Before I go any further, I must say it’s raining! When it rains to any significant extent once the hot weather starts, it’s worth mentioning. We will have some happy plants, and I set some seat cushions out to get cleaned, too (it’s free!).
One thing the rain is washing away from those cushions will be mud dauber nests. We always have some here (ours are black-and-yellow mud daubers, Sceliphron caementarium), but this year they are especially abundant. I have always enjoyed watching these guys and find the places they make nests pretty funny sometimes. You never know where one will show up, like on a shovel, in the lawn mower, etc. They were all over those seat cushions, too. They use such nice, brown mud. Quite the construction workers!
As the photo below shows, it’s pretty easy to tell the difference between a mud dauber nest and a regular paper wasp nest. It’s good to know the difference between the wasps themselves, too, since the mud daubers are way less likely to sting.
We’re glad they aren’t likely to sting, because for the past week or so, there have been hundreds of them flying around the house. They are just floating around in circles, doing who knows what (maybe eating? mating?). Oddly enough, there aren’t any more nests than usual, so something must be going on. I predict the birds are enjoying all the wasps, though, because lots of swallows and mockingbirds are also flying around!
My guess is that at least some wasp fun is happening. I saw this happening, and hoped it was two wasps making more wasps, and not one wasp getting ready to snack on another. This is where I wish I had a wasp expert to consult. I did upload the photo to iNaturalist, though!
I focused on mud daubers today, because I think it’s important to talk about the smaller and less exotic residents at the Hermits’ Rest, too. We’ve coexisted here for the six years we’ve owned the place (and eight years, if you could when we were just camping out before we bought it). While I do remove nests from the sides of the house, I leave them alone elsewhere, because they aren’t hurting anything and were here before us!
Thanks for being here, mud daubers!
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The Hermits' Rest 
Well I’m about to commence washing the brick. Wish me well. Lol
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Indeed! Best wishes.
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Went well. Today I’ll tackle the back where most of the he’ing and she’ing has taken place.
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And might mention I have a bit of sight limitations. So one day I had to either fuss over my checking and rechecking s post before sending or just living with a few of Miss Smarty Pants Spell Check and continue to get as much reading and writing done.
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Keep posting!
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So happy to find your blog. I’ve been a WordPress member for a good while. I too am experiencing an extraordinary amount of mating/mated daubers and appreciate the sound advice to live and let live with the getting them off the stone on the house. I’m seeing now that they are favoring the weep holes and the tiny spaces in the eaves. I’m afraid they will be attic bound if left alone. I’ll be following as soon as I send this post. I’m a retired horse and mule farmer, but when my husband passed in 2020 the old farm was just too much.
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Those mud daubers get everywhere. I didn’t drive my car for a week recently and found a nest blocking my rear windshield wiper! I hope you enjoy my horses vicariously.
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Oh back at you. We raised Haflinger draft horses and the mule babies were a surprise when they came home with the two mates we bought. At first I was not too happy, but I learned the error of my prejudiced way. The smartest, most loyal animals I’ve ever been around.
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I’ve always wanted a mule.
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You wouldn’t believe their nature and temperament. Now when someone uses the old adage “Stubborn as a Missouri Mule” I bristle a bit. I prefer my term when it’s called for and that’s “working like a government mule”. 😉
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Of course I fed them twice a day so I was the mama figure. If I was at my job and Jesse needed them up for the weekend to go wherever, they’d just have to wait until I got home. They wouldn’t come up out of the pasture for anybody else. I’ll have to poke around and post a few pictures in a little while. The mules always take on the coloring of the mare, we had one exception. The last one born and what different looking little thing she was.
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