Bird baths bring lots of visitors to my gardens
Two types of Blue Jays taking their turn in the bird bath
Are you the type of gardener who loves visitors? Visits from birds, animals, insects and reptiles happen frequently around here, sometimes many times in one day. All my visitors enjoy certain “treats” that they may not find in other yards around our neighborhood, like fresh water, pesticide free food and shelter, many types of flowers for pollination and nectar, and safe passages through the perimeter.
One of many mule deer in the neighborhood
Some of the visitors are much larger than others, such as Mule Deer, Black Bear, and Coyotes. These visitors make their homes in areas around us, but come into the wildlife gardens looking for food and water. Sometimes the only signs we may see are footprints or animal droppings. Other times the flower and veggie gardens show me who has been munching. Sounds like coyote howls, hawk shrieks and insect noises let me know about the various wildlife passing through.
Red Fox and Magpies finding their dinner
Our beautiful wildlife garden sometimes shows us how animals depend on each other for food. The Red Fox will take its share of the food for itself and its babies, and then the Magpies will finish it off. Nothing in the food chain goes to waste.
Hummingbirds are a constant sight at feeders
My favorite garden visitors are only here for half a year, but while they’re visiting it’s very busy and beautiful! Several types of Hummingbirds make their home in the Front Range Foothills. They almost eat constantly, flying from the front to back yard in a circle. Feeders, along with their favorite flowers such as Penstemon, Salvias and Agastache (Hyssop), are a staple of my wildlife garden.
Now that you’ve learned a little about my garden’s busy social life, let’s hear about what visitors you have in your wildlife garden. I’ll bet yours is busy too!
Kathy Green gardens in the Colorado Rocky Mountains at an elevation of 7300′, helping others learn about nature, gardening and the environment
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Goodness, the magpies are lovely! And that fox! We do get grey foxes in my neck of the woods, but they’re extremely shy, and while the DNR says there’s coyotes in the county, I have yet to see one. On the other hand, something’s keeping the bunnies from eating the world, so they’re out there somewhere…
Oh, I love Stellar’s Jays! Of course, we don’t have them on the East Coast, but they’re a favorite of mine. Plus the Magpies, hummingbirds, foxes, and more. Your garden sounds amazing!
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Nice images, Kathy. Insects outnumber the other visitors (has been a big weekend for skippers!), but we see a good mix of animals.… Kids and their friends got to see a hummingbird yesterday. Fun. :0)
Visitors to my garden here in Connecticut include many lovely birds, hummers at the feeder, gray squirrels, red squirrels, chipmunks, skunks, woodchucks a plenty, wild turkey, deer (of course) and coyote.
Seen a lot less often are raccoon, opossum, red fox and rabbits, who suffer a high mortality rate. I rarely see snakes or other amphibians, alas.
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Birds: Blue Jays, sparrows, juncos, goldfinches, red finches, robins, swallows, hawks, some little dinky bird that sounds like a jackhammer.
Hawk food: Ground squirrels
Coyotes, fox, skunk, deer
Pheasants, bobwhites
An occasional snake
I’m so glad to have found your blog – through Barbara at Mr. McGregor’s Daughter. I think we gardeners have a great opportunity to help preserve ecosystems on our own properties – and the influence we have on those around us. I live out in the country. We have fields, woodland, and even a ‘frog pond’. Which means we have deer, turkeys, ruffed grouse, squirrels, coyotes, skunks, porcupines, lots of birds (I can just about tell the big ones from the little ones – except for the ‘wild canaries’ which others call goldfinches) and if Doug Tallamy is right – not enough insects.
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Lots of weekend visitors here too Kathy. Like Kelly, the Skippers were having some kind of reunion in Helen’s Haven™! The frogs welcomed each with a hello and the swallowtails make room on the nectar rich plantings for the new arrivals.
Wow, it sounds like everyone’s gardens are full of visitors this time of year! So happy to hear that. I wish I had frogs and other water loving wildlife here, but alas we live in the high mountain desert environment, believe it or not. Even with all of our pine trees and other “non-desert” type flora we don’t receive much water at all, nor are there many lakes other than reservoirs. I’ll have to take a virtual visit to your gardens to get my fixes.
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Kathy ~ I LOVE the images! What a beautiful wildlife garden you have, my friend!
We have an old farmer’s canal running through our backyard (the reason we bought the property) and get mallards and wood ducks, including ducklings in the spring. Between the seed and nectar feeders, I’ve seen 30 bird species in the yard – that includes a few raptors. In spite of the water source, we have no frogs, but do have water striders and the occasional small fish. Of course, lots of spiders and insects in spite of neighbors on all sides spraying. The most unusual visitor was a yellow-bellied marmot. All of this in a yard that’s a 30 minute walk from downtown!