What interesting creatures live in your garden?

[sumi]

My son found this little bird in the garden yesterday. It was so funny, he walks in and asks us how long can a baby bird survive without food? So I said probably no more than a day, why? He replied and said he found this little bird. So I asked him where is it? He says, Oh, in my pocket! And pulls out this little thing:

Well, the little cutie got tucked into a warm spot, where it slept most of the day and evening. I put it in the incubator last night, to keep it warm (I have nothing else, except the oven LOL) and I wasn't hopefully when I got up this morning, but found it happy-happy jumping around and holding it's beak open for food. I sent my son on an earthworm hunt and fed it a few pieces. We suspect it's a finch, but we'll have to wait and see if it grows up to tell for sure. I really hope it makes it.

 

[digitS']

I had a monarch butterfly in the garden yesterday afternoon.

This is really not a normal part of their range. Some tall marigolds had some attraction to her. There were other butterflies out there, some kind of sulphur butterfly flitted by on the still, warm air.

I hope these critters move on! They will very soon have more to avoid than a gardener and his camera.

Steve

 

[flowerweaver]

This guy blew in with the tornado in June and has taken up residence in the historic ruin next to our prairie. So far he's greeted me in four of my gardens and my front porch! He's hanging with the neighbor's chickens for food. Can't wait until his tail feathers grow. Maybe if I got some peahens he'd come live with me

 

[Ridgerunner]

I've been seeing a lot of praying mantis (walking stick) lately, out in the open not just in the garden. I guess they are looking for a place to lay their eggs. That's how they overwinter, by laying eggs that hatch in the spring.

 

[sumi]

@flowerweaver Welcome to the forum! Wonderful ruin and wonderful garden visitor

 

[TheSeedObsesser]

Haven't seen most of the usual butterfly diversity this year - just those Cabbage Whites (the only butterfly that I can dislike) and the Eastern Swallowtails that like to drink from the duck poop/mud mixture from the poultry yard. Usually have all kinds of fritillaries, skippers, etc in the marsh. Still want to plant some Pawpaws to see if I can attract some Zebra Swallowtails.

Ridgerunner - we used to have hundreds of praying-mantis until about five years ago, and these were the big ones - both brown and green and nearly a foot tall. Only seen a single one since (baby, maybe three inches tall), we blame it on -cides and habitat destruction (mostly -cides). I have no idea were they could possibly be if they were still around.

 

[sumi]

Update on previous post: the bottomless insect inhaler named Big Bird is doing great. Flapping around and chirping when it's hungry and after meals when it is happy and sleepy. Those little "I'm happy" chirps are hands down the cutest thing I ever heard. I know chicks do it, but I had no idea wild bird babies do it too. It's adorable! I'll update with more pics soon.

 

[Smart Red]

Update on previous post: the bottomless insect inhaler named Big Bird is doing great. Flapping around and chirping when it's hungry and after meals when it is happy and sleepy. Those little "I'm happy" chirps are hands down the cutest thing I ever heard. I know chicks do it, but I had no idea wild bird babies do it too. It's adorable! I'll update with more pics soon.

That is such good news, @sumi! Now be sure to keep us in on the action when you teach BIG BIRD to fly. Lots of pictures, please.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Not to cast a pall on the issue, but do you have plans laid out for what to do with Big Bird down the road? Releasing him back into the wild is of course ideal, but may or may not be feasible, depending on the kind of bird he or she is (i.e. whether it is a kind with whom most of the survival skills are instinctual or a kind where they have to be taught by mommy bird and/or daddy bird) So assuming he does grow up (and I have no reason to assume he won't) he may be a very healthy fit bird but not one that can go back into the wild. And since at some point you are going to move back to Ireland, it's not like you can guarantee that you will be there to take care of him or her for the rest of his or her life. There is probably some sort of wildlife center around you that will take him or her, but if Big Bird is something really common (which he or she probably is) they may not have or be willing to provide the necessary resources (sort of like what would happen if you walked into a modern wildlife center here in the US with a human imprinted starling.) What I am sort of getting at is, you might want to consider at some point 1. sending a photo of Big Bird to whatever is the regional equivalent of the wildlife center to figure out exactly what species he or she is (and hence if you are going to have a problem) and 2. If you do have one, looking around for a few trusted neighbors who would be willing to take over once the time comes for you to move.

 

[Smart Red]

@Pulsegleaner, that yellow beak screams "STARLING" to me as well. I like them enough. . . in other peoples' yards. DH has been known to shoot BBs at them to get their huge flocks to move on in the spring. They like our arborvitae for shelter, but ravage the birds at our feeder.