Bee-ware

When walking thru the woods at the end of a hot dry summer, beware of your surroundings! I noticed several bee's nest while birding today! This bald-faced hornets nest was very close to the path and about head high!

 In this close up pic you can see the hornets busy adding to the nest.

Fortunately this one was easy to spot and avoid unlike the in-ground yellow jacket nest I stumbled upon at Waxmyrtle Campground on the coast! They introduced themselves with several burning stings. They made it clear that I was not welcome in their territory and I quickly fled to a safe distance. The burning only lasted a couple minutes but the itching lasted for over a week!

I did see a number of birds on my walk including this Cooper's Hawk which was on a perch over looking the river.

Birding in the timbered areas has slowed significantly since I visited here a couple months ago but the lakes and marshes are teeming with birds gathering up for their winter trip. I will be following them south shortly!