Spring Singer alerted me to the emergence of this year’s first crop of jousting carpenter bees [Xylocopus] in regional gardens. This afternoon they are bumbling in and around the magnolia blossoms and riding the willow catkins, which bow under their weight in the March breezes.
At least, around here, at the moment, those are ‘breezes’. I understand Colorado got a blizzard, and sections of the Northeast got a recent blast of snow.
Big bees, little bees; it’s been a good day for watching wildlife in the warming weather. A wood thrush poked around in the leaf litter by the back fence. White throated sparrows haven’t disappeared yet, and the downy woodpeckers are tap tap tapping to see what might be waking up under loose bark. Cardinals, blue jays, song sparrows…. Squirrels, rabbits, and oh, I hope that was something other than a rat — aren’t those supposed to be nocturnal? Couldn’t it be a stoat, or something more pleasant, with a brown agouti coat and bright black eyes?
We’ll see.
Rethorykal Questions 