Dog Days: Wildlife Wednesday, August 2016

Posted on August 2, 2016 by Tina

Welcome to Wildlife Wednesday for August–and a toasty one it is. July definitely felt like the dog days of summer had arrived: it was hot and dry, with the relentless, searing Texas sun beating down mercilessly. Weirdly, that didn’t keep me out of the garden–I’ve been tweaking and transplanting in the garden all summer. Truthfully, it’s not as hot as recent summers, though it’s been humid owing to the generous spring–and some late July– rain.

Because of the pond and bird bath water available, wildlife in my garden has been active and varied, though only (it seems) when I don’t have my camera at the ready. Regardless, I’ve enjoyed observing Dad Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, feeding his fledged chicks, but never nabbed a shot of the charming familial activities. The Little Boy Cardinal, all scraggly and awkward, is cute:

But I don’t have any photos of Little Girl Cardinal, though often see both siblings pecking seeds alongside one another on the ground.

I see the odd Carolina Chickadee, Poecile carolinensis, snitching seeds from the feeder, but more often, I hear one announcing his territory. It’s always fun to observe and hear them–big songs out of tiny birds.

The Chickadees’ pals, Black-crested Titmice, Baeolophus atricristatus, dash in for their share of seeds, taking turns with the Chickadees as they feed while dodging the gluttonous White-winged doves.

The bird baths and pond have hosted a steady stream of visitors sipping and cooling off, like this joyful bathing Blue Jay, Cyanotta cristata .

Announcing her intention of bathing, she’s making it clear that there will be no sharing of the bath.

Pretty at this angle…

Pretty at this angle.

I don’t think there’s a bird species anywhere that relishes a splash-in-the-bath more than these beautiful guys-n-gals.

Earlier in the month, I fretted about the lack of Lesser Goldfinches, Spinus psaltria, nibbling at the sunflower seeds. I’m fairly sure I rankle a neighbor (or two…) when I don’t immediately prune done-with-flowering plants according to human sensibilities of beauty. But I’m glad I don’t prune because this past week, a little crew of Lessers arrived to partake of the sunflower seed buffet!

Chatty and determined to eat their fill, I love watching them bop around the plants as they munch away. Lesser Goldfinches, as well as other bird species, enjoy seeds from a variety of perennials in my gardens. In the fall, I’ll see another round of these cuties dining on the Plains Goldeneye seeds–it’s something to look forward to. Enjoy your beautiful blooms, but once the blooming is done, leave the spent blooms to develop nutritious seeds for birds: they’ll visit your garden and you’ll enjoy the show. After all, that’s what seeds are for–to feed wildlife. Plants may look messy for a short time, but the pleasure of watching a variety of birds feed is well worth the short-lived untidiness of the plants, plus you’ll be adding to the health of your endemic wild critters.

Honeybees have had plenty to nectar on and pollen-gather from this summer.

Native bees are busy at their work. This tiny bee (Perdita ignota?) and her friends have been all over the also tiny florets of an oregano,

…while these two mating Horsefly-like carpenter bees, Xylocopa tabaniformis,

Ole Blue Eyes is very determined.

…bring a new meaning to the term multi-tasking, as they flew “entangled” while nectaring on Mexican Honeysuckle blooms.

No bee here, but instead, evidence of a busy mama leafcutter bee sawing off bits of leaves to pack into her nest for her little bee-ones.

I wish I could have watched her work.

Moths and butterflies are occupied, too. Pretty-in-pink is this Southern Pink Moth, Pyrausta inornatalis, resting on a Henry Duelberg Sage.

I was lucky late one afternoon to spy a Common Buckeye, Junonia coenia.

Buckeyes are common–except in my garden, though I grow several species of Ruellia plants which is one of this species host plants. I guess I need to keep a keen eye out for eggs and/or caterpillars on the Ruellia. Stunning in color and patterns, the males will perch on plants scanning for females–maybe this one was looking for a mate?

At any rate, he posed nicely and I hope he met a nice girl.

It isn’t July–or summer, for that matter–without the dragonflies. This jewel-like Blue Dasher, Pachydiplax longipennis, demonstrated patience with my photo taking .

I saw him land, went inside the house to get my camera and promptly was distracted by something shiny. Later (at least 10 minutes later), I remembered why I came into the house (please tell me that happens to you!). I grabbed the camera, headed back out and Mr. Gorgeous was graciously waiting for me. I guess he REALLY wanted to appear in this month’s Wildlife Wednesday.

There are plenty of other dragons and damsels in the garden, mostly because there are several ponds in the neighborhood. They’re excellent predators for mosquitoes and who can complain about that? Go get’em, dragons-n-damsels!

