The Joys of Flora and Fauna

[Tennesseer]

Sorry to hijack this thread a bit but there is no where else to post nature pics.  I will only do this once.

@xmascookie - I believe I had previously posted with you about monarch butterflies and milkweed plants.  So far this fall, my sightings of monarch butterflies have been pretty good compared to the last several years.  We seem to have a good number of them migrating through our area of west Tennessee.  I am seeing a number of them coming in to feed on my flowering plants including the milkweed..  


You may or may not be able to see the monarch butterfly in this picture of it feeding on milkweed flowers.  I took the picture several hours ago.  The monarch in just about in the middle of the picture.  The red and yellow flowers are those of the milkweed.  This is a tropical milkweed and will die after the first freeze.  But it reseeds easily and the seeds sprout in the spring.



Anyway, milkweed is good for the monarchs.  

ETA: Just saw a stragler hummingbird in the front garden. He's about 20 days behind rhe rest of the migrating hummers. He must be from a very late nesting..

[Deleted]

Oct 16, 2014 12:37:56 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Sorry to hijack this thread a bit but there is no where else to post nature pics.  I will only do this once.

@xmascookie - I believe I had previously posted with you about monarch butterflies and milkweed plants.  So far this fall, my sightings of monarch butterflies have been pretty good compared to the last several years.  We seem to have a good number of them migrating through our area of west Tennessee.  I am seeing a number of them coming in to feed on my flowering plants including the milkweed..  


You may or may not be able to see the monarch butterfly in this picture of it feeding on milkweed flowers.  I took the picture several hours ago.  The monarch in just about in the middle of the picture.  The red and yellow flowers are those of the milkweed.  This is a tropical milkweed and will die after the first freeze.  But it reseeds easily and the seeds sprout in the spring.



Anyway, milkweed is good for the monarchs.  

ETA: Just saw a stragler hummingbird in the front garden. He's about 20 days behind rhe rest of the migrating hummers. He must be from a very late nesting..

Tennesseer Your milkweed flowers are so much prettier than our wild ones here.

We also had a great Monarch comeback this year. Last year we didn't see many and I was worried after the brutal winter. I have a fairly small Zinnia crop in the veggie garden. A couple weeks ago there must have been 20 of them on and above the Zinnias. I was to lazy to go to the house and get the camera but it was great to see so many!

I saw  what is probably my last straggler hummingbird last Sun. at the feeder so you may still have some coming your way.

I'm going to plant some native milkweeds by the river next spring. There are a few wild ones there now I took some seeds from. I wish they were pretty like yours.

Thanks for sharing!

eta: our milkweed plant looks similar to yours but the flowers are white.

[Tennesseer]

Oct 17, 2014 16:00:53 GMT -5 @xmascookie said:

Oct 16, 2014 12:37:56 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Sorry to hijack this thread a bit but there is no where else to post nature pics.  I will only do this once.

@xmascookie - I believe I had previously posted with you about monarch butterflies and milkweed plants.  So far this fall, my sightings of monarch butterflies have been pretty good compared to the last several years.  We seem to have a good number of them migrating through our area of west Tennessee.  I am seeing a number of them coming in to feed on my flowering plants including the milkweed..  


You may or may not be able to see the monarch butterfly in this picture of it feeding on milkweed flowers.  I took the picture several hours ago.  The monarch in just about in the middle of the picture.  The red and yellow flowers are those of the milkweed.  This is a tropical milkweed and will die after the first freeze.  But it reseeds easily and the seeds sprout in the spring.



Anyway, milkweed is good for the monarchs.  

ETA: Just saw a stragler hummingbird in the front garden. He's about 20 days behind rhe rest of the migrating hummers. He must be from a very late nesting..

Tennesseer Your milkweed flowers are so much prettier than our wild ones here.

We also had a great Monarch comeback this year. Last year we didn't see many and I was worried after the brutal winter. I have a fairly small Zinnia crop in the veggie garden. A couple weeks ago there must have been 20 of them on and above the Zinnias. I was to lazy to go to the house and get the camera but it was great to see so many!

I saw  what is probably my last straggler hummingbird last Sun. at the feeder so you may still have some coming your way.

