I've tried to get photos of the critters in my garden several times recently and mostly failed. It's usually sheer luck on my part when I manage to get a shot under the best of circumstances, and luckier still when that photo is in focus. Nonetheless, I thought I'd share a few.
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It seems the resident Anna's hummingbirds are currently at war with the visiting rufous hummingbirds. They never stop moving so capturing either is virtually impossible. Out of about 20 shots, this was the only one close to in focus.
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The mockingbirds appear to have nested in the area as they've been ever-present for months now. This guy was sitting atop a favorite perch in one of the peppermint willow trees, talking to peers I couldn't get a fix on.
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It seems the blueberries in these pots on our back patio were a major draw for at least one mockingbird. This photo was taken in early May when the bushes still had berries. I'd estimate he ate about 95% of them.
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The western fence lizards are ever-present, except when I'm looking to photograph one. I watch my feet when walking through the back garden to avoid stepping on one. My cat, Pipig, has brought a few into the house when they dare to enter her screened catio. I'm getting better at catching and releasing the captives outside (albeit often without their tails).
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I caught a photo of this fellow last month as I was preparing to open the gate. It's not a great photo but it shows the lizard's bright blue throat.
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This was a more unusual sighting. I was just in time to photograph the back of the snake before it disappeared. I'm assuming it's a harmless garter snake...
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This is another unusual sighting, caught from inside in the late afternoon on Monday. Skunks are frequent visitors at night but I haven't seen one out in broad daylight in years. I wasn't going to chase it down for a better photo so this partial view is all I have to share.
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We're not as hot as other parts of the country or parts of Europe for that matter but it's getting more uncomfortable to be outdoors anytime between 10am and 5pm, leaving little time time or interest in picture-taking, much less work in the garden. I've got friends scheduled for lunch on our back patio tomorrow and I'm hoping the temperature will be more comfortable - and that neither snakes nor skunks will be anywhere nearby.
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material © 2012-2022
by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
Slightly different than the original quote from Field of Dream 'If you plant it they will come". Fun to see who visits your well planted garden though some critters are more welcome than others. We put up deer fencing to keep them and moose out but now we have porcupines (they climb) that love to come in and wreck havoc on our trees and my raspberries. At times the garden looks a bit like a gulag with all it's wire cages.
ReplyDeleteMoose and porcupines! I think the only place I've seen a moose was in Alaska and I don't think I've even seen a porcupine in the zoo! We have hedges but very little fencing to keep anything out, although I suspect that would change fast if we had moose or deer.
DeleteA skunk, a snake and a lizard walked into a bar... :-D
ReplyDeleteI prefer having birds stealing my blueberries over those shady characters any day.
Ha! I'd love to hear the end of that joke. I'm used to lizards, which are all over the place here. The fence lizards provide more help (like eating ticks) than harm so they're welcome, if sometimes annoying when they get underfoot (or enter Pipig's catio). Skunks are also regulars but rarely seen during the day - they prefer to leave scented messages in the dark of night. This was only my second snake sighting and, as it didn't have a rattle, I wasn't too worried ;)
DeleteOh my, finding a skunk in my garden would be rather unpleasant!
ReplyDeleteUsually, the only skunks ever seen during daylight hours are babies, who haven't learned the rules of foraging for food yet. I'd never go anywhere close to one except by accident. It's bad enough that they periodically release their scent in range of our windows in the middle of the night.
DeleteYour visitors - particularly the skunk! - seem so exotic to me, Kris. After your visiting peacock and mockingbird, did you get to eat any of your blueberries at all? Will you net them for next time?
ReplyDeleteWe get lots of birds and lizards here too, plus the occasional koala wandering down the street. A friend near Cairns has a resident cassowary in her garden (her block borders rainforest). Hilariously, she has nicknamed him 'Elvis'!
I was rather amused by the mockingbird's persistent blueberry picking, Horticat. He thought he was so stealthy. There are so few blueberries ripe for the picking at one time on the 3 shrubs, I'm happy to make do with snacking for as long as they last.
DeleteWhat's "exotic" is certainly a matter for local determination. I'd love to see a koala someplace other than a zoo but, while I'm sure I'd be intrigued about seeing a cassowary (once my brain figured out what it was), I'd be more wary there as they seem to have a reputation! Does this Elvis sing or dance?
No singing or dancing, I think he was named for his spunky 'hairdo' ;) and yes, if he has any chicks with him, my friend keeps her distance!
DeleteWell, Elvis was stylish, at least for his day. I'm glad this cassowary Elvis takes some responsibility in caring for his progeny ;)
DeleteKris, I've given up even trying to take photos of birds in my garden, so I'm impressed by your successes! Recently, I've had a skunky smell in my garden, but I haven't actually seen the skunk. Several years ago, when I called my wildlife guy to deal with a juvenile skunk who had wandered into the woodchuck trap during the night, he expressed relief that it was a laid-back female rather than a young male. "The males," he said, "are really obnoxious at this age." I have wondered whether my current smelly visitor is an adolescent male with hormone issues.
ReplyDeleteWe mostly just smell evidence of skunk visits in the middle of the night, Jean, when the scent drifts in through an open window, or in the morning as it lingers after a visit. However, my husband aborted a dip in the spa last night when he caught that tell-tale odor. Your comment about juvenile male skunks is interesting as I've wondered what sets them off at night when everyone's inside.
DeleteSeveral of your visitors would put me on high alert Kris, but love your hummingbird. I've heard blueberries can be easy to grow. Do you find them so (even if you don't get to eat many)?
ReplyDeleteThe blueberries have been easy for me to grow in pots, where I can provide soil with a higher level of acidity than the plants would have in my sandy, alkaline borders. Your garden soil might be better suited to their needs than mine. The only other trick that's recommended is to grow 2 different varieties to encourage cross-pollination, even if your selected shrubs are self-pollinating. I grow 2 'Bountiful Blue' and one 'Sunshine Blue', which are low-chill varieties suitable to my warmer winter conditions.
DeleteBoth the rabbits and the mockingbirds found my plants easy pickings but watching them was almost as enjoyable as eating the berries straight from the shrubs.