Wildlife Wednesday October 2019

Hummingbirds were the stars of our October garden keeping me busy refilling the feeder.  They also keep us entertained with their fights so they are first up for Wildlife Wednesday.  Hummingbirds are sweet, delicate little birds but there's always one bully that won't let the others feed.

Their fights look almost like dancing.

Best seen on video, these two chased and fought for hours one day.

A hummingbird in the screen room kept trying to get out through the screen and would have none my efforts to gently coax it toward the door.  Then I had the idea to put the feeder on a chair near the door and go inside the house.  That must have done the trick because the bird was gone when I returned about twenty minutes later.

A Stapelia flower briefly brought out the flies.

Gulf Fritillary butterfly on a Pride of Barbados flower. 

Sulphur butterfly on Zexmenia.  Not enough info to decide which one.

An adorably curious Black-crested Titmouse looking at us through the kitchen window while sitting in the fig tree.  Its limited range fortunately includes South Central Texas. 

Deer antlers are rarely symmetrical.  Sometimes each side is fairly close to even.

An then there's this lopsided guy.



Just a few bumps instead of points. 

And a little velvet left to rub off.

Not in my back garden where they are fenced out.  We do get some damage in the front but no practical way to fence that off.

Bucks tend to stay in the brush where their antlers are not as prominent.  How they know this is anyone's guess.

 

 That's the wildlife I captured in my yard for the last few weeks.

Visit "My Gardener Says..." for more wildlife posts hosted by Tina and an amusingly inside look at a Woodpecker family.

Wildlife Wednesday December 2018

It's the first Wednesday of December and time for a late fall look at wildlife in the garden hosted by Tina at "My Gardener Says..."  This is all about caterpillars (mostly).  When we lived in colder climates it was common to hear predictions for the coming winter based on the width of woolly caterpillar stripes.  Woolly Bear caterpillars are typically black front and back with a belted orange stripe around the middle.  As the folklore goes, the wider the orange stripe the milder the winter and conversely, a narrower stripe means a colder winter.  With that in mind, let us consult our fuzzy friends about the coming winter's forecast.

So what does it mean if the caterpillar is all black with no orange stripe?  Hmmmm, not an auspicious start....



This one?  Black with a touch of orange.  Hedging our bets, are we?



And this one?  Equally ambivalent.



Or one that is almost entirely orange?  I like it a lot, but it seems like the caterpillar equivalent of a member of the Optimist's Society.

What if the orange and black stripes run lengthwise instead of around?  More orange than black?

Or more black than orange?



What about this gray one with black stripe?



Maybe they are trying to cover all the weather bases.  This is Texas after all so we can predict deep freezes with ice and possibly snow followed closely by hot weather before another freeze sets in.  Hot days will give way to 40-50 degree drops and blanket us with three days of below freezing weather before going back up just as fast as it dropped.  We will have an early freeze (check that one off already) and probably a late freeze in early April.  There will be whole weeks where we need no heat or air conditioning.  So the caterpillars are all correct!

Fact is none of those shown above are the famous woolly caterpillar which always has an orange belt stripe of varying dimension.  Another interesting fact is most common caterpillar ID sites don't feature fuzzy caterpillars.  The best I could do is figure out all of the above are moth caterpillars and you should not pick them up unless you are sure which one.  While the Woolly Bear is safe, others may carry venom which would be a nasty surprise.  A friend recently felt a sharp sting while gardening and later determined she had been stung by an Asp caterpillar.  Her description of long-lasting nerve pain was similar to a scorpion sting.  Ouch!

A few more sightings from last month are this White-striped longtail moth.  A fairly descriptive name.

Shadows on a Gulf Fritillary

A checkered butterfly enjoying the last wildflowers of the season.

Nice pose but I don't remember.....What are you looking at???



White-tailed bucks are feeling frisky and running all over the neighborhood in such a way that we must be careful when driving or walking.  Most of the year the bucks are cautious animals hiding in the woods until the fall season when their hormones go nuts and they take surprising risks of being seen by hunters or hit by a car.  A deer can cause as much damage as another vehicle or worse.

His attention is directed at this lady who will play hard-to-get until she is ready.  He will circle for as long as it takes.

That's the wildlife wrap for 2018.

Check out Tina's post at "My Gardener Says..." for more wildlife in the garden.

