Pollinator Pow-Wow: Wildlife Wednesday, October 2016

Posted on October 4, 2016 by Tina

Truthfully, it’s been a pollinator Wow! for this past month.

Loads of butterflies and many kinds of bees enhanced the garden and though I didn’t get as many photos as I would have liked, I have a few favorites to share this month. It’s Wildlife Wednesday and time to appreciate the wild critters who make the garden what it is: a dynamic, living space providing refuge and sustenance for wild things.

Monarch butterflies, Danaus plexippus, visited daily as they travel to Mexico for the winter.

Monarch enjoying Frostweed.

Monarch at a Gregg’s mistflower.

Most days there have been four or five fluttering from bloom to bloom.

Two cool fronts pushed through recently, ushering in pleasant fall temperatures and providing wind for the Monarchs’ wings as they head south. I’ve seen some Monarchs since, but only one or two in my gardens. I’m betting more will show up in the next few weeks and am glad that I grow some of their autumn favorites like Gregg’s mistflower, Conoclinium greggii, Blue mistflower, Conoclinium coelestinum, and Frostweed, Verbesina virginica.

While this photo isn’t great,

…I felt compelled to include it because this lovely Monarch was a meal for my resident male Neon Skimmer just seconds after the photo was taken. I was attempting a better shot, when the Monarch flew into the path of the Skimmer. The two tumbled to the ground, out of my view and behind some plants, and neither arose into the air immediately. After a few seconds, I walked to where I thought they’d landed. The Skimmer suddenly zoomed upward, Monarch in hand, or rather, claws. An excellent predator, Mr. Skimmer had caught himself a substantial lunch! As he flew around my garden, holding tightly to the hapless Monarch whose wings continued flapping, I yelled at him to drop that Monarch!! My verbal gesticulation didn’t change his mind, nor reduce his grip on the Monarch, and the Skimmer eventually took his prey to a neighbor’s yard (probably because I was being obnoxious and noisy) and I didn’t see either one again that day. Skimmers (and all dragons and damsels) are predators, usually eating mosquitoes–I certainly wish he’d chosen a few of those biting beasts for his meal instead of the Monarch.

Though the demise of one Monarch is sad, it’s a hallmark of nature–eat, or be eaten. It is especially sorrowful because of survival pressures on Monarchs, including habitat destruction, pesticide and herbicide use in mid-western agricultural states (where wildflowers once dominated), and the changing climate, which impacts every region. These are problems caused by people, not dragonflies, and have contributed to the decimation of the remarkable Monarch butterfly. Home gardeners and those who create school or public gardens can help mitigate Monarch decline by utilizing good wildlife management gardening practices such as refraining from chemical use and planting for pollinators with native perennials and annuals.

Relatives of the Monarchs, the Queen butterflies, Danaus gilippus, are also in full fall flight in my gardens and enjoy many of the same Monarch nectar sources. Queens do not migrate and are common in Central Texas throughout the year.

Nectaring on a Gregg’s mistflower.

I didn’t take a photo of the Neon Skimmer this past month because I was pissed at him (I’m kidding. Sort of…), but a Blue Dasher, Pachydiplax longipennis, posed nicely on an almost-spent bloom stalk of a Big red sage, Salvia penstemonoides; I couldn’t resist her allure.

I think this one is a female because of the brown abdomen coloring. She also sports big, beautiful, blue peepers common in dragonflies.

There was more murder and mayhem the garden with this lovely scene:

I was attempting a photo of one of the many fast flying tiny orange butterflies common this time of year (and was unsuccessful) when I spied this Green Lynx spider , Peucetia viridans, who had one of my darling and pollen-sprinkled honeybees in pieces in the middle of a Rock rose flower.

I suppose that if the end is near, it might as well be in the middle of a flower, doing work you love. Again, this is another predator-prey situation and while it’s painful to witness, it’s the way nature works. Spiders must eat, too.

The spider skittered out of the flower because of my photo interference, but the poor bee is…decapitated. Ugh.

It’s a bummer for the bee, though.

Additional sightings of the Lepidoptera sort includes scads of Southern Broken-dash, Wallengrenia otho,

Nectaring on a Purple coneflower.

Nectaring on a Blue mistflower bloom.

…and oodles of Clouded skippers, Lerema accius.

The Clouded Skipper rests besides a buddy–a Common Pillbug (Armadillidium vulgare).

Gray Hairstreak butterflies, Strymon melinus, are more numerous this year than I’ve ever noticed before.

Working a Martha Gonzales rose bloom in the sunshine.

Resting on a spent rose bloom in the shade.

Some of the larger, more dramatic butterflies regularly gracing the garden include Giant Swallowtails, Papilio cresphontes,

Working the blooms of the Mexican orchid.

…Tiger Swallowtails, Papilio glaucus,

Nectaring on a Purple coneflower.

…and Pipevine Swallowtails, Battus philenor.

Proboscis-deep in a Yellow Bells bloom.

Flowers are pretty enough, but much more beautiful when these decorative and vital-for plant-reproduction winged jewels are pollinating the blooms.

Southern pink moths, Pyrausta inornatalis are sprinkling their pink selves on a variety of flowers this year, but I love this convocation of four on a Rock rose bloom. The bloom is about an inch in diameter.

There were five moths all in a circle, but one flew off as I approached to snap the pic; the others maintained their positions.

I wonder what they were talking about? Or were they knitting? Or, perhaps working on dance moves?

It wasn’t all butterflies and moths in the garden this past month, though. Many individuals of my favorite native bee, the Horsefly-like Carpenter bee, Xylocopa tabaniformis, are still active and stealing nectar.

Love those snazzy stripes,

…and dreamy blue eyes!

