Claire and Jane - you two are making me feel guilty for not sharing my grapes with the birds. As it is, I have the squirrel deterring feeders and I buy the grackle deterring bird food. So clearly I am not the grape squishing type!

Saw this adorable little nuthatch out in the maple tree.

This guy has been living in my white garden. I had a word with him the other day. I told him he either has to change his stripes to white or find a new place to live.

Laslty - Tommy Two Timer climbed out of the pond again and headed to the stream.

pixie_lou: Cute little nuthatch (I've never seen an ugly one) - they remind me of little feathered seals with the head cocked, although I've never seen a seal saunter down the bark of a tree.

Maybe you need a "striped garden" and then the snake would be properly attired for its surroundings.

I wonder where Tommy Two Timer spends the winter. Which wet place houses his true love (or the more comfy mud).

Claire

Claire - I'll get working on that striped garden right away.

Do cicadas molt? Or shed? Or metamorphosize? Whatever it is they do, I caught one in the act today. Started out seeing this big brown bug. On the veggie garden pinwheels. Snapped a few photos so I could ID it later.

A little while later, I saw the shadow thru the pinwheel and thought there were 2 big brown bugs. But when I peeked, lo and behold, I realized it was a cicada that had transformed from brown to green.

The brown exoskeleton is still attached to the pinwheel!

Jane, I tried copying you. Instead of grapes, I put out cherries. So far, no takers in 4 days. I took some cherries out of the cage and broke them up and left them on the ground nearby. Still no takers today.

pixie lou, how AWESOME is that?!!

I had found a dead cicada that was very well preserved and brought it to one of my art classes. I was able to show the children the cicada as I gave them a brief introduction on the life cycle of a cicada and its diet. Afterward, we made paper cicadas.

-Tina

Good cicada shots, Pixie. Have to wonder why he morphed. Other than donning a new green coat, he looks the same to me. Something else to look up.

I thought this bumble had a full load, but he went back to the rose of sharon for more. I guess 'loaded' is a relative term.

Jane

That is a great series of the cicada shedding its skin, Pixie. I think they do this periodically, like snakes. My only experience with cicadas was at my grandparents' house in Connecticut one summer as a kid. I think it was one of those boom years for cicada and their singing filled the air. I would find the shedded skins on the bark of the elm tree out front and see the living cicadas with their green wings.

That bumblebee is a flying ball of pollen, Jane. He seems to be defying the laws of physics by being able to fly at all given his shape and size, but weighted down with all that pollen it should be impossible! Bees are such workaholics!

Awesome shot, Jane.

What a dedicated worker!

-Tina

That's a wonderful series of pictures of the cicada, pixie_lou! The right wing isn't unfolded yet and looks so delicate. I'm imagining what it would feel like to slough off all of my skin and start over with a new batch.

Tina: I've tried cherries too with absolutely no enthusiasm seen for them.

Your kids are lucky to have a teacher who can improvise so well. Is that origami cicadas you made? I've always admired that art.

Nice big flying fuzzball, Jane. No wonder they're such good pollinators.

Claire

Too bad on the cherries. Will the deer like them? I still have half a bag in the fridge.

Thanks for the compliment, Claire. I know it was an art class but I can't resist the opportunity to open their minds to other subjects.

As for the cicadas, yes, we made origami cicadas. I brought the iridescent paper so the kids were thrilled with their sparkly bug.

-Tina

Around this date every year the nighthawks and night jars migrate south and put on quite an evening aerial display! I hope to see them again this year!

It's been a pretty good butterfly year: mourning cloaks,spring azures, milbert tortoise shells,yellowpatch skippers, tiger swallowtail, white+red admirals, and lots of common wood nymphs and little wood satyrs. Yesterday I saw question marks and fritillaries on the zinnias.
Have I bored you already?

milbert's tortoiseshell

franeli: I've never seen nighthawks or night jars, I hope you get a great display this year.

Lovely collection of butterflies in your yard and I'm impressed that you can identify them. At first glance your pic of milbert's tortoiseshell looks like a fantastical purple snake with an orange mouth wide open with a fuzzy tongue! I wish I had snakes like that instead of the humdrum striped sort.

Claire

Franeli, you will never bore anyone here with your butterfly sightings. That is a lovely shot of the tortoiseshell butterfly. I used to know all the names of northeastern butterflies as a kid, but have forgotten many of them.

