Wasps, and fishies and frogs

Thank you for comments on my header. It is from 2009, when we lived in Bala, Ontario. I haven't been in my canoe all summer. I be sad. 

Winter is headed our way. We had a frost warning.

I still haven't brought them in, Yam! We had 10 mm rain, and the pond filled up. This is discouraging for getting the fishies out. I usually have to drain the pond some to find the most skittish fish. They have too many places to hide.

I stopped at the end of the driveway to remove some of the weeds. There was a large leopard frog!

As I said, the new blogger still uploads a group of photos, but in reverse order. This is what I saw as I left the house for my 'beer run!'

The monarchs and hummingbirds have fled the cold. We still have quite a few tufted milkweed caterpillars feeding on the milkweed.

Then, there are the wasps. They built a nest in this bird house. The spider spun a web around the outside of the box, presumably to capture the wasps.

I particularly liked this photo!

There are discussions about how many wasps are about, but it's really not the case. Apparently, breeding season is over. In summer, they build a nest, feed the larva meat, eat the poop from the larva, and life is good. The queen wasps are settling in for winter, and they aren't laying eggs any more. This is why the wasps are out and about. They are hungry. 

This is the time of year to clean windows prior to freeze up. You can see, in the setting sun, how dirty they are. Most years I make a mistake and leave it too late. You cannot do it in frozen temperatures! I have yet to find the motivation...

My plants are in. My orchid is still doing well. Tiberius guards it all. The plants are still growing out of the terrarium. I guess my thumbs are too green!

I painted the bench, having skootched away the grasshopper and the bird/berry poop.

I am probably going to regret letting the thistle to grow. There are seeds everywhere! You can see them flying in the second photo, below.

This is why I kept the thistle! The birds love the seeds.

MORE monarchs and a photobomb

I'm happy to report JB's eye is improving.
I'm also happy to report rain! Not a lot, about 5 mm. Ontario is happy to get it, what with all the fires.
All the plants and trees have absorbed and expanded. I was blessed when I rolled over in the night, making contact with my foot: a wet cat, Annabelle. A little later, Hooper barrelled in and sidled up to me, mushing my arm.

I woke in the night, thinking about the kids in the air. I couldn't sleep, so I checked on-line. They were late leaving the Chicago airport. It looks like storms, and we'll see if they grab their next flight from Istanbul to Addis Ababa, or not. This morning, 6:00 a.m., they have another 4 hours to go. It's fun tracking them from here.


At home, things are popping. A thistle.

The phoebes in the shed have hatched. The adults continue to zip around the yard eating those bugs.


Milkweed tussock moth larvae are happily munching. There are lots of other beetles, too.

But the monarchs! 

If you look closely, you can see a baby caterpillar who photobombed the larger caterpillar! The trick to finding them, now, are the poop pellets. These are the plants under the front deck.
 

Milkweed plants are very good at finding moisture, which is a good thing in this mild drought. This is around the well. A garden where I have several milkweed plants.
They spend, 11 - 18 days as larva (caterpillar).
Next, 8 - 14 days as a chrysalis.


Down I went to the meadow.  There is a little pile of something previous owners left us, maybe a burn pile. I've let it go, and the milkweed love it. The meadow is cooler and moister, under the shade of trees, and the plants thrive.


There are quite a few caterpillars here, in various stages of development!