This Week at Hilton Pond

Bill Hilton Jr.
Executive Director
Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History
York, South Carolina 29745 USA

Hummingbird Predators (1-7 September 2007)

When we're asked what sorts of animals prey upon hummingbirds, we usually answer they just don't have very many predators. We thought our short list was pretty complete until this week when friends from North Carolina reported an almost-unbelievable near-predation on a ruby-throated hummingbird--by an insect no less! To read about this very unusual occurrence, please visit our 1-7 September 2007 installment of "This Week at Hilton Pond" at http://www.hiltonpond.org/ThisWeek070901.html . [Readers, this is a must read about a rarely reported occurrence. Editor.]

Along with the predator photo essay we include our usual tally of birds banded or recaptured during the period, plus a mug shot of a Parula warbler and a note about late-breeding American goldfinches.

Figure 1. Included in a very small group animals that prey on hummingbirds are green frogs (above), sharp-shinned hawks, large mantids, and feral cats. This week, surprisingly, we added a fly to the list. Photograph copyright Bill Hilton Jr.

Cat Tale (8-14 September 2007)

We never know what we might catch in the mist nets we use to capture birds for banding. Sometimes it's a rare warbler or a migrant thrush, but this week it was a piece of leaf and a cat. A caterpillar, that is. For a photo essay about how we identified a cat and its leafy mobile home, please visit the 8-14 September 2007 installment of "This Week at Hilton Pond" at http://www.hiltonpond.org/ThisWeek070908.html .

As always we include a tally of all birds banded or recaptured--the fall migrants are beginning to move through!--plus miscellaneous nature notes and a mug shot of a northern waterthrush.

NOTE: Week One of our annual hummingbird banding excursions to Costa Rica is now full and we are taking enrollment for Week Two (3-10 February 2008). For information, see the link from the current installment of "This Week at Hilton Pond."

Figure 2. Many caterpillars weave cocoons in which to pupate, but the larva of the scalloped sack-bearer moth, Lacosoma chiridota, spins a silken chamber and covers it with leaves while it's still in the feeding stage. Photograph copyright Bill Hilton Jr.

Common Ragweed: The Stealthy Sneezemaker (15-21 September 2007)

The inconspicuous common ragweed has a good thing going. It flowers at the same time as showy goldenrods that, in turn, get the blame for fall hay fever. It's a bum rap, of course. To view our current essay about this stealthy ragweed--complete with photomacrographs--please visit the 15-21 September 2007 installment of "This Week at Hilton Pond" at http://www.hiltonpond.org/ThisWeek070915.html .

As always we include a tally of all birds banded and recaptured--and we had a nice mix of each during the period--plus a few miscellaneous nature notes about ruby-throated hummingbirds and prolific northern cardinals.

Figure 3. The flower spike of common ragweed, Ambrosia artemisiifolia , bears up to a hundred male flowers (above), each of which produces thousands of allergy-causing pollen grains. Photograph copyright Bill Hilton Jr.

To help support the education, research, and conservation work of Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History, please see http://www.hiltonpond.org/FundingMain.html . Editor.