Garden Visitors

[tropicbreeze]

7 hours ago, Hillizard said:

Apparently, despite all the efforts I've put into the plantings in my garden, it wasn't up to standards for raising young! I'd chase it out of my garage but there are already two nestlings so I'll wait until these mourning doves (Zenaida macroura marginella) fledge. 

Doves are so lazy with nest building they like a good flat surface. Nests built in trees have a high risk of eggs rolling out.

[JohnAndSancho]

9 hours ago, Hillizard said:

Apparently, despite all the efforts I've put into the plantings in my garden, it wasn't up to standards for raising young! I'd chase it out of my garage but there are already two nestlings so I'll wait until these mourning doves (Zenaida macroura marginella) fledge. 

Alexa, play Prince. 

[Butch]

23 hours ago, Hillizard said:

Apparently, despite all the efforts I've put into the plantings in my garden, it wasn't up to standards for raising young! I'd chase it out of my garage but there are already two nestlings so I'll wait until these mourning doves (Zenaida macroura marginella) fledge. 

At least it wasn't these guys...😉...

Butch

 

 

[Hillizard]

🤣

If it was, I'd surrender the garage for the duration! Or try and bribe them to relocate with salmon fillets... 

2 hours ago, Butch said:

 

 

 

[Silas_Sancona]

1 hour ago, Hillizard said:

🤣

If it was, I'd surrender the garage for the duration! Or try and bribe them to relocate with salmon fillets... 

 

Bald / Golden Eagle sets up a nest -anywhere- on my property  ..let alone on  the house,  in a shed out back , under the Carport / garage / ...where ever    ...i'm headed to the gas station for a bunch of lottery tickets  ..for obvious reasons.

Caracara,  or Swallow Tailed Kite? =  Trip to the store ..for an increased amount of tickets,   ..after a long night at the Casino.. 




Doves? ..Nest in the Ficus out back every year.. Grackles, this year at least, too. 

No asking watching my every move, even while  supposedly  " shut " off " Alexa " ...for anything 

[Silas_Sancona]

Interesting article discussing how fire ants coordinate their response when their nest is disturbed. 

https://www.texasmonthly.com/travel/why-fire-ants-are-worse-than-you-thought/?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us

[Silas_Sancona]

Why Mr. Tarantula   ..What mighty long Palps you have....  

https://www.livescience.com/animals/spiders/it-seems-that-size-really-does-matter-males-of-4-never-before-seen-tarantula-species-have-record-long-genitalia
 

[Mazat]

On 8/1/2025 at 10:14 PM, Silas_Sancona said:

Bald / Golden Eagle sets up a nest -anywhere- on my property  ..let alone on  the house,  in a shed out back , under the Carport / garage / ...where ever    ...i'm headed to the gas station for a bunch of lottery tickets  ..for obvious reasons.

Caracara,  or Swallow Tailed Kite? =  Trip to the store ..for an increased amount of tickets,   ..after a long night at the Casino.. 




Doves? ..Nest in the Ficus out back every year.. Grackles, this year at least, too. 

No asking watching my every move, even while  supposedly  " shut " off " Alexa " ...for anything 

Wow, then you have a lot of animals on your property, everywhere. Yes, there are pigeons here, and every morning when you want to leave, they watch your every move. You don't need drones, they do it themselves 😁

We have red kites and black kites here. However, they have their nests in the nearby nature reserve and in the forester's forest on his property...
The red kites fly very close to our balcony. They have a relatively large wingspan of 170 cm / 66.92 in on average, with the females being much larger than the males when we observe them.
Some people here feed them, although a gamekeeper told me in the past that this should be avoided...

 

[Silas_Sancona]

12 hours ago, Mazat said:

Wow, then you have a lot of animals on your property, everywhere.

When you don't: 

** Use any  pesticides, except right around front / back door frames ..mainly to keep our giant cockroaches outside where they belong / Black Widow #'s in check / from entering the house.

Crickets,  and the occasional Gecko,  are allowed to hang out whenever they find their way inside however.

** Constantly fret over how much some insects munch on leaves / flowers.  Can't help but shake my head, laughing a bit, whenever someone gets worked up into an " it's the end of the world / sign of the Apocalypse " type of frenzy  over the sight of some tattered leaves / flowers.  ...Boo Hoo   /s

Our Heat/sun intensity damages far more things than any " bad " bugs ever do.  Bugs gotta eat too.  Plenty to go around.   Leaves and flowers will grow back.  In a healthy yard, the good bugs will keep the not so great bugs in check.  Birds / Lizards keep everyone in check. 

** 85% of your landscape consists of plants that benefit the animals that evolved with them. 

Is fun to sit back and observe which plants most animals utilize aand which are ...for the most part, totally avoided.. ( Easy answer:  they use Natives, 99% of the time )



You end up with...

Lots of critters, all year round and rarely any trouble w/ bugs.. 

Neighbor's outdoor Cat Circus is for more of a negative issue than any pesky insects. 

 

[JohnAndSancho]

1 hour ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Neighbor's outdoor Cat Circus is for more of a negative issue than any pesky insects. 

 

I.... Yeah. I couldn't agree any more. The only thing worse is an indoor cat circus. It's even worse when the cat owners aren't the one cleaning up after them. But anyway, moving along. 

