It’s now the middle of August when warblers and other Neotropical migrant birds are starting to move south. American redstarts feeding on or looking for insects have shown up in the front yard and soon some other species will follow suit.
I currently have constant ruby-throated hummingbird activity at the feeders and flowers. This is the time when you’re most likely to see them because they, too, are already migrating south.
This is also the time to carefully check out every one you see closely because after they breed some Western species take the wrong way south and end up around here instead. And I’m now going to repeat what I say around now every year: If you see a hummingbird that’s all rufous or orangey appearing, get in touch with me or another birder. You may be seeing one that bred on the West Coast.
Bees, wasps, and other insects are abundant, but most of them don’t bother you. The small sweat bees, however, can drive you crazy — flying around your face and body if you sit in a sunny hot spot.
Mostly everyone has a mental image of what bees look like. They’re hairy and their bodies are sort of round. Wasps, on the other hand, are thinner with a narrow waist and they’re less hairy. Both can sting, although bees only sting once while a wasp may sting multiple times.
Recently, Walter Ward sent me a photo of an attractive and interesting wasp (Scolia dubia) with blue wings. He has a swarm of these beneficial wasps that are also called digger wasps at a spot in his yard near a patch of coneflowers (Echinacea).
Seeing blue-winged wasps is an almost certain sign that that there are Japanese beetles around. Female blue-wingeds hunt for Japanese beetle grubs in the ground and lay eggs in them after stinging and paralyzing them. And when the eggs hatch they feed on the grubs, thus getting rid of those beetles.
This is the time in August when plants of all kinds, including ragweeds and invasive purple loosestrife, are peaking. And currently in one of my gardens Lycoris lilies are blooming. These lilies are also known as Surprise or Resurrection lilies because their early spring leaves die back before the flowers unexpectedly appear around now.
Every time I look at these pink lily flowers I think of a nurse named Olivia who helped me with a recent unexpected medical situation. And I dedicate this column to her.
Hawk watch sites are now reporting daily numbers to the Hawk Migration Association of North America website, which sends out an email newsletter if you so desire. I’m always amazed when places like Braddock Bay in New York report 50-plus red-tailed hawks already migrating when locally we’re not yet seeing much at all. But just about every site reporting early migrants will have bald eagles flying by because the early Southern breeding balds are already moving.
Also, now is when swallow-tailed kites are moving south. And although they’re a southern species that aren’t supposed to be around here, several have recently been sighted in the Northeast. They’re unmistakable. They’re a mostly white raptor that’s easy to identify with its black bifurcated tail and black wings.
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