I was bothered by yellow jackets when I lived at Lake Tahoe. My house backed up to a hundred acres of government land that was pretty much untouched and full of yellow jacket nests. I couldn’t serve dinner outside without having to fight them for my own food! Fertile queens winter underground in old rodent holes, in tree stumps and old logs. As soon as the weather starts to warm, they will leave their winter burrow and set out to build a nest. This is the time to catch them,

I know it’s Spring, because the first Hooded Oriole has been spotted on the cam. Hooded Orioles winter in Mexico and migrate north in the early Spring, just like some of the hummingbirds. The hummers are shy around them, probably because they are so large. If one arrives at the feeders they all take off until the oriole leaves, then they come right back. Male Hooded Orioles come in colors ranging from bright lemon yellow to deep orange. The females are a dull yellow. Orioles