Tina, you must be your kids' favorite teacher! The iridescent paper cicadas would delight any grade school child.

This post was edited by spedigrees on Thu, Aug 15, 13 at 10:58

Seriously, do any of you enter photo contests? The photography in this thread is incredible. I tried to take a pic of a bee in a flower and he buzzed away! You all catch the best shots! Thanks everyone for continuing to post such amazing and very interesting photos.

I agree T2D! The catbirds with the various fruits, the hummingbird moths and butterflies, the color echoes between various insects and birds and the flowers they visit, all beautiful. I had to laugh at the bee so laden with pollen that Jane captured.

I think Pixie Lou gets the moulting prize, between the larval shells that the dragonfly left earlier in the summer and the cicada this month. It's amazing to me how lovely the cicada adult is with it's mint green color and gauzy wings when compared to the brown lump of its larva.

Not in my garden, but on my car in the middle of a parking lot! Katydid?

littleredshed: I'll let the more knowledgeable people answer that (Google Images seem to agree with katydid). Pretty hitchhiker, anyway.

Tina: A picture of an iridescent origami cicada would be appropriate for this thread, since you mentioned it up-thread a bit.

Claire

This post was edited by claire on Fri, Aug 16, 13 at 15:35

Tina -- ''Too bad on the cherries. Will the deer like them? I still have half a bag in the fridge." At $5.00/lb if you give me your address I'll get rid of the cherries for you and even take pictures of me eating them, lol. Don't feed the deer if you like gardening...really. Of course if you leave the cherries on the ground, some nocturnal critter will thank you.

Franelli - beautiful butterfly perched on the perfect flower. TY - I'd not seen a Milbert's Tortoiseshell before. Lovely.

Littlered - just learned there are more than 100 varieties of katydids, aka bush crickets, and many more names. One came into the house on the cable guy a few weeks ago. Finally caught him and safely got him back outside (the katydid, not the cable guy). hehehe

Buddy (the local male hummer) landed at just the right angle in the noon sun (worse time to take a picture) but it's the first time I was able to see any color in a hummer's eye other than black. Photo not super clear, but I swear I see brown around a black pupil.

And, caught this little girl hummer scratching what itched her. That foot is so little.

Jane

Great close up photos on this thread...wow
OK, two more butterfly pictures...I must say, getting close up photos of moving subjects is hard!

Viceroy

{{gwi:1083317}}

Red Admiral

Jane, that is probably the best photo I've ever seen of a hummingbird. You took it with just the right lighting to illuminate the iris of this tiny bird's eye. It is astounding to contemplate the miniature nature of hummingbirds, the tiny eyes with all the components or our own eyes and those of larger birds, the minute heart and lungs, and most incredible to imagine, the infinitesimally small veins and arteries.

I know something of the genetics of pigeons' eyes, but little of other birds. In pigeons there are two basic iris colors, the orange "wild" color and the mutated pearl (white). (My own bird has the latter.) This hummer appears to have pearl irises, tinged green from the background foliage, but if you saw brown, my perception could be a trick of the light.

Lovely butterfly photos too, franeli. It fascinates me how the viceroy butterflies cash in on the invulnerability to bird attacks of their look-a-likes, the monarchs (who contain a toxin). There is a lot of mimicry in the natural world.

Thyme2dig was not wrong when she suggested that you gifted photographers should be entering your works in contests.

Jane: Buddy looks iridescent - I've never seen those colors on the breast feathers. Those little bitty feet on the female are useful after all. You wonder how they manage to perch using them.

Gorgeous pics, franeli, of the butterflies. The colors are lovely.

Claire

This afternoon I saw two Eastern Swallowtail butterflies in love. The dance took several minutes around the back of the garage and onto the deck. Ivy (cat)was silent behind the screen door as she watched the dance too. Yes, the union was made so we'll have more butterflies. And then they went back to the buddleia to eat. Seemed pretty normal to me. I did not realize that the female is the more colorful of the two. She was definitely being chased.
Ivy watching

Female upper - male looks like he stopped in space to watch her

Fuzzy, but the female is on the left

Getting closer

Just take my word for it, we'll have more butterflies.

Jane

Here is a link that might be useful: TrekOhio Eastern Swallowtails

That's a nice series of photos of the tiger swallowtail pair, Jane. I never realized before that only the females had the bright blue spots on their lower wings. That's sort of an exception to the rule in nature that calls for the males of most species to be the showier gender. I'm glad there will be more; swallowtails are my favorite of all butterflies.

