Wildlife Wednesday August 2019

Nature's camouflage is fascinating and August's Wildlife Wednesday is a good time to share a few examples I've observed recently in my garden.  Wildlife Wednesday is hosted by Tina at My gardener says..." on the first Wednesday of each month.

Close observation presents many surprising opportunities to enjoy tiny wildlife.  First up is a busy bee coated with pollen cleverly disguised in yellow blooms of Twisted rib cactus.

This brown moth on a Skeleton Leaf Golden Eye seed head blends right in.

On closer look it's mostly the movement which gives it away.



Red male cardinals have a bit of a challenge trying to hide but Mrs. C is harder to spot in the fig tree.

She's out in the open now fussing at me.

Not camouflage but a strange looking bird requiring a closer look.  This one took a minute to ID but then I remembered Tina's post from a while back showing a molting Cardinal.  That's what I think is happening here.



Birds breathe through their mouth and it's more obvious when it's hot out.  Between the heat and molting this poor guy has got to be very uncomfortable.

A common garden spider (Argiope aurantia) was reeling in her prey just as I walked by and before I could focus my camera.  Her web was so close to the ground I almost missed it.

I sat down beside her and neither of us were frightened away.   She carefully rolled up her bundle which was the size of a small bee while I watched.

Nearby in the garden bees are busy.

I think both of these are solitary bees.

 
An almost transparent cicada I nearly missed has freshly emerged from an outgrown, discarded shell to the right.

A slightly older cicada on Pomegranate 'Wonderful' branch.  It was the bird's nest wrapped in a recycled plastic bag which first caught my eye.  We live near a busy road and commercial center so there's usually a supply of plastic bags around which we try to keep picked up.  I've walked by this tree a number of times without seeing the nest tucked in there.  Observing the nest let me see the cicada as well.

Cicadas usually stick around for about four weeks after emerging from the ground.  They are noisy!  Those transparent wings are cool.

Tiny anole keeping to the shade on cool stone near the hose bib.  It was smooth-skinned and I also saw a green one so these are not likely invasive brown anoles.

It's too hot for a GIF this month.  I stationed myself in the shade for a while but GIFs take time to set up.  So we'll move on to the deer report.  It's time to protect plants from antlering.  All this velvet will soon be rubbed off on whatever is handy including young trees, agaves and many other unsuspecting plants you might have in the garden.

After the velvet is gone, he will stick to the woods where his antlers will be disguised as twigs.  Right now he's here for the water we leave outside the gate during hot dry weather so he's not as shy.

The same for these ladies which prefer to rest in dappled shade.  Scratches on her hide are hoof marks from mating.

That's the wildlife report from my garden the past month.  You'll find more wildlife posts in the comments at Tina's blog.  Try a wildlife post of your own if you're a blogger.  It's fun and I'm often surprised by how many wildlife photos I've collected when I sit down to create my post.

Wildlife Wednesday April 2018

It's the first Wednesday of April and that means Wildlife Wednesday hosted by Tina at "My Gardener Says....".  Wow, do I have some cool stuff from the past month of March!  Even though we've continued our cool, cloudy weather longer than usual things are picking up.

I looked out the window one morning last week and spotted this Gray Fox climbing our tree next to the deck.  I had heard they climbed trees but imagined them walking on horizontal low branches common to our native live oaks.  Not so.  This Fox flattened against the tree and then climbed straight up the trunk like a squirrel or cat.  Unfortunately I wasn't fast enough to get photos of the climbing action.  This is 20ft (6m) up!

Searching for bird eggs or squirrels.

Jumping down to the lower branch.  So much fun to watch!

Gray Foxes are native to North and Central America and the only canid whose range spans both.  They have hooked claws which allows them to climb trees.  Getting down is a little more challenging.

All of the above photos were taken through the window.  Now back down on the ground, it joined its mate.  Wouldn't it be fun to find their den and see the kits?

The woodpile is always popular with so many places for tasty meals to hide.