I'm going to plant some native milkweeds by the river next spring. There are a few wild ones there now I took some seeds from. I wish they were pretty like yours.

Thanks for sharing!

eta: our milkweed plant looks similar to yours but the flowers are white.

xmascookie-see if you can buy a packet of tropical milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) on-line.  A packet of 50 seeds may cost 5 bucks.  After that, you won't have to buy again.  When the seed pods open up, just collect the seeds and plant next year.   And the garden was even busier today than the other day with monarchs.  I think I had five flying around one garden patch at the same time.  I hope this is a harbinger of an even better year next year.

[Deleted]

Oct 17, 2014 16:28:25 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Oct 17, 2014 16:00:53 GMT -5 @xmascookie said:

Tennesseer Your milkweed flowers are so much prettier than our wild ones here.

We also had a great Monarch comeback this year. Last year we didn't see many and I was worried after the brutal winter. I have a fairly small Zinnia crop in the veggie garden. A couple weeks ago there must have been 20 of them on and above the Zinnias. I was to lazy to go to the house and get the camera but it was great to see so many!

I saw  what is probably my last straggler hummingbird last Sun. at the feeder so you may still have some coming your way.

I'm going to plant some native milkweeds by the river next spring. There are a few wild ones there now I took some seeds from. I wish they were pretty like yours.

Thanks for sharing!

eta: our milkweed plant looks similar to yours but the flowers are white.

xmascookie-see if you can buy a packet of tropical milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) on-line.  A packet of 50 seeds may cost 5 bucks.  After that, you won't have to buy again.  When the seed pods open up, just collect the seeds and plant next year.   And the garden was even busier today than the other day with monarchs.  I think I had five flying around one garden patch at the same time.  I hope this is a harbinger of an even better year next year.

I will look for those. The colors remind me of a Lantana plant. 

[Tennesseer]

Oct 17, 2014 16:33:14 GMT -5 @xmascookie said:

Oct 17, 2014 16:28:25 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

xmascookie-see if you can buy a packet of tropical milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) on-line.  A packet of 50 seeds may cost 5 bucks.  After that, you won't have to buy again.  When the seed pods open up, just collect the seeds and plant next year.   And the garden was even busier today than the other day with monarchs.  I think I had five flying around one garden patch at the same time.  I hope this is a harbinger of an even better year next year.

I will look for those. The colors remind me of a Lantana plant. 

Exactly. Which is why I buy the red and yellow lantana. And that lantana attracts butterflies and hummers too.

[steff]

hubby cut my butterfly bush back way too far & it took it 2 years to really come back strong.  I haven't seen Monarchs (but honestly, I'm not paying that much attention at times) but I have seen a good amount of butterflies this year. 

All my hummingbirds are gone for the year.  For a couple of weeks last month, I had up to 9 or 10 a day hitting the feeder.  We had 2 get in the house thru the open french doors & had to get them back outside. One we just opened the back door screen & he booked out.  the other we had to get him in a laundry basket against the ceiling & then direct him out. 

I am still seeing & hearing flocks of geese going over a couple of times a day. 

[Opti]

I feel deprived. I haven't seen many butterflies this year.

I did see a big honeybee flitting between my pansies in the planter though.

[mmhmm]

Our ducks have mostly flown. Some of the geese have gone but some remain here all year - dummies! We did have butterflies, and hummingbirds, though. I take the hummingbird feeders down mid-September to encourage the hangers-on to head on out to warmer climes.

[ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ]

The Canada Geese are flying in formation over my house several times a day.

They stop to rest either at a pond near me, or in a nearby wheat field to graze before taking flight again as they begin their journey south out of Canada to exit the winter ahead.

They're the real snow birds heading to Florida every fall, and not the two-legged human kind. .

Yesterday one of the flocks was so low going over, I probably could have gotten one down with a slingshot.

They're nice to watch when they're taking off from the water - or just swimming in the pond. Not so nice when they leave a little parting gift on my car though.