Speaking of predators, the assassins are active, as well as being some of the coolest looking bugs around. The Wheel Bug, Arius cristatus, is looks like he just exited from a space ship.

Both males and females have the toothy-wheel protuberance on their thorax, though the exact purpose of this crest is not known. Probably it’s to freak out everyone.

Actually, these beneficial insects are quite shy and don’t seek conflict. Of course, that’s true of most insects–and other wildlife. Wheel Bugs and their kin feed on aphids, caterpillars and other assorted insects and thwart predators with their stinky essence.

A related assassin bug is this Zelus luridus.

I observed him (her?) lurking about on the developing seed heads of a fennel plant.

Another was perched on top of the plant,

…but later in the day, during mid-afternoon when it was very hot, this smart one decided to use the seed umbel as an umbrella and crawled underneath for some shade.

In vertical stance along the stem, the bug is shaded.

I’m fairly sure that I spied this one was holding an iddy-biddy umbrella drink in its claws.

A good idea, if you ask me.

A day or two before, I’d seen another assassin (or maybe the same?) with a hapless and stunned little native bee in its grips. As I leaned in for a closer look, the predator winged to the ground, with prey “in hand.” Assassins prey on all soft-bodied insects, including some of the good ones.

Late July saw the dog days disrupted briefly with a gift of gorgeous, soaking rain. Woo-hoo!! The reprieve from summer’s heat didn’t last for long though and August is always tough here in Texas. Alas, autumn is just around the corner.

Until next month…

Did wildlife visit your garden this past month? Please post for August 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.

Happy wildlife gardening!

July’s Parade: Wildlife Wednesday, July 2016

Posted on July 5, 2016 by Tina

Welcome to the July 2016 edition of Wildlife Wednesday. The United States marked its 240th birthday on Monday and today we mark the 2nd birthday of this wildlife gardening meme! I appreciate and thank all who’ve participated in Wildlife Wednesday. Each first Wednesday, I’m impressed and inspired by the fabulous photos and compelling anecdotes that avid wildlife gardeners share when they post for the meme. And for those who’ve tuned in each month to read–a big kiss on the cheek for your interest in and love for wildlife.

Kudos to you all!

Wildlife gardening is an activity that everyone can take part in. Especially in urban areas, planting for birds, pollinators, and other wild animals helps balance ongoing damage to natural zones and allows our world to heal–if just a little bit–by providing for those who can’t speak for themselves and with whom we share our world.

As July sees celebratory parades with accompanying banners and fireworks, I thought I’d host my own parade of critters that I’ve profiled during this past month. So, strike up the band and wave your gardening flags, here are July’s wild things!

The garden has been full of Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) flitting and feeding this past month.

Gulf Fritillary nectaring on a Turk’s cap bloom (Malvaviscus arboreus). Look at that long proboscis.

I enjoyed this guy’s visit earlier in the month: Green Heron, Butorides virescens.

Standing stalwart, ready to pounce in the bog.

Impressionist coloration.

“I spy with my yellow eye…a gambusia!”

Beautiful metallic native bee enjoying the bounty of a passalong daylily.

Female leafcutter bee, also a native, gathering pollen for her offspring from a Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea).

Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) showing off pretty wings.

Soldier beetle (Cantharidae family), one of many pollinators who live and thrive in my garden.

As June progressed and summer has settled in for the duration, damsels and dragons zoom around in the garden, landing here and there on pond and plants, adding their special charm to summer’s wild festivities.

This dreamy (ahem, unclear) shot is, I believe, an Eastern Ringtail, Erpetogomphus designatus.

Supposedly common in the Austin area, I’m not sure I’ve enjoyed the privilege of meeting this kind of dragonfly before. According to several sources, the males have a slightly larger “club” at the end of the abdomen, also orange-colored, but this one has neither quality. My guess is that she’s a she.

Giving firework colors a run for their money, Neon Skimmers, Libellula croceipennis, grace my garden regularly from June to November and are always welcome.

During National Pollinator Week, I profiled the Black Swallowtail, Papilio polyxenes, butterflies who make their nurseries in my garden, but who travel as adults throughout the neighborhood to nectar and mate. In my garden, there are several currently in metamorph stage, attached to stems and hidden from predators. I photographed this winged jewel on the morning of emergence.

A newly emerged adult, drying its wings near its former home.

A newly vacated chrysalis.

Butterfly and moth chrysalises are so well camouflaged that it’s a gift to find them–lucky me this time!!

Butterflies are easy to appreciate because of their beauty and daytime winging and nectaring habits. But moths, common at dark and more subtly pattered and colored, also contribute to pollination and play an equally important role in a balanced ecosystem. Like many, my knowledge of moths is woefully inadequate. I can tell you that this is a moth, but haven’t found the exact identification.

