Bee Smoothie

With apologies to the faint of heart, I had to go with a classic predation shot today.  This is the same Pale Green Assassin Bug I posted about a week ago (sans prey).  He has taken up residence in a small patch of Common Milkweed in my garden so I'm able to keep an eye on him.  I checked on him this morning and thought that he looked like he might be staging to ambush something.  When I checked back 15 minutes or so later, he was enjoying a nice bee smoothie.  Of course, the assassin bug has wings so at some point he may fly off to new hunting grounds.  Or one of the many birds raising young on our property may find him and then he may find himself being the meal.  Life in nature, always something ready to eat something else.

If you view this image in Large, you can see his proboscis inserted into the bee.  The assassin bugs inject an enzyme into their prey that liquifies it, making it edible to the predator.  Creepy, but interesting.  

I made the rounds of the nest boxes again today.  Box 1 has three squiggly little house wrens and 4 eggs yet to hatch.  The female wren has also added some bright red cardinal feathers to the nest - I fear that may not bode well for the cardinal although it's possible they are feathers that were lost in a scuffle with another cardinal.  The bluebirds still have 1 egg that hasn't hatched.  Most likely the parents will remove the egg if it hasn't hatched in a reasonable time.  Box 5 still has 6 eggs which should start hatching later today or tomorrow.  And the swallows are guarding their box and eggs.  So much activity right now.  

I went to the local farm and bought some more flowers as well as a couple of pots of basil today.  I planted some of the flowers in the ground and some in pots - nice to get some splashes of color out there.  It will be another 3-4 weeks before the phlox, milkweed and bee balm start putting on their big summer show in the garden.  

Jax has taken a dislike to bees and wasps and actually jumped up in the air attempting to grab a big bee today.  I'd like to nip this in the bud because I'm sure no good will come of it if he grabs one.  And when the big solitary wasps start coming around, I'd really like him to leave them alone.  He's honestly very freaky about bugs and hates it when a fly or anything else lands on him.  Which is all quite ridiculous when you consider he's a 65 pound dog, with a fair dash of pitbull in his mix.  He is a bit of a delicate flower.

Beautiful sunny day today, rain coming again tomorrow.  

xoxo
Debbi