Just before turning to walk away one flashed us a grin.  Seems they enjoyed their visit as much as we did.

Hummingbirds are also back and I'm keeping the feeder filled since most of their favorite flowers are yet to bloom.  I staked out the feeder on a windy afternoon and caught this GIF.  It's easy to know when to start the camera since they literally hum their approach.  Sometimes they first appear sitting above to make sure all is clear.  Catching them on a real flower is much more challenging.  Didn't see any red so this must be a Black-Chinned hummingbird.

Green Anoles have returned to the garden as the weather warms up.  Anoles have the endearing habit of claiming a specific plant as their territory and climbing to the top to await moths and other insects.  I heard one snap at a moth one day and it was quite audible.  It's unclear how this muhly grass is working out since it's not as sturdy as their usual agave perches.  Perhaps the agaves were all taken.  Depending on their perch anoles turn a color range from bright green to brown.  The change occurs quickly and is fun to watch.  This one is just a few shades short of bright green.

Meet "Mr. Buttons" who has been hanging out by the brush pile waiting for cuttings of Ruellia and other tasty plants.  Deer shed antlers in winter after mating season and before fawns arrive.  Buttons show new antlers are emerging.  They're also kicked out of the herd about the same time so he's on his own waiting for food delivery.  I rattle the gate when tossing deer edibles and he will walk over to inspect.

Yummy!

That's the wildlife report for the past month.  You can find more wildlife posts in the comments section at "My Gardener Says...".

Wildlife Wednesday July 2017

It's Wildlife Wednesday and that means rounding up wildlife photos from June to share on the meme hosted by Tina at "My Gardener Says...." on the first Wednesday of each month.  Let's look at the wildlife visitors I spotted recently in the garden.

This pretty creature is a Peucetia viridans or green lynx spider.  Green lynx spider is found throughout the southern U.S. and is a chief predator of southern pests such as the cotton bollworm, corn earworm, and cabbage looper moth.   It doesn't spin webs, but rather trails a line along behind like a trip wire, waits for prey to show up and pounces.  "Have a nice trip?  Ha Ha."  You can see a bit of what looks like a line between the glochids.

It's not all good with the green lynx spider since they are also a major predator of bees which might explain its presence on a cactus just to the left of Woolly Ironweed (Vernonia lindheimeri) where a Solitary Bee is working.  These Solitary Bees are actually very friendly and often come up to us just to take a look.

A green Carolina Anole (Anolis carolinensis) keeps an eye on the proceedings from a Yucca Rigida while waiting for insects to fly close enough.  Anoles claim plants, particularly tall ones and simply hang out there.  I heard one snap at a moth a while back and it's quite audible if you're in the right spot.

Turkey Vultures have been visiting us on a near daily basis for years.  Usually it's a thudding noise on our metal roof that alerts me to their presence.  They typically perch high up by the chimney, all the better for their view of the creek, but not easy to get a photo.  During June they moved closer to the water trough we keep out for wildlife and I created these GIFs.  Something may have died back there, a fairly common occurrence which is why they perch on the roof in the first place.

Our golf course correspondent turned in this view of an Egret and Cormorants fishing at a pond.

I typically conclude these posts with deer photos.  Today I'm posting deer damage instead.   Deer are creatures of habit and once they gain a taste for a certain plant they won't leave it alone.  Every new leaf is stripped nightly.  When we discovered this type of damage to a schefflera that had been near the front door for years without a problem, we protected it with wire grates assuming the baffled deer would move on.

Yesterday I discovered the deer apparently decided to destroy nearby variegated liriope plants instead.  Chewed down whole rows of them.



Deer typically nibble liriope randomly but not enough for me to worry about it.  This time whole plants were uprooted and dropped.



Fortunately, liriope is resilient which why it's planted here.  I've mentioned that we fenced deer out of the back garden a few years ago and these examples in the unfenced front yard show why.  Imagine going out and checking each morning to see what the deer got into overnight.

For more posts on wildlife in the garden, see the comments section at "My Gardener Says...".