It reminds me though of a rock climber, sans ropes, hanging on to the rock, before advancing upwards.

Spiders are back! I enjoy watching the Black-and-yellow Argiope spiders that are common in Austin gardens, including my own. I was frustrated that I couldn’t get a clear shot of the top, more decorative part of the spider, and then realized that I was quite fortunate to have a clear view of the usually hidden underside of this female argiope.

It looks like she’s snagged one of my darling honeybees for a meal. Well, I’m not so crazy about that part of a garden spider, but tolerance of hunting and acceptance of the fate of prey is part of wildlife gardening. Everyone must eat, which usually means that something was alive and no longer is.

I usually observe and photograph the green form of the Green anole lizard, Anolis carolinensis, like so:

But these cheeky ones also blush brown when necessary, as camouflage from predators.

This anole blends in well with the wooden fence.

This anole hides with the backdrop of a limestone wall.

And gardeners!

And finally, there was this dude:

You want a piece of me?!

YOU WANT A PIECE OF ME?!

This Leaf-footed bug, Acanthocephala terminalis, practically dared me to catch a photo as it traveled the length of a Soft-leaf yucca leaf, toward this camera-wielding gardener.

I’m walkin’ here!

It looks like he’s dancing a jig as he made it to the end of the leaf.

But in the end, I’m bigger, more technologically advanced (sort of…), and higher up on the food chain, so yeah, I was able to catch him/her in a plucky stance.

This bug sports decorative feet and antennae.

There are a wide variety of Coreidae, or Leaf-footed bugs, in this area and I enjoy seeing them in my garden. They do feed on plants, but I’ve never seen serious foliage damage from them, or at least, none that I’m aware of. I’m sure there are some leaves, less than pristine, which owe their damage to the bugs’ meal preferences, but it’s nothing that I lose sleep over. Keeping abreast of who inhabits and visits your garden will ensure that no serious “pest” damage occurs. Usually, a spritz of water, once or twice, is all that is needed to discourage less-than-welcome marauding insects. Pesticides, even “organic” pesticides are highly damaging to many garden creatures, and not only the ones targeted. A garden is alive and fulfilling its purpose when it nurtures a wide diversity of critters–insects, spiders, birds, mammals, and reptiles, and chemicals are anathema to a healthy, diverse wildlife community.

Did wildlife visit your garden this past month? Please post for July 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.

Wildlife Wednesday, April 2016: Spring Things

Posted on April 6, 2016 by Tina

My garden and its inhabitants are in full swing, reveling in abundant sunshine, pleasant temperatures, and rain at the right times. I hope your garden is thriving with similar conditions, fully awake and alive not only with flowers and foliage, but the things that the flowers and foliage are intended for: birds, pollinators, amphibians and all other wildlife that requires what nature provides.

Because I think they’re mostly gone now, I’m starting the wildlife musings with some of the birds who visited my gardens and are now probably on their way northwards for the summer breeding season. I still hear Cedar Waxwings, Bombycilla cedrorum, from time-to-time and a flock swooped over me one evening last week, but I haven’t seen any in my trees for a couple of weeks. Cedar Waxwings usually perch high atop my trees, but the last time any dropped by the garden, each bird was within easy eye and camera shot.

This guy looks like he wants to make sure I get a really good look at him before he heads north.

Such a gorgeously color-coordinated bird.

With the splash of yellow on the tummy, echoed by the yellow strip at the tail’s end, plus the jaunty mask across the eyes, he’s lovely as he watches me, watching him.

And, another view of this pretty bird.

These two,

…pose agreeably, keeping one another company as I ooh and aah at their handsomeness one last time this season. I admit that I’m a little jealous of northern wildlife gardeners who enjoy these birds year-round in some places and for the whole of summer, further north.

American Goldfinches, Spinus tristus, were late arrivals to my garden this year. They were daily callers throughout February and March and their presence was a cheery gift. Their song is sweet and like Cedar Waxwings, they’re humorously chatty, congenial birds. They love to hang out at the pool, either alone,

Is the rock a bird-version of a diving board?

…or with friends,

American Goldfinches are pleased to share their bath with others, not of their ilk–like the rather confused looking House Finch, Haemorhous mexicanus.

The show with this group begins with the one on the left, with landing gear at the ready,

Feet flat…

Wings up for the landing…

Good stop!

Oops! The rock is slippery.

Ready for a nice, long cool one.

The Goldfinch on the far right, beside the rock, is attempting to take a sip, though not quite sure if he can maintain his balance. Whoopsie! Good thing those wings provide some leverage. Like the Cedar Waxwings, American Goldfinch breed much further north than Texas (into Canada). I haven’t seen the Goldfinch gang in about a week–I assume “my” group is on their way. I’ll miss them.

