This summer in Ottawa, I saw more Monarch butterflies in my garden than ever before. According to social media posts and news stories, it's been a great year for the eastern Monarch population (A flicker of hope in the insect world: firefly, Monarch butterfly numbers up). Common milkweed patch Throughout July and August, we saw … Continue reading A great summer for Monarchs →

On July 31st, armed with my camera, I patrolled the front and back yards. As I always say: "You never know what you'll see in the garden!" In the backyard mini-meadow, I spotted an unusual-looking bumblebee. I took photos of it and headed inside to identify this new bee. An unusual bee in the garden. … Continue reading A lone Yellow-banded Bumblebee →

In mid-July, all of a sudden, bumblebees reappeared in my garden again. Hurray! Males and workers Numbers continue to increase as we now have males and workers in the mix. In late July, nesting queens switch from laying eggs that will become workers, to laying eggs that will become males and queens. Depending on the … Continue reading We’re baaaack!: bumblebees return to the garden →

Bumblebees are my favourite kind of bee. They’re big, gentle, furry constant companions in the garden – or should be. In late June and early July, I had no bumblebees in my gardens at all. The yard was a lonely place without them. After a lot of fretting, I decided to investigate why there were … Continue reading The Case of the Missing Bumblebees →

Each year, I notice more diversity in the insects visiting our garden. In particular, this year I am seeing different kinds of beetles, spiders, and moths. Here are four beautiful beetles that I've spotted in the garden so far this summer. Red Milkweed Beetle Red Milkweed Beetle Years ago, I saw a Red Milkweed Beetle, … Continue reading The Fab Four: beetles in the garden →

As I add native plants to our garden and attract more wildlife, it increasingly feels like a magical place. In the past week, I saw a Giant, a Monarch, and even a fairy. A magical place, indeed! Okay, so I didn't really see a fairy -- it was a hummingbird, which was such a surprise … Continue reading The Giant, the Monarch, and the Fairy: my garden fable →

A few weeks ago, I noticed the tell-tale sign that leafcutter bees are at work in the garden -- tidy oval and circular holes in leaves. Leafcutter bees have been busy cutting pieces from fireweed and lilac leaves in our back garden. (July 2019) These solitary bees create cavity nests by shaping oval pieces of … Continue reading Busy leafcutter bees →

When I began learning about native bees two years ago, I was delighted to find the PDF book, Bees of Toronto. There aren't many Ontario-specific resources, let alone ones from Ottawa. Now we're lucky to have the Wild Pollinator Partners blog posts and events that highlight native bees in our area. After reading Bees of … Continue reading Ottawa cousins of Toronto’s unofficial bee →

On June 11th, I first spotted a worker bumblebee in our yard. Worker bumblebees been slow to increase in numbers. Even though it's now two weeks later, I still only see 2 or 3 workers at a time. My husband reminded me that I worry about the lack of bumblebees every year. Queen bumblebees emerge … Continue reading Bumblebee workers and a special queen →

There have been a lot of babies in the garden this week. Fledgling birds For a few days, we've heard very noisy baby birds begging for food. While we couldn't see them, we suspected they were Chipping Sparrows. We finally saw the young birds out in the open sitting on branches and hopping around the … Continue reading Baby birds and tiny caterpillars →