Wildlife Wednesday March 2016

Wildlife Wednesday, sponsored by Tina at "My Gardener Says..." presents an opportunity for bloggers to gather up wildlife photos from the past month and share them all in one post.  For the first Wednesday of March my photos show that pollinators have been quite active in the garden the last few weeks.

With rosemary providing most of the blooms in the garden last month, it turned into quite the hot spot for pollinators.

Green Metallic Bee (Agapostemon), a type of sweat bee, shines bright on Rosemary Goriza flowers.

A beautiful wasp (ceratogastra ornata, I think) common to southwestern U.S.

Bee and Wasp together

Spotted Ladybeetle, didn't get close enough to count spots.

Honeybee working the Rosemary.

Buckeye butterfly enjoying damp gravel and a bit of camouflage in a low spot on the path after a rain.

Red Admiral Butterfly on the always popular Gomphrena 'Fireworks'.

Pipevine Swallowtail on Salvia 'Hot Lips'.

Monarch Butterflies have been with us all winter, this one was at the gardens where I volunteer each week.  They seem quite happy with our mild winter this year and, barring a late freeze, we should see quite a few as they make their way north this spring.

For every plant there is a pollinator.  Tiny fly on a just right tiny anemone.

Birds have made themselves scarce since a cat took up residence in the back yard so I keep an eye out when on the road.  I spotted a Roadrunner near Fredericksburg, Texas.  Interestingly, roadrunners are members of the cuckoo family.  Roadrunners are classified as Greater or Lesser depending on size.  Probably a Greater Roadrunner since the beak is so prominent.  One of the few animals that will prey on rattlesnakes, they are welcome in the garden.  Just like in the cartoons, their legs do appear to go around like wheels when they run fast!

That's the wildlife roundup from my garden, please join Tina at "My Gardener Says..." for more fascinating wildlife in gardens from faraway places.

Wildlife Wednesday June 2015

Our record-setting spring rains have brought out the wildlife in numbers I haven't experienced in the seven years since I began gardening on our piece of the suburbs.  Presenting just a few of the wildlife visitors over the last few weeks for Wildlife Wednesday hosted by Tina at "My Gardener Says..."

Every visit to the garden these days brings on a rustle of scurrying, slithering, and flitting.  We've been seeing more snakes than usual with the Checkered Garter Snake most often spotted.

Wildlife Wednesday May 2015

Wildlife Wednesday is hosted the first Wednesday of each month by Tina at "My gardener says...." as an opportunity for bloggers to share wildlife sightings in the garden.

April brings sightings of beetles, flies, bees, and butterflies

A number of these shiny beetles with light markings were active in the garden during April.  They particularly liked the Clammy Weed.  Attempts to identify were inconclusive.

Solitary Bees have been working the garden all spring.  When I am in the garden they buzz over to check me out and then go on about their business.  There are several different types:  Carpenter, Mason, Digger, Plasterer and even Sweat Bees.  Which one this is I cannot tell for sure.

Irredescent pollinator on Pomegranate blossom, very pretty but struck out when trying to identify.  Is it a fly or a bee?

A black-chinned "bully" hummingbird, has taken up residence on a bare live oak twig.

He doesn't care about nectaring the flowers because his goal is to keep the others away.  He has even gone after butterflies.

Butterflies, now this is easier.  Red Admiral on Mexican Flame Vine.

Queen Butterfly on Verbena Bonariensis.



Those are a few of the visitors in my garden over the last month.  For more on wildlife in the garden check out the comments at Tina's blog.

Blooming Memories

Sometimes an otherwise ordinary plant is valued for a special reason not even related to the plant itself.  For me, it is my Pittosporum (Pittosporum tobira) which evokes memories of another place and time.  It isn't among my favorites in the landscape -- until it blooms, as it is doing now.