Brown-headed Cowbird,
Molothrus ater We’ve been watching birds at Vista Farm since Day One in 2005. Finally, here’s a list of those observed with a link to many of their photos in the Gallery. We submit our observations to eBird.org and iNaturalist.org.
This list of birds observed at Vista Farm is updated. Check back often for new finds.
Meadow American Bumble Bee, Bombus pensylvanicus, busily pollinating the sunflowers at Vista Farm. is a threatened species of bumblebee native to North America. Its tends to live and nest in open farmland and fields feeding on several food plants, but favoring sunflowers and clovers. While bees normally forage close to their nests, individuals can return from up to 1.5 miles away. Bombus pensylvanicus generally nests in fields of long grass, but may sometimes nest underground. The species utilizes bundles of hay or long grass to create sheltered nests above ground. Some nest in established crevices and burrows, such as old bird nests, rodent burrows, or in cinder blocks. They have even been noted to nest in human made objects, like buckets or barns. Assassin bugs and dragonflies are common predators of the bee. Queens are considered the dominant caste because they are usually the largest bees of the colony. As worker male bees grow larger in average wing length, they become the dominant caste as the number of queens decrease. Wing length of males vary depending upon the point of colony development. Males that founded the colony tend to have a smaller wing length than the first or second generation of the colony. Food supply is scarce, at first, as the queen is the forager. Until July, the workers are the foraging caste and an enormous increase in body size is observed. The worker proportions decrease when reproductive males develop, representing a turning point in the colony, as male size increase until active bees develop to the size of a queen near November and December when the worker population dissipates. Queens maintain the least amount of standard deviation for average wing length and thus are the most stable caste in the colony. It is postulated that this is because queens are made in a short time span when colony resources have reached its threshold. Source Wikipedia Building a new pollinator habitat of all native wildflowers with funding from the NRCS Conservation Stewardship Program.
The meadow at sunrise We've posted quite a bit since 2019 and not all the titles appear on the About page. Here they are. Enjoy!
Hurricane Ida swept through Madisonville, LA, on August 29, 2021, causing downed trees and much debris at Vista Farm.
© 2026 — Judy Darby
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