Again, to continue the trend of reporting this year's visitors from up
north, I have had a single Purple Finch at my feeder (near Yellow
Springs, in Greene County) for the last few days.  The Red Breasted
Nuthatch is a regular patron as well.

My hummingbird feeders have been very busy the last two weeks.  I had
noticed some large bugs near the hummer feeders, but didn't really pay
much attention until my wife got stung while refilling one of the
feeders.  I got my 12X binoculars out and looked at the insect that was
on the feeder and it was a Bald Faced Hornet.  These are the big black
and white wasps that build the huge hanging nests in trees.  Lately,
the wasps have been chasing the hummingbirds away and it's quite a
sight to see the hummers come in for a snack only to be driven off by
the wasps.  Does anyone have any experience at discouraging these types
of pests at the feeder?  I'm not worried so much about the hummers,
since they have probably been competing with wasps for food for
zillions of years, but I don't want the family to be persecuted by
these bugs any longer.  For what it's worth, we've been making our own
hummer food with white sugar and water, in fairly random ratios, and
the hummers love it no matter how we mix it, so it's my belief that
buying pre made hummer food is a waste of money, and there's also some
concern out there about the artificial red coloring in commercial
hummer food.  Mix your own if you have the time, you'll be glad you did.

Good Birding,

Greg Spahr (Fairborn, OH)
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