I’m thrilled that American Bumble Bees, Bombus pensylvanicus, are in the garden this fall. I couldn’t get a good shot, but at least one bumble is in the garden on a daily basis and working hard.

Yellow Bells, Tacoma stans, is a perennial shrub which has attracted multitudes of pollinators this month, including several native bee species, honeybees, a variety of smaller skippers and moths, all of the large swallowtail butterfly species, and hummingbirds. It’s a pollinator plant for the win!!

Other charming critters honoring my garden are the ubiquitous Green Anole lizards, Anolis carolinensis.

This one had just caught and gobbled down something–I wasn’t quick enough to see what the prey was or to configure my camera into action, but I suspect the snack was a small bee or moth. Mr. or Ms. Anole was smacking its pleasure after the treat and looking smug.

Most of the Anoles I see in the garden now are juveniles and darn cute for teenagers. They’re dormant once our chilly weather arrives and I miss them during the winter months.

This Leaf-footed bug, Leptoglossus phyllopus, owns this space atop a Red Yucca seed pod (which they like to munch), and is serving as a mentor to some offspring.

Perhaps not as pretty as some insects, these have a certain panache and I don’t mind seeing them occasionally in the garden. They can be destructive (they’re sucking insects and damage foliage), but they’ve never proved a problem for my plants.

Pretty–or not, did wildlife visit your garden this past month? Please post for October Wildlife Wednesday. Share the rare or mundane, funny or fascinating, beneficial or harmful critters you encounter. When you comment on my post, please remember to leave a link to your Wildlife Wednesday post so readers can enjoy a variety of garden wildlife observations.

Flexible Foliage

Posted on September 10, 2016 by Tina

Leaves on my American sycamore, Platanus occidentalis, are useful indeed. They provide beauty in waving flags of luscious green,

…and cooling shade for the trunk and anything (or anyone) else beneath the canopy.

The sycamore tree exfoliates beautifully, revealing creamy white new bark.

Sycamore foliage also provides shelter for a bird home and a nursery for bird babies.

Only recently have I spotted this nest in the sycamore. I was standing in a part of my property where I don’t usually hang out, when I saw a nest structure nestled in the lower part of the tree. There are no birds there now, no doubt their having fledged earlier this summer. I’m not sure how I missed seeing it before now, but going forward, better tree observance is in order.

Handsome, peeling limbs serve as strong foundational support for the nest.

I suspect it was a Blue Jay, Cyanocitta cristata, nest because I know that they were active in the tree earlier in the summer–they’re wonderfully gregarious birds and even if I don’t see them, I hear them. Plus, in perusing photos of nests, Blue Jays appear to favor building with larger sticks, which I guess makes sense because they are large-ish birds.

Dropped sycamore leaves are also versatile on terra firma. Dead, downed, and brown leaves provide cover along the soil and pathways,

…though that can be annoying when they drift to the gardens or patio and cluster, becoming garden “detritus.” Because of the wet year, there wasn’t as much shedding of sycamore foliage as is typical, but some dropped.

I find the large, thick leaves graceful and lovely ON the tree, but awkward and messy on the ground and in the garden.

On occasion I’ve used a leaf as a tool to pick up and remove an insect that I’m squeamish about, or to remove fresh goo (use your own imagination on that one) from lawn furniture surface or a birdbath. Never though have I utilized a Sycamore leaf to feed a bee–until about two weeks ago. I watched an American bumblebee, Bombus pensylvanicus, cruise along the ground in my back garden one morning. I suspect that it was near the end of its life, because it wasn’t flying and bees fly when they’re healthy and productive, but not when they’re dying. At some point, I thought that some sugar-water might be in order to nourish and reinvigorate the bee. Per my knowledge of feeding honeybees, I mixed a tiny amount of white sugar with water, (30% sugar to 70% water). I found a sturdy Sycamore leaf which had a slightly convex shape and poured the liquid in. Placed in the path of the bumble bee, it eventually found the leafed treat and enjoyed a snack.

He/she sipped and slurped for several minutes.

It vacated the sugar-water leaf for a time, but returned for more of the sweet stuff.

Eventually, the bumble left for unknown parts–I didn’t see it again. Ants moved in for the remaining sugary drink, and by later in the day the leaf was back to playing the role of a brown and crispy leaf, or, garden detritus–take your pick.

My American sycamore has retained most of its leaves this year and is full-foliage as we enter into fall.

I’m glad there was at least one leaf that could be put to use for the wayward, and perhaps hungry or thirsty, American bumblebee.

A few days late for Tree Following, I’m thanking Pat of The Squirrelbasket for graciously hosting this fun and interesting meme about trees. Check out her blog to learn about trees from all over the world.

Gardens are for Critters

Posted on August 25, 2016 by Tina

On a recent late summer pruning foray into the garden, I was reminded of the importance of looking before cutting. Spring-blooming Gulf Coast Penstemon, Penstemon tenuis, well beyond its flowering and even its seed production time, annoyed me with its messiness. With tidying in mind and Felco pruners in hand, I prepared to snip off the offending bloom stalks, when I saw this stunning creature, a just emerged Black Swallowtail, Papilio polyxenes, drying its wings.

I often–though not always–look before cutting, so that I don’t destroy the home or nursery of some wild thing which has decided to rest or raise a family in the garden. It seems an easy thing to do, this business of wildlife awareness, but pressed for time, or hot and sweaty, the goal of garden clean-up easily becomes an obsessive one. The beauty of the new pollinator,

…transformed from the formerly green, yellow, and black caterpillar which slinks amongst the foliage, to its winged and adult stage ready to take on the flowering world, focused my attention on the why that I garden, not the gardening itself.

A transformational home, newly abandoned,

… and the knowledge that the “messy” plant provided a safe refuge for the morphing, are the only reasons I require to continue gardening for wildlife.