Ending and Beginning

Today I found out, to my surprise, that yellow jackets are considered beneficial insects. I had never thought about their place in the ecosystem before. One of many links. We had a nest on the side of the chimney behind the garage last Summer that I was planning to get rid of this Spring. I won’t do that now, not only because I’ve learned that they’re beneficial, but also because I’ve learned that they always abandon the previous year’s nest and start over somewhere else.

That works out well for both of us — I don’t have to try to get rid of their nest, and they get to start over in a new spot this Spring. Let’s just hope it’s not too close to our normal yard traffic patterns.

Heard one this morning. They nest in the immediate area of our home, and I’ve seen pairs in their courtship dance. To me, they’re special wildlife, for their grace and beauty and strange, primordial voices. Although I have nothing against hunting in general, and I hunt myself, it’s unfathomable to me how anyone could want to shoot sandhill cranes, as some in Wisconsin do. I have rigid definitions in my mind of what are game animals and what aren’t, and there’s no way a crane could be considered a game animal.

Every year around this time the Canada Geese return for a month or two on their way North. They feed on leftover corn or soybeans in the fields around our house in the morning and evening, and are very vocal — they’re one of those smack-you-in-the-face signs of Spring. Then, just when you’re starting to get used to all the honking and commotion overhead and in the fields, they’re gone.

I took these pictures this afternoon from our front step.

Another bird-related note is that there is a bald eagle hanging around. I saw it about a week ago, flying up the river in a snowstorm, and I saw it once again after that. I told my neighbor about it, and he said another neighbor had told him the same thing. They’re common out on the Wisconsin River in the Winter, but I’ve never seen one around home before.