Sneezeweed

My, my, the chicks are getting big! Terry found one of the Whiting True Blues outside the fence one evening and asked me if I was sure it wasn’t one of the hens. As luck would have it, I had remembered to count to six before I shut the door on Coop 2 that night. Terry opened the gate to Coop 1, and the errant pullet (I suspect it was Amelia, our wanderer) walked right in.

Amelia Noire, the adverturer

Here’s a group shot of all but one of the Dominiques as they came out to inspect some cantaloupe rinds. This was their first time, and they didn’t quite know what to make of them.

Pullets inspect cantaloupe rinds

The hens, on the other hand, thought the scraps were the best thing ever, especially the seeds.

Bianca is no longer white. Her chest feathers are coming in a dark brown. Frankly, it makes her look untidy, but it’s not fair to judge.

Bianca's brown chest feathers

You may have heard (or not) that you can tell the color of the eggs a hen will leg from her earlobes, at which point you probably thought, “Chickens have earlobes?” When I was out taking pictures, I noticed that I could actually see Carmella’s earlobes, which if you use your imagination are kind of blue.

Carmella's earlobe

The wild turkeys make the rounds every day. Terry watches carefully that they don’t go near the garden. He has been known to hop up in the middle of supper to run out after them, yelling and clapping his hands. It’s quite a spectacle.

One evening, I saw a bird that did not match the usual profile of the familiar robin.

A new visitor to the lawn

I didn’t get a great picture, but this view shows the characteristic yellow breast and black chevron of the Eastern meadowlark.

It's an Eastern meadowlark!

Out in the butterfly garden, the sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale) is blooming profusely. It is providing food for many insects. In particular, the soldier beetles are having a huge party and mating frenzy.

Soldier beetles mating on sneezeweed

Here is a flower that is hosting a well-camouflaged yellow larva of some sort.

A yellow larva on a yellow flower

I also saw a number of bees, like this small bumble bee.

A small bumble bee

And this one, with its pollen sacs full.

A solitary bee with full pollen sacs on back legs

Here’s another one. I don’t know if it is the same or different from the previous bee. It doesn't seem quite as hairy and is smaller.

Another solitary bee with full pollen sacs--maybe a different species?

Notable in its absence is the European honeybee. All the bees I saw were solitary. I’m happy to be supporting the native bees, although I do wonder why the honeybees don’t find the sneezeweed attractive. Maybe they don’t like to compete with the soldier beetles.