2014Backyard bird and butterfly (and dragonfly too) watching

[applestar]

This evening, I got caught up in doing something on the iPad and didn't realize sun had set and it was dark. So when I got up, first thing I did was to go to the open window to close the blinds so I could turn the lights on.

Well, I was caught completely by surprise to see the garden filled with quietly flashing lights of fireflies. (I had no idea they had emerged)

Fireflies are a good sign and welcome sight -- not only are they lovely to see in the summer night, but they and their larvae eat slugs and snails.

[pow wow]

I like your birdscare!! I guess there are fireflies up here but I've never seen them. Did see them one night in Florida when my dad, my sister and I were out for a walk.

[pow wow]

Along the river and creek at the bottom of my hill.











The osprey nest along the river



And my favourite for last lol

[applestar]

I love the white hare (is it hare?) -- so that's the winter coat? So lucky you get to see that -- with the grouse too. Love the rest of the photos, too. That piece of board the robins are nesting on, is that intentional?

About the bird scare -- in addition to reflectively flashing and the big google eyes, the closer one bangs against the trellis as it turns and swings in the wind. And the farther one, though I didn't do it intentionally, travels along the string through the day as it turns and swings, and usually I find it up against the far trellis by morning so I slide it back to the near trellis.

Yesterday, I was able to harvest the first 4 ripe big cultivated blueberries (under the near birdscare) and a handful of tiny wild ones (protected by the traveling birdscare) so I do think it's working for now.

[pow wow]

That's actually a cotton tail rabbit, lots of those because I live next to a natural prairie area. I also get the huge jackrabbits visiting in the winters when food is buried in deep snow out on the hill. Coyotes have dropped in a few times, ducks and the other morning I was sitting in front of my greenhouse watching the birds eating seeds when I heard something come up right beside me. It was a huge skunk! I'm a farm boy so I didn't freak out but I was rather worried. lol The critter hadn't noticed me and hoped for the best. It was so close I could have reached over and touched it. I cleared my throat and didn't make a move. The skunk looked up at me sniffing the air then fled to opposite side of my backyard, paused, then slid under the fence. Close call that's for sure.
The board I put up because it looked like the robins were having difficulty building a nest there but were determined that their nest must be in that spot. Worked out well for them.

[applestar]

I harvested a 2nd nearly full 1 gal freezer bag of stinging nettles a couple of days ago -- just in time!

I saw Red Admiral butterflies visiting the nettle patch today. They are probably laying eggs, so no more nettle harvest.

[pow wow]

Very exciting moment this morning as I was sitting in front of my greenhouse. I've been putting a big tin full of seed on top of my garden shed for the birds lately. As I was watching the sparrows and red wing blackbirds eating suddenly all the birds scattered as a little Merlin hawk dived in, missed his catch and it came shooting right by my head as it pulled out of it's dive and streaked out of the yard. If I had blinked I would have missed the whole scene! It was crazy cool!

[applestar]

Wow that must have been something! I've had red tailed hawk fly through on occasion, but the grackles around here are pretty fierce about driving off the predators, and I see the chase scenes more often than a plunging swoop.

Though that's happened, too, a burst of scattered feathers to mark the hit... the sudden hush that falls is eerie... then one or two birds -- I somehow always imagine youngsters -- make tentative querying calls, and everybody starts chirping and warbling at once.

My contribution tonight is a much more quiet one. DD called to me and said the fireflies are like little explosions tonight because as soon as one flashes, ten or dozen burst all around. There are so many it looks as though someone strung clear mini Christmas lights all over the trees.

I was watching out of my favorite window overlooking the Spiral Garden, Sunflower House, and Haybale Row, and found myself muttering "uh oh, uh oh...." Grabbed a pair of binoculars to see better, and yes, "uh oh" indeed.... There is a lone firefly flashing INSIDE the protective squash tunnel

Unless there is a gap somewhere -- another reason to "uh oh" -- that one climbed out of the soil INSIDE the tunnel when it came out from its pupa.

[applestar]

Yesterday, I was watching a very newly fledged robin yelping to be fed under the mulberry tree. There are a lot of fallen berries under there, but it's apparently too young to figure that out. All of a sudden, something moved in the grass, and (I could almost hear the baby think "Ooh! What's dat?" -- the fledgling jumped on it. ...and I saw something under the grass and clover rapidly streaking/moving a couple of feet away.