[Silas_Sancona]

2 hours ago, JohnAndSancho said:

I.... Yeah. I couldn't agree any more. The only thing worse is an indoor cat circus. It's even worse when the cat owners aren't the one cleaning up after them. But anyway, moving along. 

AFAIC, Indoors or out,  Can't care for em' / keep them inside / outta other people's yards?  they need to be taken away....  Regardless,,  

🤔 Reminds me,  i need to get my " Effective Feral Cat Control " T shirt asap.   Thanks Joey ( Santore )

[JohnAndSancho]

5 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

AFAIC, Indoors or out,  Can't care for em' / keep them inside / outta other people's yards?  they need to be taken away....  Regardless,,  

🤔 Reminds me,  i need to get my " Effective Feral Cat Control " T shirt asap.   Thanks Joey ( Santore )

I'm conflicted. I don't want to deal with it, but it's really expensive to get the spay/neuters done, the free/cheap options have so many limitations placed on them, and in this part of the country if someone can't afford/doesn't want their kittens, they drive them out to the woods and drop them off. Lol they end up at this house. And then it just explodes from there. Shelters close due to lack of funding, and lack of interest. And the feral populations explode and spread disease, and so forth. I don't want to see harm brought to any living thing, but nobody seems to take the environmental impacts seriously and they become an invasive species that nobody cares about. And they just make more and more and more and more and more and more and more and more. 

[Jonathan]

Spot the birdies?

[Jonathan]

There they are! A nice pair of Tawny Frogmouths on their favourite Euc viminalis in our driveway. The bird on the right was in full cryptic mode but was watching us closely through a tiny slit of eye.

[Rivera]

Enallagma species on Eriogonum today

[Darold Petty]

Coyotes are the best response to outdoor or feral cats.

[Butch]

9 minutes ago, Darold Petty said:

Coyotes are the best response to outdoor or feral cats.

My sister had a couple of cats for mice control around their rural home, but the coyotes kept getting them, and they had to be replaced... Then one of new, young cats started hanging out with her big ol' tough dog... I mean it never left the dogs side.. Even curling up and sleeping with it... Well this smart, female cat had kittens, and she taught them the same behavior... Next thing you know she had too many cats, and to get rid of most them, and have the mother and any other cats fixed, because no more "coyote cat birth control"...

Butch

[tropicbreeze]

14 hours ago, Rivera said:

Enallagma species on Eriogonum today

First look at this photo made me think of our Ischnura pruinescens , similarly blue. But while some are distinctively blue, others can be vividly green. 
 
The American one above, Enallagma carunculatum, also has green forms.  

They're both in family Coenagrionidae. But even though they're worlds part they exhibit the same colour dichotomy.

[Silas_Sancona]

An interesting look  ..At Hermit Crabs...

https://slate.com/technology/2025/08/hermit-crab-lifespan-beach-pet-cage-breeding.html?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us

[kinzyjr]

The black racer has decided coconut palms make a great home:

[JohnAndSancho]

I didn't have my camera with me, but Sancho's turtle buddy was back. I've decided to name it Turt Reynolds. And I felt really bad when I was clearing weeds by the ditch and saw lizards scatter. I'm sorry little homeys, but we gotta get this place cleaned up. I did a YouTube walk around and it looks like an abandoned property that nobody bothered to turn the electricity off at. 

[Silas_Sancona]

...More Lizard - adjacent  ..than a Lizard..

This Century-Old Reptile is Fooling Everyone — It Isn’t A Lizard

[Urban Rainforest]

So one of the properties I work at in Pacific Beach San Diego has a nice population of Bibron Geckoes! I used to as a kid have lots of reptiles snakes, lizards etc. and instantly recognized these as something differant and non native! There is a healthy population of them and the little guys are hatching out now. I took a couple pics today of the next generation. Says online they are native to South Africa!

[Urban Rainforest]

This little guys popped out when I was watering and I could see him drinking the water.

[UK_Palms]

Never seen a praying Mantis before in the UK. I was putting the garden chairs away on Saturday before the rain and storms arrive and saw it just sitting there in the sun.

I didn’t even think we had them in Europe to be honest. After quickly checking, it seems there are populations documented in the Channel Islands and Isle of Wight.

[Silas_Sancona]

Two awesome summer beasts sure to really keep the extra special, Bug phobic folks locked indoors and trembling in their sleep. 

One of the Pit Trappers.. Possibly within the Genus Myrmeleon.. Though i'm pretty sure we have a few other Genus / species here. 



Fun watching the larvae rise up from the bottom of their pits to drag Ants ..and anything else that slides down their trap down into the abyss while watering stuff.




Summer #2 of one of these making an appearance in the yard.. 

My second favorite desert Beetle sure to cause the totally disconnected from the world outside their little box an immediate heart attack,  and make grown men cry like a pe-schooler.  😈


Not me though. BIG bugs = not a worry for me. 

And yes, that is a U.S. Quarter for scale in the first 2 shots..

Derobrachus hooveri   ...A species that was confused with / wrongly listed under D. geminatus  for over 100 years until DNA analysis solved the riddle of these two identical " Palo Verde Borer " Longhorn Beetle species...














Jaws are big and can give a finger a good nip but,   otherwise harmless    ..and quite fascinating. 


  After the above glamour shots, took her <  ..Females are always the larger of the two sexes... >   to a safer spot among the Palo Verde across the street where she could finish her job for the season.

 

[JohnAndSancho]

This pic is a lot nicer if you focus on the butterfly and ignore the weeds.