosbeak on Mr. Neil's suet feeder. It's not that they never eat suet, but grosbeaks are more tray feeder or tube feeder type birds. And she's not just after the seed in the suet, she was taking out big old hunks of fat.

Not long after I took that photo, a hairy woodpecker flew in and chased her off. She has a look that seems to be saying, "No grosbeaks at my fat cake, thank you very much!"

I could hardly sleep last night - the barred owls continued their hooting and a pack of coyotes were howling. That combined with the excitement of early morning birding and bee monitoring made for restless sleep.

The Curious Case Of European Birds In The Midwest

I received an email and photos from Debbie Bocock who lives in St. James, MN (Watonwan County – S. Central MN) who had a finch she had never seen before in her yard. She also couldn't find it easily in her field guides. Can you tell what it is? You may have seen one in your local Petsmart.

The bird is a European Goldfinch which is not native to Minnesota or any place in North America--but is legally sold as a pet bird in the United States. Tony Hertzel of the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union Records Committee said, "I know of no accepted records of European Goldfinch in the interior of North America, but then again, I don't keep up on that too much -- I really only track birds for Minnesota and, to a lesser degree, the upper Mississippi states. I have received about 5 reports of this species in the last couple of weeks, suggesting that a second mass release has occurred somewhere nearby."

Tony and I have talked about this before. In May of 2005, a blue tit showed up in Mr. Neil's yard (that's the bird in the above photo). It wasn't banded, (a band would help narrow down if the bird was an "escaped" pet). I still submitted it to the record's committee but it was not accepted because the bird was believed to be released since they are not known to be long distance migrators. It was believed that the bird was an escapee/released bird from somewhere in the Chicago area. Turns out many small European species have been reported from near there and move into nearby states.

I did some digging on ye olde Internet and found a site dedicated to Midwest European Goldfinches (and other odd ball species)--it appears Julie Craves and Rouge River Bird Observatory is trying to track and monitor these birds sitings. So, all you Midwesterners, keep your eyes open for odd ball birds.

Barred Owls Calling

I recorded this pair of barred owls caterwauling tonight with my digital camera from the deck of Mr. Neil's writing gazebo. It's only about 25 seconds long. It's dark so you can't see the owls, but you sure can hear them!

It was my fault. I had suspected there was one barred owl hanging out behind the gazebo, so, I played the "Barred Owl Female Solicitation Call" from Cornell's Voices of North American Owls on my iPod...powerful stuff.

Wood Lake Birding

This pair of house finches appeared to be on a date while bathing together in a puddle on the roof across of an apartment building next to mine.

The romantic atmosphere was interrupted when some house sparrows joined the pair.

After I finished my shift at The Raptor Center (nothing exciting to report there, I spent most of the morning scrubbing out travel crates, turf, and stuffing envelopes) I went over to Wood Lake Nature Center to look for birds. All the young Canada geese are out and about. Ah, the cute age that lasts about a week when they are tiny and puffy.

Wood Lake was covered in orioles. They didn't really have any oriole feeders at their feeding station so I had to try and get a photo old school style with them feeding on insects in the trees. Not as easy or as fun. I'll get better oriole photos at Mr Neil's when I check the bees on Thursday.

There's a wood duck box on the dock right outside the nature center. I was standing on the dock, scanning a lake when a hen from inside the box decided to fly out and cool off in the water. That's not a female wood duck, that's a female hooded merganser. Sweet.

I hung out near the shoreline, lots of birds were on the edge trying to bathe and lots of sparrows were lurking in the brush, flipping dried leaves looking for bugs. One bird was wildly flipping the leaves and I almost thought it was a brown thrasher, but I finally saw that it was a female towhee. I tried to aim the spotting scope in anticipation of where I thought she would be to get a photo. I didn't get the towhee, but I did get an obscured common yellowthroat instead.

Common yellowthroats are so pishable, I thought I'd get a photo of it. Alas, the pishing worked too well. The common yellowthroat kept staying way too close to get a photo, I couldn't get the scope to focus on it.

But while I was focusing on the yellowthroat, a green heron flew in overhead. I backed up, got it in the scope and took a photo.

I was only at Wood Lake for about an hour, but I got see some great birds. I love this time of year. Birds that are common in the summer are here as new arrivals and exciting to see. Pretty much anywhere you go will reveal warblers and even if you only have an hour to kill, you can see something exciting. I can't wait for banding this Friday!

Right Outside The Bathroom Window, Baby!

This morning amidst all the other birds I was hearing I thought I heard a white-crowned sparrow. When I came home this afternoon and took the trash out, my suspicions were confirmed when I found a white-crowned lurking on the ground under my bird feeder.

When I made it back upstairs to the apartment, it had started singing again. I stood in my tub, opened the bathroom window and screen, and could hear the sparrow singing below. I grabbed my spotting scope and digital camera and my ipod and speaker. I cued up white-crowned sparrow on the old birdJam, set it to repeat, pressed play, and within seconds:

...the white-crowned sparrow popped up and sang right back and I digiscoped away while standing in the bathtub.

And then he looked straight at me. He wasn't very close, he was in the noisy neighbor's tree next door and just happened to pop up on a perch between all the leaves. I snapped a few photos and then turned off the iPod. The white-throat continued to sing for the rest of the afternoon. I love these guys. That head looks so out of place--it's all dull browns and gray with a sassy little beret of bold black and white on top.

Forgiveness

It took about a week and four bags of fresh parsley, one bag of dandelion greens, some Nutri-berries, and lots of groveling but I think Cinnamon has finally forgiven us for the vet appointment and then ditching her while we were in Ohio. Above is a photo mid-grovel. She loves having her ears stroked, but she still manages to have a look of superiority and deep disappointment in me.