Down in the Garden

Delphinium and juvenile hummer

A Garden for the Birds!

Every day we go down to our garden in the evening to enjoy its beauty.  It is such a pleasure watching all the birds and bugs that visit!  Since I don't feed wild birds with seeds or nectar anymore, I've started to plant some native plants in my garden to feed the birds.  It will take a while to get them established, but luckily my garden is already totally surrounded by native plants.  I still have lots of non-native exotic plants (like the Delphinium above) that birds and insects visit, but recently I've learned that it's better to grow native plants in your garden.  Unlike non-native plants, native plants attract bugs that are a staple of bird diets. Native plants are also better adapted to survive the challenges of drought and climate change.  In urban areas, much of the native vegetation has been altered, disturbed or destroyed.  Planting gardens with native plants helps restore this loss. There are numerous websites online that discuss this topic.  I've found the Cornell, Audubon, and California Native Plant Society websites to be extremely informative and user friendly.  

The following excellent information is from the National Audubon Society at https://www.audubon.org/news/why-native-plants-are-better-birds-and-people.

"To survive, native birds need native plants and the insects that have co-evolved with them. Most landscaping plants available in nurseries are exotic species from other countries. Many are prized for qualities that make them poor food sources for native birds—like having leaves that are unpalatable to native insects and caterpillars. With 96 percent of all terrestrial bird species in North America feeding insects to their young, planting insect-proof exotic plants is like serving up plastic food. No insects? No birds.

For example, research by entomologist Doug Tallamy has shown that native oaks support more than 550 different species of butterflies and moths alone. The non-native ginkgo tree supports just 5. Caterpillars are the go-to food source for migrant and resident birds alike. In the 16 days between hatching and fledging, a clutch of Carolina Chickadee chicks can down more than 9,000 of them.

Native plants have adapted to thrive in their regional landscape, without added water or nutrients. With climate change models predicting increased episodes of extreme drought such as California is experiencing, it’s a good time to shift to water-wise yards and native plants.

Native plants are often hardier than non-native ornamentals and thrive without pesticides or fertilizers. Moreover, as you work to create a bird-friendly sanctuary in your yard, insects that may have seemed like pests before become allies. Since caterpillars are premium bird food, the holes they make in your oak’s leaves are badges of success and the caterpillars themselves cause for celebration."

There are many nurseries that sell native plants, and many websites that will help you find which plants are native to your area.  For instance, the following website https://www.audubon.org/native-plants features a native plant database. All you have to do is type in your zip code, and a list of native plants for your area becomes available!  When I tried it, I was happy to see that 22 plants on the list currently grow right near my garden!  

Right now I have 5 native plants growing in my garden.  I plan to add lots more!  I hope it helps the birds a little bit!

Lesser Goldfinch (male - juveniles) - Carduelis psaltria

Just this morning I heard some tiny chattering coming from our garden.  To my delight it was a group of three Lesser Goldfinches feeding on the seeds of the Bachelor Buttons!  They also like to eat insects and the plant leaves!  How lovely!  The two juveniles accompanying the male were begging to be fed, while it fed on the plants!  So cute!  More of these lovely birds will be here in the fall when our sunflowers have gone to seed.

Bullock's Orioles (female - male) - Icterus bullockii

Every year, for the past four years a pair of Bullock's Orioles has made a home near our garden.  Both parents feed the nestlings. In the evenings we watch them zip past our garden as they search for insects in the local trees and shrubs.  I was curious what they were gleaning off the local native willows so I examined one and found it had lots of little green caterpillars on the leaves!  Another time we watched the female nab a butterfly right in our garden! The number of trips they make back and forth from the nest to feed their young is around 13 trips per hour, or 156 trips per parent in a 12 hour period!  The nesting period lasts for 12-13 days.  That's 1,872 trips per parent during that time, for a total of 3,744!  That is a LOT of bugs captured!  WOW!!!

  

Bullock's Oriole (female) and three nestlings - Icterus bullockii

A few years ago the Bullock's Oriole nest was really visible and I got this photo of the female feeding its three young!!!  Wow!  This year, the nest is concealed from view, so I didn't get any photos.

California Sister - Lorquin's Admiral - Fritillary

Adelpha californica - Limenitis lorquini - Speyeria sp.

Garden Butterflies!

There are numerous species of insects feeding in our garden, which I've written about in past blogs (enter "Down in the Garden", "Pollinators", or "Native Bees" in the search bar on the top right).  This year butterflies are more numerous than ever!  Swallowtails are the most prevalent right now.  If you're interested in the natural history of California butterflies, check out Art Shapiro's Butterfly Website at https://butterfly.ucdavis.edu/butterflies.  He is a UC Davis professor who has  been studying butterfly populations in California for more than 45 years!  His website is an incredible resource, no matter where you live! 

