Butterflies, Anoles, Beetle

Today's been a good day in the garden. I found three butterflies, two anoles and a pretty beetle that I've submitted to the bugguide.net for identification. Does anyone know what that beetle is? The butterfly is harder to I.D. because she never kept her upper view in sight for long.  I got a little gardening in today, but it was 90 degrees by 9:30 this morning.  Not even a hint of a breeze either.

It's a Jungle Out There!

Watch this poor Sphinx Moth fight off this housefly.  Yes, this is the same moth eating the same tomato plant from last month.  I'm still hoping to witness the morph from caterpillar to moth.  I let him have the whole tomato plant, practically.

Gulf Fritillary

This is the butterfly that alluded me for three days. Finally caught a picture in the mint.  Look at the difference in the topside and underside colors.  So very vibrant.
Scientific info is Agraulis vanillae
Family: Brush-footed Butterflies (Nymphalidae) Subfamily:Longwings (Heliconiinae)

Oakworm Moths

Oakworm Moths in the genus Anisota 
This picture is from April, but I just got an I.D. from the website "Whats That Bug".  They are a great resource with tons of pictures and e mail help.  
I'm having a blast documenting my yard.  Please let me know if you stop by.  Leave a comment and give me some feedback. 

Grasshopper Sex

Today, in my yard there is more insect sex going on.  The Leaf Footed Bugs have departed but these grasshoppers are making whoopie in my mint garden.  I went out to chase down a beautiful tangerine colored butterfly, but it wouldn't light and I found these dudes instead.  Always something interesting in my yard.  It is 100 degrees out, but in the shade, it didn't seem that hot.  

And I've seen a hummingbird twice today.  And the dragonflies are still around. And the Sphinx Moth Caterpiller is still munching on my tomatoes and getting very, very big!  Hope to document his transformation.

The Coolest Caterpiller Ever

This guy is going to be a Sphinx Moth.  Isn't he amazing?  He's eating my tomato plant, but who cares?  I've eaten my fill of yellow plum tomatoes this season.  He's about the size of my  little finger. 

More Dragonflies

I don't know what it is about this stick in my yard, but there have been three different dragonflies that have used it for flirtatious purposes. They spend hours flying off and on this stick that is just a brace for my cucumber trellis. It started on July 13th with the Widow Skimmer blog that's in my archive.  Then the Flame Skimmer which obviously is the orange one and then this morning there is this pretty blue abdomen guy that is being pestered by wasps.The last picture is the girl friend of the Flame Skimmer that you can see darting around in the video.  Enjoy!

Remembering Winter

With the heat index 108 yesterday, I started thinking about how we complained about the record snow fall this past winter.  The birds are baking out in the heat, panting and grateful for the bird bath and water sprinkler, when just a few months ago it looked like this.  This little wren was so puffed up, like a pom pom, while today he's looking for shade.
To attract birds to your yard, always have a water source and some plants that make thickets.  My friend Patti had wrens nesting in a flower pot on her back porch.  They love to hide deep inside things.  I spent several hours watching the parent birds feed insects to their chirping chicks, dodging in and out of the flower pot.  The wren box I bought for my yard only attracted wasps. LOL

Widow Skimmer

This beautiful dragonfly spent several hours flirting with his girlfriend yesterday.  He flew back and forth from this perch in my garden. When I got too close, he actually tried to chase me away by charging my chest.  Some trivia about dragonflies is that the males have the ability to remove a rival male’s sperm from the female in order to ensure their own sperm is available to fertilize the eggs.  Female have the ability to store sperm for long periods of time without fertilizing eggs. Eggs are fertilized immediately before oviposition.  

As a fertility specialist in my previous career, I find this interesting and amazing.  The second picture is the less colorful female.  Here is a short video of Mr. Dragonfly flirting.  

The common name is Widow Skimmer and the scientific name is Libellula luctuosa

Leaf Footed Bug

Thought I'd try something new.  Since I'm documenting critters in my yard, I should include these sex crazed bugs.  Now I'll have to double wash my tomatoes before eating!

CATEGORY:True Bug

COMMON NAME:
"Leaf Footed Bug"
SCIENTIFIC NAME:
(Acanthocephala sp.)

Hairstreak

This appears to be a Grey Hairstreak having a meal of mint flowers.  It is very small.  Not even an inch in length.  There are two flittering around almost flirting with each other.  When it flys, you can catch a little faded lilac on the back of its wings.

Red Shoulder Hawk

This beautiful Red Shoulder Hawk visits on a regular basis to feast on the small ground snakes in my yard.  He swoops in and grabs a snake out of the grass and goes back to the fence to eat.  One day he brought a friend and they had a nice lunch together. 
By keeping our yard as organic as possible, we have plenty of birds to watch without investing in bird feeders.  They seem to know we have the tastiest grub in the neighborhood without any pesticides.   
If you want to learn more about living in harmony with nature, visit my web site at 
http://Health-Revolution.myshaklee.com

Loving the mint plant

Thanks to the Gardens with Wings group on Facebook, I now know this is a Pearl Crescent.  If you look really close, there are crescent shapes on the base of the lower wing.  It  is only about an inch long.  So small yet so brilliant.  It was on my mint plant and you can see it's not much bigger than the leaf.  
There are two little lilac butterflies out there right now, but I haven't captured a good photo yet.

Giant Swallowtail

This isn't this year's photo, but it is one reason I keep my camera handy at all times.  This Giant Swallowtail let me follow it around for several minutes.  I have a great video, but the wind noise and background talk distracts from the silent artistry of the swallowtails flight.
There is a great link on FB called "Gardens with Wings" that I just joined this morning.  This photo is posted there as well.  An interesting fact I gleened from their site is that its larval nickname is the Orange Dog because this species loves to feed on citrus plants and when disturbed it extends an osmeteria, a foul smelling scent gland that is used to deter predators. I'm no where near a citris orchard, so I can't believe it found my garden.  These zinnias come up on their own every summer.
To learn more about butterfly gardens, follow me on twitter @Sarah_Goodrich


To learn how to have a career where your every move makes a positive environmental impact, go to
http://health-revolution.myshaklee.com

Birdie Day Care

What a glorious morning.  I woke up to dozens of birds in my backyard.  The bluebird babies had fledged and were bathing in some standing water.  The cardinal family was there, too.  All the babies playing in the water.  The blue jay family was shouting out very loud, purple martins flying very fast and furious and even a little tiny downy woodpecker was pecking away at the oak trees.

My chickadees were going chit, chit, chit and scolding all the activity.

My house sits in a 30 year old neighborhood in North Texas.  We have Oak and Elm trees that attract a lot of critters.  We do not use pesticides, so the birds come for the bugs.  And, my garden is full of big ol' night crawlers that the robins love to dig for.

Anyone can create a nature sanctuary in their backyard.  Just have some undergrowth, water source, bird houses and plants that seed, such as grasses.  

Learn more about having a natural home at http://health-revolution.myshaklee.com

Forlorn Bluebird

I'm launching a new blog to document all the wildlife around my home.  This site will be chock full of pictures that I've taken over the years, mostly in my yard. I'll be adding as interesting critters drop by.   So get ready to learn along with me as I research my yard neighbors. 


This first attempt documents a forlorn bluebird that was so
lonely and needing some love.  He fell in love with his own
reflection from my husband's Suburu.  He made a real mess
of the truck!  But he's so beautiful, we didn't mind.