Nature Notes/Around My Yard
Now with the warmer weather and the hint of rain, there's plenty happening by way of garden wildlife. Every time I step out of the house, there are birds, spiders, lizards, bees and butterflies drawing my attention. I usually see the garden lizards outside but sometimes they land on the wash-basin in the guest bathroom and find it difficult to get out.
This one nearly barked at me to hurry up. So I got a pair of tongs, lifted it, went to my terrace garden and placed it on the Cardboard Palm/Zamia furfuracea (first picture). I got a most disapproving look for my efforts and it quickly jumped to the thorny branch of the bougainvillea.
After a little game of "Now you see me, now you don't", I left it to return to my chores.
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| An itsy-bitsy spider |
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| ...and its prey |
With the rains we get to see several colourful damselflies but I was happy to photograph the first damselfly of the year. It's the most common one in our area, black with yellow stripes near the head.
The few poppies that I am growing next to some phlox are attracting several bees. The yellow allamanda as well as the nasturtiums are attracting a few butterflies as well.
Caterpillar Update
The swallowtail caterpillar that I had posted last week now looks like this! Egged on (pun intended) by the sight of these butterflies-in-the-making, I stopped by a nursery today for a few more lemon plants. Imagine my delight when I saw that one of the plants I bought had five of these caterpillars. It remains to be seen how many of them make it to the butterfly stage. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
To see what's happening in the world of nature, head over to Rambling Woods where many bloggers share pictures and posts on Nature Notes.
16 comments:
What a LOT of interesting pictures. Its funny because at my first house in Sarasota lizards kept getting into the window and falling into the bathtub and my sons would have to fish them out for me!
Your lizard in the drain is adorable - glad he got rescued. The bee in the poppy is lovely.
I do love your captures for the day! What a wonderful group of "little critters"! Good to see close-ups of these that those of us who live in the heart of a large city get few opportunities to see! Hope your week is going well!
Sylvia
How sweet that little lizard it and thank you for rescuing it..There is so much nature in your yard. I hope the plants weren't sprayed with chemicals like they do here so the caterpillars can grow up..Great post for nature notes...Michelle
Great nature post. I love all the shots but the lizard is my favorite.
great captures of all the critters
I love your bougainvillea and the cute lizard. Great nature post.
Love all the "creepy crawleys" and the insects; they're wonderful. We have lizards but I think yours are lots bigger. Oh I hope the caterpillars get to the next stage! I will watch for that happening.
I adore lizards!
I wish I had some visiting me :)
great photos
I have had spiders in the bathroom many times but lizards...never!! I have never been lucky enough to even see one in my garden. What a beautiful little creature it is and your lovely photos show it to perfection.
Your blooms are so bright and cheerful too.
Wonderful captures. I like your lizard shots.
Wow that's quite a lot of wildlife there around your house! Great shots! :)
Super lizard photos, fingers crossed for those swallowtail caterpillars. What a lovely surprise to find 5 swallowtail caterpillars amongst your lemon plants.
Your garden is full of surprises and magic – how wonderful! Soon I’ll see wall lizards in my bathroom as each rain brings warmer weather at this time of year in my part of the world, too. Thanks for encouraging and inspiring us with these photos.
Yoko
Your garden must be a happy eco refuge for all these critters which could indicate a minimal, judicious use of critter-unfriendly chemicals.
Kanak, you really surprise me. I don't know too many people who'd rejoice seeing caterpillars in their plants. But then I guess that's why all those lovely insects come swarming to your garden and agree to pose for you. Or do they? You're just really good at insect photography. Loved this post.
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