I'm glad you spared us the lewd butterfly photos, Jane, we don't need to promote insect pornography. The courtship dance is lovely and well photographed and I wish you many more swallowtails next year.

Claire

As usual, it's one amazing photo after another here. I particularly got a chuckle out of the bee covered in pollen, Jane and Franeli, you have quite an assortment of butterflies in your garden. I think I've seen maybe 3 common types and none that are like yours at all.

I had an amazing experience this morning, of course, without a camera in my hand. I was standing by my tomato bed, looking down at a spot I was getting ready to plant a seedling into and two staked tomatoes were about a foot in front of me, one on my left and right. I suddenly saw something black fly by out of the corner of my eye and I thought it was a black butterfly. Before I could even have another thought, suddenly there was a tiny little hummingbird floating right in front of my face, right between the two tomato plants. She flitted around the plants checking out the tomato flowers and then zoomed across to a structure where a honeysuckle is growing. I stopped what I was doing and walked closer, slowly, I didn't want to spook her/him. I hadn't had time to see any markings on the bird and I wanted to see if I could. She was sipping on the honeysuckle flowers and there weren't a lot left. The last one she tried, the flower tube fell off as she was sipping it and went down over her beak and she was wiggling to try to get it off her nose then off she zoomed. I know this is old hat to most of you, but it just made my day.

This is only the second time I've seen a hummer in the garden, the last time was 2 years ago I think. And both times, it was this time of year, which I assume is when they are starting back down south? I never see them in the spring, which is what I would love, but I am working on having enough plants to feed them.

So sorry no photos. I'm too slow anyway. (g)

That's a great image, PM2 - a hummer trying to shake off a flower tube that's draped over its bill. Hummingbirds are never old hat, even if you see them every day.

It might have been migrating as you say. According to hummingbirds.net in the section on Migration Basics:

"Some adult males start migrating south as early as mid-July, but the peak of southward migration for this species is late August and early September. By mid-September, essentially all of the Ruby-throated at feeders are migrating through from farther north, and not the same individuals seen in the summer. "

Claire

Claire, funny but I didn't see any red markings on it's throat like Jane's photo above. It looked just gray all over, or I just didn't have time to notice. I don't see how I could have missed red around it's neck though.

PM2: It could have a female, like Jane's second photo, or an immature male which also looks a bit like the female. Only the adult males have the full red throat and sometimes the throat looks black, not red, depending on the angle.

Claire

Jane, you're too funny. You're right the cherries were not cheap.

I agree, T2D. I enjoy this forum very much. The quality of the pictures and information are wonderful.

You must have long lens and fast shutter speed cameras. The only thing I can capture with my iphone would be the paper cicada. lol

-Tina

Claire - has the coyote urine you spread for the car mice affected the wildlife in your yard? We haven't seen Guthrie's family for a few weeks now.

Tina, T2D, everyone who commented, I agree that this thread is most enjoyable and I'm grateful that Claire has permitted such elasticity in the thread's scope. I've looked at posts on other regional forums, and it appears to me that the NE Forum seems to have a greater variety of questioning happening more frequently and this particular thread shines for me because of its well-rounded openness to accept and view everything that is in our garden space and everything that affects our gardening space. In short, sharing our full gardening world.

I've stated it before, but for newer to the thread folks, it is because of Claire's enthusiasm for critters in the garden which I share and because of this thread that I not only shoot often, but the photography leads to a greater sense of wonder and this thread allows us to share and learn from each other. Claire doesn't want to hear it, doesn't want to know it, but... I believe she still is editor of the NE Forum and has created the FAQ and Book Lists and tends to spammers... from those of us who frequent this forum and this special thread, thank you for all that you do, Claire.

So where's Guthrie?

Kindly,
Jane

Thanks, Jane, for the testimonial. I started this thread hoping that there would be enough like-minded forum members to sustain it, and it turned out that lots of people have a broad view of their gardens as being about more than just the plants. I thank all of you for participating and for sharing the interesting denizens of their yard. I've learned (and enjoyed) so much from all of you!

As for Guthrie and the coyote urine, there was maybe a day or two of worry but soon I saw all the regulars in the yard, just hopefully not in my car. I think I would have noticed a woodchuck in the car, whereas a mouse can hide easily.