These are some of the geese at a downtown park here - one of mom with her goslings:

[Tennesseer]

Oct 17, 2014 18:10:50 GMT -5 steff said:

hubby cut my butterfly bush back way too far & it took it 2 years to really come back strong.  I haven't seen Monarchs (but honestly, I'm not paying that much attention at times) but I have seen a good amount of butterflies this year. 

All my hummingbirds are gone for the year.  For a couple of weeks last month, I had up to 9 or 10 a day hitting the feeder.  We had 2 get in the house thru the open french doors & had to get them back outside. One we just opened the back door screen & he booked out.  the other we had to get him in a laundry basket against the ceiling & then direct him out. 

I am still seeing & hearing flocks of geese going over a couple of times a day. 

I usually go to a friend's home in northeast Arkansas for Thanksgiving. Arkansas is a major grower of rice. Sitting outdoors, you can see thousands upon thousands of geese (usually snow geese) flying in massive formations heading to the rice fields to eat and rest. Pretty impressive.

I saw another video similar to the one below as to feeding hummingbirds by hand. The other video was of someone holding a single red and yelow plastic 'flower' like those found on hanging hummingbird feeders. If you rest your arm on something outdoors (sit in a lawn chair and rest your arm on the arm rest for example), to keep it steady, you can probably feed hummingbirds by hand.

[Deleted]

We had four fuzzy baby geese in the yard today. I couldn't get close enough for a good pic. Hopefully tomorrow.

My new favorite perennial. Just love this plant and found some seedlings this year.

Get one. You will be happy you did.

www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=j790

Common Name: black cohosh

Type: Herbaceous perennial

Family: Ranunculaceae

Native Range: North America

Zone: 3 to 8

Height: 4.00 to 6.00 feet

Spread: 2.00 to 4.00 feet

Bloom Time: June to July

Bloom Description: White

Sun: Part shade to full shade

Water: Medium

Maintenance: Low

Suggested Use: Naturalize

Flower: Showy, Fragrant

Tolerate: Rabbit

[Tennesseer]

May 15, 2015 19:17:52 GMT -5 @xmascookie said:

We had four fuzzy baby geese in the yard today. I couldn't get close enough for a good pic. Hopefully tomorrow.

My new favorite perennial. Just love this plant and found some seedlings this year.

Get one. You will be happy you did.

www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=j790

Common Name: black cohosh

Type: Herbaceous perennial

Family: Ranunculaceae

Native Range: North America

Zone: 3 to 8

Height: 4.00 to 6.00 feet

Spread: 2.00 to 4.00 feet

Bloom Time: June to July

Bloom Description: White

Sun: Part shade to full shade

Water: Medium

Maintenance: Low

Suggested Use: Naturalize

Flower: Showy, Fragrant

Tolerate: Rabbit

I know this plant as bugbane.  Pretty.

If you want a small shrub with similar traits, try Virginia Sweetspire, Little Henry (Itea virginica). It too has the white racemes. A corner of my backyard has a patch of this shrub growing well there for the past 10 or so years. They smell nice too. Does not grow any higher than, say, 3 1/2 feet.  And it does slowly spread.  It is in full bloom right now.  This is what it looks like (though this is not my shrub or house):

[Deleted]

May 15, 2015 21:41:38 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

May 15, 2015 19:17:52 GMT -5 @xmascookie said:

We had four fuzzy baby geese in the yard today. I couldn't get close enough for a good pic. Hopefully tomorrow.

My new favorite perennial. Just love this plant and found some seedlings this year.

Get one. You will be happy you did.

www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=j790

Common Name: black cohosh

Type: Herbaceous perennial

Family: Ranunculaceae

Native Range: North America

Zone: 3 to 8

Height: 4.00 to 6.00 feet

Spread: 2.00 to 4.00 feet

Bloom Time: June to July

Bloom Description: White

Sun: Part shade to full shade

Water: Medium

Maintenance: Low

Suggested Use: Naturalize

Flower: Showy, Fragrant

Tolerate: Rabbit

I know this plant as bugbane.  Pretty.

