{"id":567,"date":"2015-07-01T21:59:05","date_gmt":"2015-07-02T02:59:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/?p=567"},"modified":"2015-07-02T09:33:42","modified_gmt":"2015-07-02T14:33:42","slug":"wet-weather-spring-robber-fly-and-nest-box-blues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/?p=567","title":{"rendered":"Wet Weather Spring, Robber Fly, and Nest Box Blues"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wet-weather Spring<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Wet-weather<\/a>
Wet-weather spring<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Wet-weather<\/a>
Spring source above water<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dragonfly Pond<\/a>\u00a0was a gift of the Memorial Day weekend rains in Central Texas. \u00a0This lovely pond is usually more of a shallow bog, maybe a foot deep at the deepest point. \u00a0Water seeps out of its sandy bottom with the usual light rains we have.<\/p>\n

When we first saw a reddish sandy circle at the edge of the pond it was a mystery. \u00a0Was it a flooded gopher mound, a fish nest, something buried and covered in sand? \u00a0The consensus was fish nest, except for a lone dissenter, Ken, who thought about the mound for a couple of weeks and then suggested it was a wet-weather spring. \u00a0A spring would explain the filling of the pond with clear, clean water, and the fact that it is only about a foot shallower than it was 24 days ago.<\/p>\n

We had a few friends out to Little Piney this weekend for dinner (rescheduled from Memorial Day), and one of them was Dr. Bob B., geologist and professor, who supported the spring hypothesis. \u00a0He couldn’t be certain, but he pointed out that a spring could explain the large mound of sand\u00a0which would have been pushed up by the force of water.<\/p>\n

I like the \u00a0idea of a spring in our pond at Little Piney. \u00a0If we decide someday to seal the bottom and make Dragonfly Pond a permanent rather than seasonal feature the spring would be a special asset.<\/p>\n

Now, the pond draws deer, rabbits, and birds to its side to drink the clean water, and it draws me. \u00a0The still, emerald surface reflecting sky and trees is immediately calming. \u00a0I wouldn’t want to risk changing the character of the pond by disturbing it, so odds are it will remain a wet weather wonder.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Robber Fly<\/h2>\n
\"Bumblebee<\/a>
Bumblebee lookalike–the Robber fly<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This little guy caught my eye at the edge of the path. \u00a0He stopped long enough for me to snap two photos and buzzed away. \u00a0I thought there was something strange about his eyes but finally decided he was a bumblebee. \u00a0After posting on the Texas Bumblebees Facebook page, a knowledgeable bee enthusiast corrected me. \u00a0This bee imposter is called a robber fly. Wikipedia<\/a> says: \u00a0“The\u00a0Asilidae<\/b>\u00a0are the\u00a0robber fly\u00a0family, also called\u00a0assassin flies. They are powerfully built, bristly flies with a short, stout\u00a0proboscis<\/a><\/span>\u00a0enclosing the sharp, sucking\u00a0hypopharynx<\/a>.[1]<\/a><\/sup>[2]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0<\/span>The name “robber flies” reflects their notoriously aggressive predatory habits; they feed mainly or exclusively on other insects and as a rule they wait in ambush and catch their prey in flight.”<\/p>\n

This is not a nice bug: \u00a0“The fly attacks its prey by stabbing it with its short, strong\u00a0proboscis<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>injecting the victim with saliva containing neurotoxic and\u00a0proteolytic enzymes<\/a><\/span>\u00a0which very rapidly paralyze the victim and soon digest the insides; the fly then sucks the liquefied material through the proboscis.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I thought it looked like \u00a0a fuzzy monkey but now I don’t think it’s so cute. \u00a0Notice the “mustache” and the large round eyes. \u00a0That’s how to tell a robber fly from a bumblebee.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Nest Box Blues<\/h2>\n
\"Blue<\/a>
Blue bird couple house shopping<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Newly<\/a>
Baby Eastern Bluebird<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I have a hard time accepting the predatory part of the life cycle at Little Piney (unless it involves eating mosquitoes). \u00a0I’m sorry to say another kind of robber has been at work in two of our nest boxes. \u00a0I’ve just ordered 7 predator baffles (sort of swinging stove pipes that prevent raccoons and snakes from climbing up) to prevent future problems. \u00a0This involves removing the bird houses put in place by the previous owners, installing the baffles, and replacing the houses on the poles. \u00a0How many trips to Loew’s will this project take? \u00a0I’m guessing more than several! \u00a0We will probably move three houses that are close to bushes, trees, and water and therefore snakes and coons. \u00a0These little ones are so vulnerable. \u00a0I hope we can protect them better with these improvements.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wet-weather Spring     Dragonfly Pond\u00a0was a gift of the Memorial Day weekend rains in Central Texas. \u00a0This lovely pond is usually more of a shallow bog, maybe a foot deep at the deepest point. \u00a0Water seeps out of its sandy bottom with the usual light rains we have. When we first saw a reddishContinue reading<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":591,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[116,5,31,32,37,55,126,4,36,6,127,61,124,125,123],"class_list":["post-567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-baby-bluebirds","tag-bastrop-tx","tag-bastrop-tx-birds","tag-bastrop-tx-lost-pines","tag-birding-bastrop-tx","tag-bluebird-nest-boxes","tag-bluebird-predators","tag-bluebirds","tag-eastern-bluebird","tag-lost-pines","tag-lost-pines-birds","tag-nest-boxes","tag-robber-fly","tag-robberfly","tag-wet-weather-spring"],"yoast_head":"\nWet-weather Spring, Robber Fly, and Nest Box Blues<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A wet-weather spring, a bumblebee look-alike robber fly, and nest box predators cause the blues. 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