A Northern Mockingbird, Mimus polyglottos, serenaded me one morning.

He let me sidle up close before he flew to the neighbor’s house. Mockingbirds are the official state bird of Texas and frequently provide melodic company when I’m working in the garden.

I hadn’t seen a Yellow-rumped Warbler, Setophaga coronata, in a week or so, when I spotted this one bathing in the bog of my pond.

A bathing bird always makes me smile. Butter-butts, as Yellow-rumps are affectionately known by birders, breed in the the Pacific Northwest and in Canada during summer. Since spotting this one I’m observing 3 or 4 early most mornings, but I’m sure they’ll be heading out for migration soon enough.

Quite a few butterflies have flitted through the garden, but I never have my camera ready when they land–which they don’t do all that often. This American Lady, Vanessa virginiensis enjoyed the bounty of several individual Purple Coneflower, Echinacea purpurea. Plants in the aster family are listed as both larval and nectar sources for this species.

Other butterflies I’ve enjoyed seeing include several Queens, Danaus gilippus, and a couple of Monarchs, Danaus plexippus. The adult butterflies were too fast for me to photograph, but thankfully, caterpillars are slow. I witnessed a Monarch laying an egg and must assume this guy is the result.

I haven’t found the chrysalis, but hope it’s attached to a safe spot for its metamorphosis. I assume the parent left Mexico before the snow and ice storm hit. It’s still unclear how many Monarchs died in the storm, but suffice to say it was too many.

Poor Monarchs, they can’t seem to catch a damn break. Monarch lovers throughout the Americas cheered a few weeks ago with the news that Monarch numbers were up in the winter roosting areas and then the ice storm blasted them as they left the roosts and began migration. I sincerely hope the survivors and their descendants find plenty of milkweed and nectar plants here in Texas and northward, and that the journey to Canada and back again next autumn will be free from harm.

Fingers crossed.

The Queen larva is in ‘J’ ,

…and next month, I’ll have a photo of its gorgeous chrysalis. With good timing and luck, I’ll witness the emergence of the adult.

I wrote about some of the native bees in my garden recently, but more photos of those lovely pollinators are always in order. I’m fairly certain that the identification of his little bee is Perdita ignota—a type of Minor bee.

And this one,

The photo shows two native bees. Can you spot the other, in blurry flight?

…is a maybe(?) a Halictus tripartitus, a type of Sweat bee.

I’ve snagged some reasonable photos of the tiny and stunning metallic blue/green bees, which are probably some sort of Sweat bee. As there are apparently a couple of species of metallic Sweat bees residing in Central Texas, I won’t guess which these might be. I’ll just enjoy their beauty and appreciate their work.

Native metallic bee AND honeybee working the blooms of a Coral Honeysuckle vine.

Native bee flying in for the nectar.

Native bee resting on the stamens of a Coral Honeysuckle bloom.

The site that I utilize when researching native bees in my garden is the The Jha Lab, which is the research website for The University of Texas Austin’s Section of Integrative Biology. The photos on the site are taken from various area wildlife preserves. What trips me up in wild bee identification is that professional photos are phenomenal–incredible close-ups of teeny, tiny bees in gorgeous detail. My photos are okay, but not of scientific quality. My photos don’t have the detail required for definitive identification, so my id’s are approximate.

These bees I can definitely identify! They’re MY honeybees. Aren’t they cute?

Honeybee on Purple coneflower.

Honeybee working sage bloom.

These belong to our remaining honeybee hive, Scar. They are the gentlest bees we’ve had the privilege of “keeping.” Scar, by the way, is doing just fine–full of busy, working bees and a queen who is laying eggs out the wazoo. I don’t think wazoo is the technical term.

My all-time favorite native bee species is the Horsefly-like Carpenter bee, Xylocopa tabaniformis. With lovely blue peepers and snazzy abdominal racing stripes, these gals are all over my gardens, buzzing from bloom to bloom.

Carpenter bee on Coral Honeysuckle bloom.

Carpenter bee “stealing” nectar from Yellow columbine.

Go girls!

This Paper wasp, Polistes exclamans, is the first of its kind that I’ve seen this year and was resting for a moment on daylily foliage–just long enough for a photo.

Clad in autumn-like colors, paper wasps are beautiful insects.

I like these insects, though many people do not. Wasps of most sorts are good pollinators and I’ve never experienced any aggression from this species or others. Wasps are aggressive if nests are disturbed–and who among us isn’t aggressive (or at least annoyed) when someone is disturbing our homes?

And Wildlife Wednesday wouldn’t be the same without a Green Anole lizard, Anolis carolinensis, saying a cheery Hi!.

His look suggests that perhaps it’s more of a wary Go away! .

Did wildlife visit your garden this past month? Please post for April 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.