Now it's a game, jump -- streak -- jump -- streak... Then a chipmunk popped it's head up out of the grass.

Today, I saw the same (or another) spotty-chested fledgling, this time at the birdbaths. I have two in that particular location, both directly sitting on the ground: One is a flat terracotta plant saucer about 2" deep that immediately gets splashed out to 1-1.5" deep. I call that the "kiddie pool." The other is a bowl shaped planter 1/2 filled with gravel . The water in it could be 3 inches deep, though there is a concrete toad sitting on a brick in the middle of it in case any bird needs to climb out and can't make it to the edge.

This baby was sensibly playing in the "kiddie pool" -- just getting her feet and legs wet, barely soaking her belly. Then a catbird winged in and hopped into the grownup pool. I'd just filled it for the hot day, so the water was pretty deep for it -- all the way to its wing shoulders -- and it flew off after a couple of tries, looking a little put out. But now, the baby was curious. She hopped onto the rim and looked into the depth, then hopped over to a log next to it. I couldn't see her there from my window, but It seemed like quite a while. Then I saw the baby flap back to the "kiddie pool" without attempting to jump in the deep end.

[applestar]

I was so excited to see a MONARCH BUTTERFLY today

After a whole year, I'm not so good at differentiating them and will have to re-train my eyes to recognize the males and females while in flight, but I believe this was a male. If this is the first of northbound migration through this area, the females should follow in the next week or so.

He was checking out the different milkweed patches. I hope they met with his approval.

[applestar]

A severe thunderstorm is approaching. There's just barely some light left in the sky after the sun has set and there are lightning flashing almost incessantly while the thunder intervals are rapidly diminishing.

DD and I were looking out the window, surprised to see that the fireflies are blinking like mad instead of hiding from the storm. We decided that they look like they think there is a GIANT fireflies in the sky -- "We blink to you -- O Mighty Firefly!"

-- they ARE called lightning bugs, after all.

[applestar]

Sometimes things happen out in the garden for a fleeting moment. If I hadn't been there just then, I would have missed it.

Sometimes it's as simple as -- just as I settle down to look at the garden from my favorite window overlooking the garden, a hummingbird streaks by the window on its way to sip from the honeysuckle outside the window.

Today, I stepped outside to water the bed by the front porch where I planted petunias, hot peppers, and snapdragons. Hearing unusual chirping sounds, I looked around and spotted a row of 1/2 dozen or so birds lined up along the edge of my house roof rain gutter. It's hard to see them clearly because I'm looking up at the bright sky, but their body shape and belly colors are unusual and I can't identify them. They seem like sparrows but their colors are wrong.... Then whoosh! A bird flew chattering a little way over my head -- fast! Can't quite make it out.... Then another, and another.

I can't tell if they are dive bombing me or just winging over the front lawn and the island bed of Japanese maples and wild strawberries, but these fliers seem to be WITH the chattering group on the roof. After 3rd or 4th swoop, I see the split tail and finally realize they are swallows. There are more of them higher up in the sky.

It's almost as if they were waiting for the because then EVERYBODY on the roof took off! One more sweep over my front lawn and then they were gone.

[rainbowgardener]

Love your stories, applestar! I don't know that I have ever seen swallows sitting, only zooming around in the sky.

[applestar]

Thank you.

The ones along the roof seemed like fledglings. Only I can't think that they nested around here.

Maybe they got tired and the parents were urging them to fly and rejoin the flock.

[rainbowgardener]

Yesterday there were two robin fledglings sitting in my big old lilac tree, making loud chirps and shaking their wings. I think that is a feed me, feed me signal, even though the fledglings looked about as big as the parents. That lilac gets a robin's nest in it every year.

[tomf]

I walked out side this morning and the birds were chirping away, it sounds so nice, the birds were the only sound I could hear, no cars. I used to live in the city and there was no such thing as quite, I lived under an alternate flight path so sometimes it was worse.
I saw the largest butterfly I have ever seen yesterday, do to my ignorance I can not tell you what it was but is was very pretty.
We have some neat birds come by, and I sometimes fear for my cat. We have Eagles, all kinds of hawks, owls, Pileated woodpeckers, Turkey vultures, they are one big bird, and about every kind of bird that lives in this area. The one bird that I could do with out are the noise crows.

[applestar]

I had thought that this was a Parenthesis ladybeetle/ladybug on the corn.

Parenthesis Ladybug?