If you want a small shrub with similar traits, try Virginia Sweetspire, Little Henry (Itea virginica). It too has the white racemes. A corner of my backyard has a patch of this shrub growing well there for the past 10 or so years. They smell nice too. Does not grow any higher than, say, 3 1/2 feet.  And it does slowly spread.  It is in full bloom right now.  This is what it looks like (though this is not my shrub or house):

I love that!

[Deleted]

"If you want a small shrub with similar traits, try Virginia Sweetspire, Little Henry (Itea virginica). "

I'm going to look into this. I really like it and I have an overgrown yew that needs to come out.

 This could be be a good replacement . Thanks.

[Tennesseer]

@xmascookie - another small shrub you might want to look into, and similar to the Virginia Sweetspire, is Summersweet Clethra. It flowers are very fragrant and will do well in moist or dry areas (like Virginis sweetspire). Grows best in part-shade (morning sun). The shrub come in white or pink flowers.  I have a dwarf white version in my back yard.

Here is a picture and a link:



Summersweet Clethra

[Deleted]

Oct 18, 2014 10:36:19 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Oct 17, 2014 18:10:50 GMT -5 steff said:

hubby cut my butterfly bush back way too far & it took it 2 years to really come back strong.  I haven't seen Monarchs (but honestly, I'm not paying that much attention at times) but I have seen a good amount of butterflies this year. 

All my hummingbirds are gone for the year.  For a couple of weeks last month, I had up to 9 or 10 a day hitting the feeder.  We had 2 get in the house thru the open french doors & had to get them back outside. One we just opened the back door screen & he booked out.  the other we had to get him in a laundry basket against the ceiling & then direct him out. 

I am still seeing & hearing flocks of geese going over a couple of times a day. 

I usually go to a friend's home in northeast Arkansas for Thanksgiving. Arkansas is a major grower of rice. Sitting outdoors, you can see thousands upon thousands of geese (usually snow geese) flying in massive formations heading to the rice fields to eat and rest. Pretty impressive.

I saw another video similar to the one below as to feeding hummingbirds by hand. The other video was of someone holding a single red and yelow plastic 'flower' like those found on hanging hummingbird feeders. If you rest your arm on something outdoors (sit in a lawn chair and rest your arm on the arm rest for example), to keep it steady, you can probably feed hummingbirds by hand.

There was this bird sanctuary in Jamaica that DH and I went to years ago that we got hummingbirds to eat from us like that. They were swarming us and it was amazing. Other little colorful birds too would eat seeds and fruit from our hands. It was run by an old German woman.  I doubt if she is alive anymore but the place was incredible as was the drive to get there.

[Deleted]

www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g2253897-d150342-Reviews-or10-Rocklands_Bird_Sanctuary-Wiltshire_Saint_James_Parish_Jamaica.html#REVIEWS

It's still there if you are heading that way.

[Tennesseer]

I definately know this would not be a 'Joy of Fauna' for just about everyone:

Hordes Of Spiders Are Raining Down On Australia Right Now




On windy but otherwise clear days between May and August, Australia’s skies occasionally get darkened by a cloud of spiders. That’s what’s happening right now in southern Australia, where millions of small spiders are falling from the sky and blanketing the countryside in “angel hair”. (Because spiders are apparently synonymous with angels in Australia, at least compared to all the other freaky animals they have to deal with down under.)

During these “ballooning” events, the spiders will climb up as high as they can and release thin strands of silk that catch in the wind. It’s a lot like that scene from Charlotte’s Web. Using their silky parachutes, they can traverse hundreds of miles and find new territory to colonize. In the video below, you can see them streaking through the sky of Flagstaff, Arizona in 2014.

National Geographic notes that it’s unclear what spurs these ballooning events, though it’s sometimes tied to heavy rainfall. Other spiders have been known to take to the trees to avoid drowning during floods. The flying spiders are a target for predators, which is probably one reason why the arachnids travel in such large groups. In nature, there's safety in numbers.

Hordes Of Spiders Are Raining Down On Australia Right Now

[Deleted]

Those spiders are just creepy.

I have a  voodoo lily plant that I think is going to bloom for the first time .

When I took it out of it's winter paper bag to plant it looked different than years before with what I'm pretty sure is a flower stalk. It's only had leaves before this year.

