zoofence.com

The large tree to the left of the gazebo in the photograph on TZF's page The Gazebo is a plum. For the past several years, a pair of Eastern Phoebes have nested in the eaves of the gazebo. We have been delighted to have them there, because they're cute and they eat nasty flying & biting insects. But we've noticed that, since they started using the gazebo as a nursery, the plum tree has produced far fewer plums. Today, we learned that the reason for that may be that among the insects that Phoebes eat are wild bees ... the pollinating agents of the plum tree! So, now we're back to the egoic mind's twin-edged dual universe: the delight of having the Phoebes, on the one hand, and the joy of having the plums, on the other.

Anyway, where I learned about the appetite of Phoebe's for bees is a very nice website belonging to the University of Michigan. If you enjoy spotting wildlife, you will love this website. The URL is http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/index.html