But it started to bother me that it seems much bigger and lacking some specific colorations.
Finally realized it's a "Swamp Milkweed Leaf Beetle"
https://bugguide.net/node/view/2970

I'm *hoping* this is a pupa on a common milkweed. I'll have to keep an eye on it because it looks awfully similar to a Colorado potato beetle pupa, but the large black head/thorax makes me think otherwise.

...Hmm... Looking at the lifecycle illustrations on the bugguide link, this is the larva.

Swamp Milkweed Leaf Beetle larva

...and this little one which is 1/2 the size of the larva -- and which I thought was a ladybug for sure this time -- is actually a newly emerged from pupa beetle:

[applestar]

Today's photo Safari in the Spiral Garden corn, squash, and Coral Reef Monarda

...a tree frog...

[applestar]

Forgot to mention seeing 2 MONARCH BUTTERFLIES yesterday.

As my daughter commented, they were very fresh-looking, not travel-worn, which may mean that eggs were laid by an earlier migrating traveler and these had grown locally as caterpillars and eclosed recently.

[DDMcKenna]

I have to say, I never really took the time to appreciate them, until I moved here. I learned that dragon-flies eat mosquitoes. I instantly fell in love with dragon-flies. It's great to see a whole cloud of them move in just outside the front-room window. I know that a whole bunch of mosquitoes are meeting their fate.

[applestar]

Wow never a cloud of dragonflies here. I almost always see them one at a time, though maybe as many as three altogether if there is a mass feeding event.

It's almost like they claim a territory and fly sweep patterns.

Still seeing MONARCH BUTTERFLY flitting about. I'm going to start looking for eggs.

There was a gorgeous Tiger Swallowtail in the garden today, too:

[Rairdog]

I am sitting at the pc reading the news a few minutes ago and kept seeing something swooping around in the GH. It was a humming bird that couldn't find it's way out.

I tried going to the opposite side of door where screen is and scaring it out. It buzzed around trying the tomato flowers and searching the passion flower for flowers but would not drop 6" to door entrance. I could tell it was getting stressed and low on energy so I gave it a break. Then it hit me! I took my feeder and hung it in the doorway and went to the screen and waved my arms. It buzzed around for a bit. Then it went to the feeder for a good long drink. It went out of the entrance and paused to turn around and "seem to say, thanks".

[applestar]

What a great experience! Your saved the day.
I do think they seem very aware and "communicative". I can't help talking to them.

[Lindsaylew82]

Lantana is popular this year! These two bicker over the same flower over and over, even though there are thousands! I keep seeing hummingbirds around the confetti lantana and also the HUGE marigolds! I need to add some hummingbird feeders!


I've seen these two for about a week. I'd like to think they are the same. They're becoming increasingly tattered.

[applestar]

Flowering shrubs, perennials, and self seeding annuals are great in the butterfly and hummingbird garden. For the gaps between blooming periods, I planted runner beans everywhere for the hummers.

So anywhere I am, tending the garden, I'm standing or crouching near a runner bean with the consequence that I'm constantly hearing the power buzz or twittering chirps of hummingbirds. Often I don't even see them and sometimes they don't see me until they are right over my head or even face to face and we surprise each other.

Occasionally, there are two of them having an aerial battle for supremacy -- with hardly any attention to spare for the HUMAN -- they've zipped past me close enough to stir my hair

Sometimes, everywhere I go, I'm scolded by the annoyed hummingbirds for being "in the way."

...oh and I saw this out of the window at 7AM this morning...

[Lindsaylew82]

What's he gettin into?!

[applestar]

That's the deep birdbath.

[Lindsaylew82]

Silly raccoon! . Is he just playin in it?

[Lindsaylew82]

This morning I saw a male American Goldfinch sneaking sunflower seeds from a less than mature seed head. I was in the car leaving for work. My kid thought it was an EPIC find. She was very excited about it! The best thing? We were in the car, and this bird had NO fear of it. I got within 6 feet and watched him prying seeds out. I think he will be a regular now! With nearly 15 seed heads maturing, how could he resist!

I didn't get a picture because I was afraid he'd see my motion and flee, but it was a nice experience first thing! I've never seen them here before!

[Rairdog]

This morning I saw a male American Goldfinch sneaking sunflower seeds from a less than mature seed head. I was in the car leaving for work. My kid thought it was an EPIC find. She was very excited about it! The best thing? We were in the car, and this bird had NO fear of it. I got within 6 feet and watched him prying seeds out. I think he will be a regular now! With nearly 15 seed heads maturing, how could he resist!

