08/19/2026
Carlene's Birds, Bees, and Butterflies in July! Oh my!
Friends and Family,
I arrived at Turnbull NWR extra early in the mornings to try to beat the heat and there were still cool things to see. The handsomely perched Eastern Kingbird was easy to spot with its crisp color contrast especially with that stark white underside! I imagine it is on the lookout to catch the next insect that flies by...
Once when I was getting ready to photograph the swan family on Kepple Lake, a White-breasted Nuthatch landed on a tree right in front of me and I quickly took a few pictures of it before it darted off. In that brief moment, I noticed its color contrasts but mostly its ability to move head-first down the tree trunk with its long, strong back toes and curved claws that helped anchor it to the bark.
Nuthatches eat mostly insects in the spring and summer (as well as feed them to their babies!), then switch to seeds and nuts during the winter. They wedge seeds into tree bark year-round to hide them for later and cache them in fall for the winter months. The name "nuthatch" originally comes from the Middle English word nuthak, meaning “nut hacker” because they wedge nuts or seeds into tree bark then hack them open with their sharp bills.
Walking on the Pine Lake Loop path, I spotted a Swallowtail Butterfly on a Showy Milkweed flower. They actually have taste receptors located on their feet, allowing it to "taste-test" plants just by landing on them. It was busy using its long proboscis to sip the rich nectar so it definitely liked this plant! Its lovely wings look multi-colored but they are actually made of a transparent protein called chitin. The Swallowtail’s wings “are covered in thousands of overlapping microscopic scales that create color through structural interference, reflecting light like tiny prisms rather than using pigments.” An interesting fact about the Showy Milkweed is that during World War II, when the supply of the traditional life jacket filler, kapok, was cut off by Japanese forces, the U.S. military turned to milkweed. The plant's dozens of pods bursting with buoyant, water-repellent floss (air is trapped inside each hair) were used to fill over 1.2 million military life vests and doubtless saved many lives!
The next butterfly I saw was a Lorquin’s Admiral Butterfly which is named after Pierre Joseph Michel Lorquin, a French naturalist who came to California during the gold rush and specialized in moths, butterflies and beetles. Its wings are a bit tattered but its white spots and orange wing tips are still eye catching.
As I walked by a section of pretty purple flowers, I noticed there were two very different looking kind of bees! Hmmm... First there was this Bumblebee - all snuggled down into the flower, working hard to get the pollen to eat or take back to the queen. I could see lots of pollen already stuck to its hairy body (and that will be transferred to the next flowers, helping create the next generation of plants).
But what was this other pudgy, fuzzy, compact bug that looked JUST like a bee at first glance? Come to find out it is a Bee Fly – scientifically known as Bombyliidae. It is actually a fly! It has only a single pair of wings. (Bees have two pair.) Its antennae are very short (bees have longer, distinct antennae). And the Bee Fly has a long, rigid (never retracts or coils up) straw-like tube ("proboscis") used to sip nectar. They, also, pollinate and visit many types of flowers. Unfortunately, their larvae are parasites to the underground nests of ground-nesting bees. One good note: they are harmless to humans and they neither bite nor sting.
Have a great week!
Carlene