The turkeys also seemed to have wondered where the woodchucks were hiding out. These pictures are from two days ago. I had noticed the turkeys staring into the garden and I grabbed the camera.

I think this is probably Griselda, not Guthrie, since it came from the area of the family burrow.

Back into the garden while the turkeys' backs were turned.

Where'd it go?

There! There!

I see it!

Oh, it's over THERE!

And away it went.

I got the impression the woodchuck was enjoying the turkeys bewilderment. It certainly showed no signs of fearing them.

And one of the babies, not so little any more:

Claire

Saw this common garter snake sunning itself on an Alberta spruce in the garden ... It looked like a piece of rope until I got closer (next image ... couldn't figure out how to get multiple images in the same post)... By the way, notice the titmouse that has just taken off from the feeder.

Here's the closeup.

Despite her voracious appetite, Griselda is cute. It is a wonderfully diverse critter heaven there and the pictures show just how helpful the blue stone walkway is for them. Glad the coyote powder didn't put them off. Actually, that doesn't say much for the product, does it? Hope it worked on the mice.

PankajT: I didn't know snakes could climb trees! Or would even want to (except for pythons and such)! The spruce certainly looks like a nice soft bed for sunning. Nice pics of a new phenomenon, new to me anyway.

You can't use the GW upload feature to get multiple photos in one post, for that you need to use a separate photo-hosting website like Photobucket or Flickr and then copy and paste the html tag in your message. See the How do I include a photo in my post? FAQ for more details.

Jane: It always amuses me to see critters and such use the bluestone path just as I do. I guess what we think of as a purely human amenity is really a universal feature.

I wonder about the coyote/fox urine also - I just hope it deters the mice from crawling under the car and then climbing up into the engine. I'll finish off the bottle and then probably switch to castor oil. I'll continue to use the Fresh Cab scent inside the car.

Claire

This post was edited by claire on Tue, Aug 20, 13 at 10:37

PankajT - for as long I could look, it's a good shot and observation. Those things (sn*kes) and I are not on the same page. I knew that they can slither up trees; they just can't drive a standard shift. Welcome to the forum.

Jane

After taking hundreds of hummer shots, how could I not know that a hummingbird's beak opens? Well, dumb as it is, because we always see them at a feeder or sipping nectar into their beak using their long tongue, I never thought about that beak opening until I saw Buddy do it:

Open beak with tongue sticking out a little:

These shots were all taken within a few seconds of each other- look at how much red shows with just a turn of the head:

This is as close as I can get without greater distortion - the scallop shape feathers are amazing:

Once the light lit in my head, I realized I had never thought about how a mother hummer feeds the babies. Until someone pointed it out to me, I had forgotten that the majority of their diet is protein from bugs. Also did not know that cicadas have 2 nymph stages before they get wings until Pixie posted her shots above. Boy, oh, boy... so much to learn.

Jane

Great shots, Jane! Spotting a hummingbird in the garden makes my day, but to get shots like these and see the ruby throat so clearly ... wow!
Pankaj

Breathtaking pics, Jane! I'm thinking how nice curtains like that red gorget would look on my windows. Not that I'm advocating catching hummingbirds to collect their feathers - the Aztec feather cloaks would not be allowed today - but a synthetic iridescent feather would make a wonderful fabric.

Claire

I have never seen a garter snake on a mattress of spruce, or any other tree foliage for that matter, PankajT. I had no idea they did that! Yours looks very comfortable.

Those are lovely hummingbirds photos, Jane. I don't think I've seen hummingbird plumage so close up since the last time I was at the natural history museum. I could spend a whole day just wandering through their bird room peering at the many species of (taxidermied) hummers. So tiny and so iridescent!

My feeder and the nasturtiums in my hanging planter have been hives of activity. I think my hummingbirds are fueling up for the migration. I made up a batch of nectar today with a pang of wistfulness knowing it will likely be the last for this season. This female was feeding and her male counterpart was hovering in the background. I took a couple shots of her, but he was too quick.

Claire, turkeys hanging out with a woodchuck??? Your photos never cease to amaze me.

You know Claire, after my DH saw all your woodchuck photos, he now wants a pet woodchuck!
I'm on my ipad and can't seem to get to a particular link on YouTube to post a video, but search you tube for Peepo the woodchuck. Amazing relationship between the woman and woodchuck. My DH is jealous!

