It's That Time Of Year ...

 ... Scary time!

It's uncanny how they show up every year just about now.

Heads Will Roll

 At least, that's the common knowledge about these situations.

Hope he enjoyed it,

Yellow-butt Bee

One day, while out in the gardens, Patty texted me (very hi tech she is), "there is a cool bee with a yellow butt over here". So I went to see. And then I went to get a camera.

So of course it flew off.

But it came back, and I got a few more shots. Enough to see that it was pollen that made the bee's butt yellow.

It took awhile but eventually, and with a bit of luck, I was able to identify it as a Carpenter-mimic Leafcutter Bee, Megachile xylocopoides.* 

This is a female, as they have a wider butt than the males.

If you look closely (although even bigafied it is still hard to see) you'll see this bee has very large mandibles, used to slice up foliage. Hence the common name.

We've had quite a few bees buzzing about our gardens this year. Which is very cool. I've just got to figure out how to get them to stay still for portraits. A project for next year perhaps.

🐝  🐝  🐝  🐝  🐝

You can find all of the Yard Critter posts listed here.

* If you click that link it will take you to BugGuide, an excellent resource for identifying insects, spiders and related creatures living in North America. And the specific page linked is of an image taken by Pat Sutton, a friend of ours. And if it wasn't for an offhand remark during a webinar on Fall Garden Cleanup that Pat was giving, were she showed a picture of a Yellow-butt Bee, and noting that it was a Carpenter-mimic Leafcutter Bee, I never would have identified this critter. So it was pretty cool that when I did an internet search for this critter the link I choose to click on was Pat's image. 

Hello Oppie!

In the More Mammals post I mentioned how we hadn't seen any Virginia Opossums of late.

They're back.

And my trail cam robot had the proof.

One or more of these critters visited the Back Bubbler this past week.

Nice to see them, even if it is once removed.

More Music

In the Live Music post I noted that the Raising River Band would be playing at Whitesbog this past Saturday. And as it was a fantastic day we went to see them.

Again with socially distanced seating,

A seven member ensemble which plays mostly bluegrass, I enjoyed them, while Patty preferred the two female members Heidi and Sharis, playing alone, as they did the week before. Truth be told I would enjoy pretty much anyone these days. It is great just to be out, with friends, listening to music, eating and drinking. It is almost like the before times.

After the show Patty headed home. She had been there all day, at a table selling her fabric art. Halloween masks were a brisk seller. I headed over to the bonfire, to enjoy a beverage or two, with some friends.

Beverages, check. (Thanks Donna for sharing!)*

Bonfire, not so much.

We fixed it though.

And while a large (record?) crowd went on the moonlight hike, a couple of us stayed behind to tend the fire. And enjoy those beverages.

🍺  🍺  🍺  🍺  🍺

* Now you may be thinking, Whitesbog is in Brendan Byrne State Forest. New Jersey state forests are alcohol free zones. And you would be correct. However, one can rent one of the houses in the Whitesbog Village. And the no booze rule does not apply to residents. And one such resident joined us. Making all legal.

Update: Apparently the above note is incorrect and I was misinformed. It seems that the residents must abide by the rules, and consumption of alcoholic beverages is only permitted in the privacy of their homes. Live and learn. 

Barb's Garden

In the Barb's Hike post I noted her love of gardening. When she moved to an assisted living home, having lost the use of her legs (she had been making progress at the home for awhile, walking as many as seventy steps in the before times) she asked if we could watch after her plants.

Of course we said yes.

These plants:

We had them on the deck until this past Sunday, when I moved them here, prior to planting them in what had been known as our Back Grassland.

I spent the better part of the day digging holes in the surprisingly rocky ground, to install each plant in its new home. 

Here is one such plant, tucked in next to the Sundial. This one still with foliage.

Many, like the one above, are now just bare branches. Their summer flowers long gone.

Once planted I covered the ground around them with cardboard, covered the cardboard with dirt, and covered the dirt with old plant stalks as the first layer of mulch. I plan to use leaves as another layer of mulch.

Here's a view from the other side of the Sundial. Barb's plants are all along the front edge. And in spring they will add color. And serve as a lasting memorial to a wonderful human being and friend.

Still Still Blooming

I spotted these while planting Barb's plants. 

It just keeps going and going ...

I don't know what the yellow dot is. A fungus of some sort perhaps?