I didn't get a picture because I was afraid he'd see my motion and flee, but it was a nice experience first thing! I've never seen them here before!

Here, I just took one for you. This is on my screened porch. In the spring I can sit 4 feet away and have 6 to 8 at a time hitting the Nyjer seed. I also have occasional House finch with the red heads.

[Lindsaylew82]

My new bird feeders has about 6-8 house finches ,or maybe wrens?, they fight over the perch and do a rotation type turn system.. It's hanging from an old clothes line T-pole. They are pretty territorial over the new feeder. They even run off the cardinals. EVEN the doves picking the fallen seeds on the ground!

I'm curious to know what is everyone's favorite bird seed?

[Rairdog]

I use Nyjer for the finch. The sparrow and chickadee will use it also. Next to it is my suet feeder with woodpecker blend on one side and chicadee/nuthatch? blend on the other. The downy woodpecker, northern flicker, nuthatch, chickadee, sparrow and occasional grosbeak will use it. I quit the suet after spring or the starlings will invade and wreak havoc. The downside is the redtail hawks ambush them every couple weeks. Everybody's gotta eat I guess. Just had one take out a robin feeding below yesterday.

[applestar]

I love goldfinches. They come for all kinds of flower seeds including kale and Brussels sprouts, shiso, and coneflowers.

I've pretty much given up putting out feeders during the growing season and am concentrating on growing things they like. Hummingbirds too -- I decided I'm doing them more harm than good because I can't keep up with the regular clean (and bleach) routine. So instead, I just grow flowers.

In winter when the fall seeds and berries are mostly gone, I do put out suet and some sunflower (harvested/saved striped and store bought BOSS), sufflower, and niger seeds, and fruit scraps, leftover chips and nuts. Regular visitors are chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, downy and red bellied woodpeckers, blue jays, and cardinals, goldfinch, house finch. Then we also get some rare and unusual visitors as well.

Silly raccoon! . Is he just playin in it?

I found Mr. Toad had been toppled over

He's *supposed* to be looking like this....

[meshmouse]

applestar and everyone else -

I've really enjoyed reading (and re-reading) this thread. I have learned one main thing.

I gotta start paying more attention.

I recently spoke with a neighbor of mine (about 1/10th mile away) who was listing the hummingbirds, falcons and such that they spy from their front yard. I only see robins, blue jays, cardinals and a bunch of black/grey birds for the most part, but apparently there is much more there to see.

Does anyone know of an online resource (of any merit) to help identify birds?

Thanks - meshmouse

[applestar]

This one
online guide to birds and bird watching
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/Page.aspx?pid=1189

[meshmouse]

Thank you applestar

Very nice site. The audio of calls is a cool feature. Sometimes that's all I get.

meshmouse

[applestar]

I like that feature too!

Let us know what you discover around your garden

[meshmouse]

applestar - I'll be sure to do that.

Right now I'm thinking about places in the house and in the yard where I can blend into the background, open a wobbly pop and observe. I'm looking around for the binoculars, but I think the zoom on my camera will prove more powerful as well as allowing a record to search and share.

The only real attractants that I have are a birdbath and a compost pile, worms all over the place and very few cats in the neighborhood. There are trees and all sorts of plants surrounding me (most of which are just wild). I exert a little effort now and then to favor ones I like and discourage ones I don't.

I'm taking notes on things to plant to attract certain birds. I would love to have hummingbirds about. I'll be limited to plants that can do well with 4-6 hours of sun a day.

I'll let you know what I see. Thanks again.

[Lindsaylew82]

Loads of butterflies and moths here today. Some were too quick!









That last one is so old and faded. It's all tattered up, too. I'm guessing it's probably his last day... . Glad I could provide a feast for him! (Or her)

[applestar]

Nice! But if that's a silver spotted skipper, you better watch out! Their babies love beans.
I usually mostly find them with their weird heads in folded soybean/edamame leaves.

When I opened the front window this morning to catch some cool breeze, I saw this little visitor

Can you see she's staring at me?

(I wish I had a better camera, but with an iPad Air through the screen, this is about the best I can get.)

Later on, FOUR of them were duking it out in too-fast-too-see aerial display and no doubt what to them were loud and aggressive battle cries, though they only sounded like cute chittering sounds to me