Do you all keep your cameras around your neck to get these hummingbird photos?! My hummers don't really sit still, although more this year than others I have seen them perch way up in the oak trees. One day we had one beating up a hairy woodpecker. Now that's one tough cookie! She was harassing the heck out of the woodpecker and it was hilarious to watch.

spedigrees: Great hummingbird pics also! Are you sure that's a Ruby-throat? Could it be a Rufous Hummingbird? It's either a female or an immature hummer of some sort, but the back doesn't seem as green as usual. I think you're the one who sometimes sees Rufous.

You can see the tongue sticking out in the second pic.

thyme2dig: I found the Peepo the woodchuck video. Amazing indeed! Does this mean I have to share bananas with the woodchucks too? Cantaloupe rinds are easy, but banana fruit is different. Maybe they prefer the overripe ones which I don't like...

Claire

This post was edited by claire on Wed, Aug 21, 13 at 12:09

Way to go, Sped! Nice hummer shots. Claire's right, it's an immature somebody. I looked in my Crossley Guide, but, boy, for me anyway, it's hard to tell an immature ruby-throated from an imm.rufous. Your bird even looks like an imm. Allen's which the book says is strictly West coast. She's eating, she's happy, she's been 'filmed', that's all that matters.

Peepo is just wonderful, thanks, T2D and Claire for posting. Hope you have a helper or a tripod, Claire, so we can see you holding Guthrie and feeding him a banana. At first I thought Peepo's human mother must have gentle energy for that woodchuck to allow her to hug him. The I Googled 'woodchuck eating banana' and found Gertie (gopher/woodchuck) who also eats bananas on a table. Maybe woodchucks are fruit gourmets that easily give in to humans if the food is special.

So, will Guthrie and Griselda get bananas and cookies with a slug of Vermont Woodchuck Ale soon? Film at 11:00?

Jane

Here is a link that might be useful: Gertie the groundhog eating a banana

Actually, Jane, since I'm allergic to rats and mice I'm probably allergic to woodchucks too. I think I'll pass on trying to hug them (they're wild animals, that get scared, with teeth!). I might try putting a banana out to see what happens, though (watching through the window).

Starting with an orphaned baby woodchuck would be different.

Claire

I'm afraid to ask how one discovers an allergy to mice and rats. You're off the woodchuck-hugging video hook.

Jane: I've had both mice and rats as pets. The rats (lab strain) made excellent pets - they knew their names and played like kittens with string. One rat in particular loved to sit on my shoulder and chitter into my ear with his tail wrapped around my neck. It was devastating when I had to get rid of them when the allergy surfaced.

Luckily I found a kind-hearted lab manager who kept them there until they died.

Claire

Video on YouTube of pet rats.

Claire

Didn't think of that. Yes, best to fling fruit from the deck. Guthrie will be happy either way.

Here's a very poor shot of a hummingbird at my hanging nasturtium plant this morning. The plant looks ratty because I'm letting the blossoms go to seed for next year's crop instead of dead-heading them.

Hard to say what type of hummer I photographed earlier at the feeder. Upon reflection, it does look like an immature bird. I haven't seen a mature rufus hummer here in several years now. I could tell the adults because they resembled ruby throated hummingbirds that had been dipped in orange/rust dye. So with no rufus adults around I lean toward immature ruby-throated. Whatever the variety, it's part of the next generation of hummers, which can only be a good thing.

I've always had rodents as pets over the years, from childhood on. Right now I'm taking a break for the remainder of my little rescue dog's life, due to his unhealthy fixation on burrowing animals. That's a sad affliction, Claire. Developing an allergy to any kind of pet would be my worst nightmare.

I like the picture, Sped, nice hummer outline against Vermont green in the sunlight. Works for me. I think Buddy is getting ready to leave. He's hanging around the house and feeder for longer lengths of time now - just like the end of every August. He has taken to snoozing, preening and stretching for sometimes 15 minutes at a time on a tomato cage on the deck. This morning through a kitchen window:

Hummer Yoga?

Nice pic, spedigrees and Jane. Buddy looks like he's getting in shape for the long flight south.

Eighty-nine followups is too slow for many to load - I'm working on a new thread (just happened to get some new turkey pics).

Claire

This post was edited by claire on Thu, Aug 22, 13 at 14:59