A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2007 Birds and Butterflies

Thornius, thank you especially for including pics. They are very informative. Will this jewelweed propagate profusely with those seed pods or am I pretty safe putting it in my yard? By the way I have been trying to get a picture of this guy for a week and when I just read on one of these forums that you are a woodpecker guy, I wanted to send it to you. There is a male and female in the box, don't know about babies yet. (I can't find the forum again, oh well.) Thanks again!

Momma D, That is a male Northern Flicker, more of a Ground Pecker than a Woodpecker. They are often found on the ground where they hunt for worms and ants. You can tell that is a male because of the black "Moustache". The females lack the moustache. As for Jewelweed I'm not sure if it will grow in a yard. I've ONLY seen in VERY damp marshy areas. It grows quite well there.

i have jewelweed growing in my yard. It grows next to my garage, in my raised garden in back. The hummers and deer love it. If it p;ops up where you dont want it it's very easy to pull out. I saved some seeds if you want some. lmk.

Wrennie, that would be really nice if you would send me some seeds. I haven't done anything like that on here yet so please let me know how to do it. Momma D

ive got one of those northern flickers hanging around my backyard. i went nuts when i first saw it trying to figure out what it was, finally found it on the internet.

MommaD
I'm pretty new here so, I'll go the way of another forum I go on.
Send me a pm (private message) with your address and I'll mail you some. It grows in relatively cool partly shaded spots here. It may not do well in your summer but spring and fall it should do well.

Here is a picture I took a couple of hours ago of Trumpet Vine (also known as Trumpet Creeper) in full bloom.

TRUMPET VINE


No Hummers were present although I did see a flock of Cedar Waxwings, a Female Eastern bluebird on the nest, and some sparrows, either Field Sparrows or Chipping Sparrows. I think the former.

Very nice picture, Thorny!

Ours doesn't bloom until August!

All the trumpet I see around here is orange.
I like the yellow.

Here is a close-up of some Trumpet Vine I took this morning:

TRUMPET VINE

Thornius, I have one of these in a pot because I know they can be invasive. It really doesn't want to be in the pot, I can tell (haha). Do you have a lot of problems with them popping up all over? They are beautiful and definitely my choice, but I see too much negative about them. Thanks for your help. PS, the baby blue birds have fledged. Yeah!! Lin

These grow wild in the woods across the road from my house. I walk there every day for exercise and photograph birds and other items of interest. Since they are not in yards they don't take anything over and they add a lot of color and interest to the woods.

Isaw a nest box with a Momma bluebird on the nest inside about 50 feet from the above Trumpet Vine. I will keep my eye on the nest unobtrusively over the next few months.

Here is a hummer i snapped this evening
hope u can see it.
bettyboop1948
might be too small not close enough

man i havent seen one yet and my feeders are untouched. but im in a somewhat urban area so i guess they wont get here until they crowd each other out of the country side. they were thick here last year but it was a bit later in the year when i noticed em. come to think of it,i saw my first one when i was sitting in my boat at a dock on bull shoals somewhere around the second week of may. when i got home a week later
and was sitting on my front porch,i had one visit my feeder right above me. i was afraid to move my head for a better look for fear of scaring it off. after that ,they came more and more,eventually turning my porch into a war zone!

Porter here is a painting done by an Anthropomorphic artist named Dark Natasha. Anthropomorphic artists depict animals with human characteristics (Bugs Bunny for example). Dark Natasha did this painting to portray the warlike nature of Hummingbirds which are among some of the most aggressive birds in the world.

AGGRESSIVE HUMMERS

I saw my first indigo bunting today!

I haven't seen or heard any yet this year but should any day now. The last few days my yard has been invaded by swarms of Cedar Waxwings.

Our new house has a lovely trumpet vine growing up a big, sturdy trellis. It also has about 7,955 volunteers all over the yard!!! Well, probably not quite that many, but I have enough for half the township. I'll be digging them up and giving them away to friends and family, so they can have some fun, too!

Yesterday I saw one of the yellow butterflies that looks a lot like a monarch it was so pretty and it hung around so that the elders could see it too. I love all the butterflies and birds that are comming to visit. Someday maybe a humming bird will come too.

Tk, Put out a hummer feeder and look for the hummers to start coming in about two weeks to one month. You will mostly get females and young at that time as many of the males have already migrated. Hummingbirds come most often from July to October after the initial arrival in April and May. The rest of the time they are raising their young.

Hi Thorny,

My last roommate broke my hummingbird feeder and I don't have the cash to replace it. But I do have a cardinal vine growing so maybe that will get something going. I do have bees galore this year because of the Hollyhocks. I had no idea there were that many bees in the neighborhood. And today I got a very special suprise. I had one of the brown doves in the garden. She didn't stay more than a minute but I was so glad to see here. I love doves. I also have those black shiny birds "gackles" (?). Unfortunately none of these birds sit still for pictures. Althought one of the two squirrels that are around now are pretty tame.

I'm loving all the wildlife.

The black shiny birds are probably Common Grackles. I have about 20 in my yard. They empty my feeders daily.

COMMON GRACKLE

Wow Thorny,

Your pictures are amazing. My birds don't have the white ring around their eyes. Are they still grackles?

tkhooper
The ring is really it's eye color and yellow. I assume sunlight or flash makes it look white in Thornys picture. Lemme' look now.... *flip page**...... **flip page**...here we go... The boat tailed Grackles range is on the Virginia shore. I don't know where you are. But depending on ight and the angle you're looking from the Commons eye may not show that 'ring'.