Hatchlings and updates

I found these hatchlings washed down the street curbing while walking the dog. Victims of the thunderstorms and strong winds. They almost look like actors in a dramatic play, bodies posed in an exaggerated fashion. By the next day the bodies were gone, no doubt eaten by some birds or cat. The size would probably indicate that they are a fairly large bird, possibly a robin.

The Japanese beetles are out early this year and in force. I thought since we had such a heavy infestation last year that this year would be a diminished one but unfortunately, not so. The mild winter may have made it possible for more to survive.

The giant magnolia scale is back. No matter that I applied insecticidal soap and volck oil also sprinkling diazinon powder around the base of the tree to discourage the ants that are milking the scales. This is an ongoing battle. One I'm determined to win before the tree gets too tall to easily treat. Unfortunately when pruning today,I found that some of the stella magnolias also have the scale. They apparently go into a fly like stage and can move around easily and far because the affected trees are behind the house from where the first infected tree is planted. I am almost at wits end in trying to deal with this problem.