The Wasp, the Squirrels, & the Birds---Outcome

I've been keeping an eye on the wasp nest in the bird feeder, which I've written about before. It's all over now. The small nest has been destroyed, most of the nest is gone, remnants of a couple of empty cells were all that were left. Of the cells that had been capped, no trace remained. I would guess that something that eats wasp larvae got at it, which is one of the outcomes I expected since Carolina Wrens, which are frequenting the yard a lot this spring, like the larvae. Either they found the nest, or something else did.

I've now filled the birdfeeder for the first time in a couple of years. The squirrels are frenzied and I'm once again working on strategy to save the feeder for the birds. I may, again, have to give up having a bird feeder, but thought I'd give it another shot.

I don't know if the squirrels drove mama wasp away before all the cells were filled, or if she just left of her own volition after having filled several cells. I don't know for sure that the Carolina Wrens got at the larvae, but it seems clear that squirrels are (so far) definite winners, being undeterred by wasp, or whatever destroyed the nest. Wrens are also possible winners if they, indeed, got a good meal out of the nest. The wasp---which hasn't been seen in a while---was the definite loser. (I'm attaching my initial observation to this post.)

Posted on April 26, 2018 03:29 PM by gulfcoasttoad