Wildlife Wednesday November 2016: A month of butterflies

Our butterfly season is in full swing.  At the beginning of October I posted a recommended list of native butterfly nectar plants from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center which I also grow in my garden.  As it turns out the butterflies voted with their wings and declared the Crucita or Blue Mistflower (Chromolaena odorata) the undisputed champion of native butterfly plants.  In fact, of all the plants on the vaunted list, only my Gregg's Mistflower attracted a significant number of butterflies.  Meanwhile, our Central Texas gardening community on Facebook has been brimming with stunning butterfly videos that are the envy of our friends in other parts of the country.  Some of you have already seen most of these photos and videos on my Facebook page, but I'm posting again for Wildlife Wednesday to share with readers who might not have seen them.  Wildlife Wednesday is hosted on the first Wednesday of each month by Tina at "My Gardener says...".  Tina features Blue Mistflower and many of the same butterflies this month too but I don't think she'll mind.  We live in the same region, about 70 miles apart so it's to be expected from time to time.

Of course I have them in motion.  A Fall bloomer just in time for butterfly season, it's been hopping like this for 10 days and still going even as the flowers fade.

Like Gregg's Mistflower on steroids, Chromolaena odorata is at least 11' tall, six feet wide and covered head-to-toe with butterflies.

Blue Mistflower is just so amazing as a butterfly nectar plant, especially attractive to Monarchs and Queens.  I counted 10 or more Monarch butterflies at a time on this one plant and I have two in the garden.

Let's take a closer look at some of my other butterfly visitors in October.

Bordered Patch

Common mestra was a new one for me this year.   Usually found farther south along the border, it seems they made their way as far north as Austin according to my blogger friends.



Unmistakable Gulf Fritillary so bright in the sunlight I can see it from the house 40 feet away.

 Locally prolific Queens moved over from Gregg's mistflower for a few days too.

Giant Swallowtail is a favorite of mine.

 

Mating Queen Butterflies on the Blue Mistflower

Meanwhile, Black Swallowtails prefer Gomphrena 'Fireworks'.

Be sure to check out "My Gardener Says..." for more Wildlife Wednesday.

Wildlife Wednesday: July 2016

Wildlife Wednesday celebrates its two-year anniversary today.  Two years of taking time on the first Wednesday of each month to post about wildlife in my garden and linking up with our hostess Tina at "My Gardener says...." for a look at wildlife in blogger gardens far and wide.  I appreciate the nudge this meme gives me to keep a camera handy and an eye out for wildlife while in the garden.

Almost every month I come up with a .GIF or "Awesome Motion" in Google terms.  For July it's an Anole up in a live oak showing off his dewlap to assert his territory and attract a mate.

Wildlife Wednesday February 2016

It's Wildlife Wednesday hosted by Tina at "My Gardener Says..." on the first Wednesday of each month providing an opportunity to share wildlife from our gardens.  With our mild winter this year  we've had visitors like this Gulf Fritillary butterfly posing on faded Gomphrena 'Fireworks' for a striking color combination.

Otherwise, it's been another slow month for wildlife.  I actually spent some time trying to photo a Skink which is the very definition of an exercise in futility.  Aggie Horticulture has some photos on their website if you're interested.  Skinks are beneficial in the garden since their favorite food source is grasshoppers.  It seems we have several but they are so fast I might be seeing the same one in different places!

Just like last month I've returned to the archives for more bird antics.



There's a backstory on how it went down that day.   Lesser Goldfinches, two look like young chicks, having a bath in the saucer when a Black Crested Titmouse shows up to the party.  Stern looks are exchanged.

Things get a bit crowded.  Surprised looks follow.



Some objections are raised.  Feathers fly.  But not the Titmouse.

Black Crested Titmouse exits the pool, shaking butt as it leaves.



"Hey, wait a minute!"

Now we have a staring contest underway.  You lookin' at me?

Some trash talkin'

"We'll just finish up here"

Maybe there's enough room after all

Almost done here.  What we we arguing about?

Okay, I'm out...

I spent a nice day earlier this week cutting back Inland Sea Oats which were looking a bit tatty and never seem to mind a late freeze.  A doe showed up looking for an free lunch in the compost pile.  Since deer don't typically go for grasses, I cut a few Ruellia stalks and added them to the pile for which she rewarded me with a smile.  It's tough for deer out there right now with so many winter dormant plants.

That's the roundup of wildlife in my garden for this month.  Tina has a post on the value of native bees in the garden.  You'll want to check out how to attract native bees to your garden.  I definitely will give her bee townhouse a try.