Bee Butts

So the hummingbirds have left for the winter, but there are still critters taking advantage of the sugar water. These bees have been gorging themselves on the last of the nectar.

Butts in the ay-yair, like they just don't ca-yair.

And there's some stupid bug languidly swimming INSIDE the feeder. It somehow managed to get all the way inside the drink holes and swim up into the main reservoir. Death by sugar, very slowly. Poor bastard.

(Not Quite) Wordless Wednesday—Bald Faced Hornet Nest

This started out as a small, papery tube hanging from the soffit. It kind of grew. A lot. The critters you see are called bald faced hornets. They chew on wood and turn it into a paper-like construction material. You can see that different kinds of wood make for very interesting strata lines. 

Despite the fact that these buggers have built a nest right by our garage, we haven't had any problems with them. After it gets cold, the wasps with eventually leave and/or die and won't come back, so we can knock this down. I'm really curious to see what it looks like inside!

You can click on any of the photos to see larger versions in flickr.