Butterfly Gardens are quite popular, and there's tons of information about how to grow one on the internet.  I've discovered that in the book The Laws Field Guide to the Sierra Nevada the author lists which plant or plant family a butterfly larva (caterpillar) feeds on!  This is really helpful if you want to grow plants that attract butterflies! 

Common Buckeye - Sierra Pericopid - Clodius Parnassian

Junonia coenia - Gnophaela latipennis - Parnassius clodius sol

Here's a few butterflies that aren't as common as the Swallowtails.

Pale Swallowtail - Anise Swallowtail - Tiger Swallowtail

Papilio eurymedon - Papilio zelicaon - Papilio rutulus rutulus

It was so interesting to see these three kinds of Swallowtails!

Valley Garter Snake - Side-blotch Lizard

Thamnophis sirtalis ssp. fitchi - Uta stansburiana

Garden Reptiles!

Reptiles thrive in our garden because there are lots of insects, slugs, and earthworms living there, and plenty of good cover!  Garter snakes are fairly common but not numerous.  Every once in a while a rattlesnake shows up!

Bufflehead (female with 6 ducklings) - Bucephula albeola

Lakes Basin Fledglings!

To my extreme pleasure, I've seen some fledglings in the Lakes Basin recently!  There are numerous ponds and lakes there, and it seems that on every pond there is just one family of Bufflehead ducks.  I saw these little cuties in a pond around 7,000' this week!  In the past it was believed that most Buffleheads migrated to Alaska and Canada to breed, but since 1996 there have been more and more sightings of them nesting on small mountain lakes in the northern Sierra Nevada!  Every summer we love seeing them in the Lakes Basin!  

Common Merganser (female) and 8 ducklings

This Common Merganser female and her ducklings were sticking close together on the windy, wave covered surface of Gold Lake last week.  I just love seeing them ride on the back of their mother!  She had 8 ducklings, just like the two female mergansers in my neighborhood!  So delightful to see!

  

Sandhill Cranes and juvenile (inset) - Antigone canadensis

inset photo of juvenile by Rod Bondurant

My friends Rod and Rochelle were camping in the Lakes Basin last week, when they spotted a pair of Sandhill Cranes on the shore of a large pond!  They also saw a little fledgling swimming in the water near them, and Rod got a photo of it!  I think, but I'm waiting on confirmation from iNaturalist.org, that it could have been a young Sandhill Crane!!!  I was so excited that I went up the next morning to see if they were still around.  I spotted the two adults right away, but they were in the tall grasses.  If there was a fledgling it wasn't visible.  I didn't see any waterfowl in the pond at all.  However, it was super cool to see the adults in the Lakes Basin!  I've only seen them fly over the Lakes Basin.  Sierra Valley is where I usually see them on the ground.

Meadow Penstemon - Penstemon rydbergii

More Lakes Basin Wildflowers!

The Lakes Basin continues to blossom!  Some wildflowers fade away while others emerge!   How lucky we are to see such beauty!  

Showy Penstemon - Mountain Pride - Whorled Penstemon 

Penstemon speciosus - Penstemon newberryi - Penstemon heterodoxus

Starry False Lily of the Valley - Fendler's Meadow Rue (male-female)

Maianthemum stellatum - Thalictridium fendleri

Bogbean - Tinker's Penny - Elephant Head

Menyanthes trifoliata - Hypericum anagalloides - Pedicularis groenlandica

Iceland Poppy in our Garden

More Damp Earth Art!

It RAINED this week!  On Thursday afternoon around 3:30 we had an 8 minute downpour!  Luckily, the clouds stuck around, and a few hours later it rained heavily for half an hour, and then drizzled for an hour or more!  Yahoo!  The official total is only 1/20 of an inch, but we're happy to get any rain at all.  It smelled heavenly.  The air was moist and fragrant!  It was indeed a cause for celebration!!!  Yahoo!

More hot weather is coming up, but anytime I think of it, I focus on rain, rain, rain. My intention is to focus on the need for rain, and through collective positive energy invoke rain to fall. It is just a wish, a thought, and a hope. If you would like to submit some rain inspired art, or writing, or a photo please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com. Check out what's already been submitted at dampearthart.blogspot.com

You can view what was submitted last year at dampearth.blogspot.com.

I will be posting new art weekly. Check it out and pray for rain!

Are the bears back?

How are the nesting birds doing?

Are the high elevation meadows still blooming?

Check back next week for the answers to these questions and more!

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