They are supposed to smell like rotted meat or a 3 day old dead mouse.

 It is still curled up tight but flies are already hanging around it and it does smell a little icky up close.

I have always just used it for it's pretty leaves and stem but kind of excited to see the flower now even if it smells really bad.

[Tennesseer]

May 22, 2015 15:20:22 GMT -5 @xmascookie said:

Those spiders are just creepy.

I have a  voodoo lily plant that I think is going to bloom for the first time .

When I took it out of it's winter paper bag to plant it looked different than years before with what I'm pretty sure is a flower stalk. It's only had leaves before this year.

They are supposed to smell like rotted meat or a 3 day old dead mouse.

 It is still curled up tight but flies are already hanging around it and it does smell a little icky up close.

I have always just used it for it's pretty leaves and stem but kind of excited to see the flower now even if it smells really bad.

Does it look like this? (Not the guy-the lily):

[Deleted]

May 22, 2015 16:01:40 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

May 22, 2015 15:20:22 GMT -5 @xmascookie said:

Those spiders are just creepy.

I have a  voodoo lily plant that I think is going to bloom for the first time .

When I took it out of it's winter paper bag to plant it looked different than years before with what I'm pretty sure is a flower stalk. It's only had leaves before this year.

They are supposed to smell like rotted meat or a 3 day old dead mouse.

 It is still curled up tight but flies are already hanging around it and it does smell a little icky up close.

I have always just used it for it's pretty leaves and stem but kind of excited to see the flower now even if it smells really bad.

Does it look like this? (Not the guy-the lily):

Yes and it opened more today and looks almost like that.

 It isn't very pretty. Now I need to find out how to keep it from flowering so I can have just leaves back!

I did get some baby bulbs from it last fall and it's taken about 5 years to get the weird flower.

[Deleted]

It really really really stinks today.

yuk

[Deleted]

I walked down to the river today and saw a mama duck with 20 + ducklings. I think 21 or 22.

I have never seen such a large duck family. I fed them some bread , then daddy came over also.

They all swam right past me and I still couldn't get an accurate count because they kept shifting positions.

[Deleted]

I've given up fighting with this guy... This pot is now officially his.

[Tennesseer]

May 31, 2015 20:57:38 GMT -5 @xmascookie said:

I walked down to the river today and saw a mama duck with 20 + ducklings. I think 21 or 22.

I have never seen such a large duck family. I fed them some bread , then daddy came over also.

They all swam right past me and I still couldn't get an accurate count because they kept shifting positions.

The mama duck may have had eggs laid in her nest by other duck hens. That is called a nest. A Mallard hen (for example) lays betwern 8-13 eggs on average. So this hen may have incubated other ducks' eggs beside her own.

[Tennesseer]

May 31, 2015 21:11:49 GMT -5 oped said:

I've given up fighting with this guy... This pot is now officially his.

If my neighbor, a rough and tough policeman, saw that toad, he would not hesitate to call me or ring my doorbell asking me to please remove the little beast for him He is afraid of small critters.

[weltschmerz]

May 31, 2015 21:11:49 GMT -5 oped said:

I've given up fighting with this guy... This pot is now officially his.

Awww...he's a cutie!

[mmhmm]

That little fellow's got himself a toadie hole! Not much more a toad could ask for. 

[Deleted]

May 31, 2015 23:25:08 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

May 31, 2015 20:57:38 GMT -5 @xmascookie said:

I walked down to the river today and saw a mama duck with 20 + ducklings. I think 21 or 22.

I have never seen such a large duck family. I fed them some bread , then daddy came over also.

They all swam right past me and I still couldn't get an accurate count because they kept shifting positions.

The mama duck may have had eggs laid in her nest by other duck hens. That is called a nest. A Mallard hen (for example) lays betwern 8-13 eggs on average. So this hen may have incubated other ducks' eggs beside her own.

Well that makes sense. I couldn't imagine her laying all those eggs! I still don't know how she managed to keep them all warm but it was really cute to see that huge group of ducklings.

I swear they are proud of them. The geese also seem to make a point of swimming right past me to show off the new family.

[Deleted]

oldies but goodies