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Sunday 18 June 2017

Like flies on honey...

Spruce budworm from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Sadly, we have a spruce budworm infestation on our two trees. Happily, the birds are taking advantage of it. I whacked some off, and fed them to the goldfish, who were quite happy!

They devastate the new growth, but the tree seems to be surviving, with new growth at the top. I toyed with the idea of removing the tree, to have a better view out our picture window...

I had to put the bird feeders away, and this is some solace!



In case you missed it, chipping sparrow whacking the worm bodies, perhaps to tenderize them??!!
chipping sparrow from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

spruce bud worm from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Then there are the eastern tent and forest tent caterpillars. They have been merciless in Canada. Winnipeg is bad. We have a mild infestation of eastern tent caterpillars here, but the forest ones are about, too. The tent caterpillars build a tent, and have a white stripe. Like the budworm, above, they won't hurt the trees so much as make some people uncomfortable!
We took the family to the Kiwi Gardens Open House & Art Show.
The girls found some caterpillars and quite enjoyed taking them around to the various are pieces. (News and film at 11!)

5 things you may not know about northern Ontario's caterpillar infestation


Tent caterpillar population swells every 10 years

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9 comments:

  1. Out To Pasture18 June 2017 at 08:28

    My guess is that the caterpillars are whacked both to subdue the wriggling and to make them excrete the not so tasty poo. Thanks for another enjoyable post, Jennifer.

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  2. Debbie18 June 2017 at 11:55

    I enjoyed the videos, especially the first one, sweet surprises!!

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  3. Yamini MacLean18 June 2017 at 15:16

    hari OM
    As always, I arrive and am entertained by all your wildlife! YAM xx

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  4. Rajesh18 June 2017 at 15:17

    Beautiful video.

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  5. Jenn Jilks18 June 2017 at 16:37

    That's brilliant, I never thought of that! Knocking the popp out!

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  6. carol l mckenna18 June 2017 at 18:17

    Wonderfully creative nature photography ~ love the cocoon and good to learn about things about Canada ~ thanks ~ ^_^

    Thanks for visiting my blog and commenting ~ ^_^

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  7. Red18 June 2017 at 18:42

    It seems when we have caterpillars it's an explosion. They don't know how to modify their reproduction.

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  8. Anvilcloud18 June 2017 at 21:43

    The tent caterpillars are creepy in their large numbers.

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  9. William Kendall19 June 2017 at 17:02

    Very good of the birds to take care of that!

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Thank you for stopping by and commenting. I am so glad to have you here! Fans, blog buddies, and positive, constructive comments, make my day. 'Anonymous' creeps me out!