Wildlife Wednesday :: God's Creation

In August, when I could manage it, I retreated to the garden with my camera. Spending time outdoors, observing God's amazing creation, always lifts my spirit and reminds me that I do not have to worry about tomorrow...not ever. *

Here are the photos I took of the wildlife that visited my garden last month:

BIRDS

Male Ruby-throated Hummingbird in the evening light.

Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird showing off her elegant neck.

A Blue Jay selects a peanut from the feeder.

SQUIRREL

Zipping along the fence after raiding the bird feeder.

BEES

Bumblebee working the salvia.

Leafcutter Bee, another fan of salvia. 

DRAGONFLIES

Posing nicely in the garden.

Making a meal out of a Green Lacewing.

BUTTERFLY 

Tiny Skipper Butterfly, wings spread, basking in the sun.

MOTH

Huge Polyphemus Moth, freshly emerged.

CATERPILLAR

Sphinx Moth Caterpillar on the spent tomato plants.

*Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. ~ Matthew 6:34 (ESV)

I hope you enjoyed my contribution to Wildlife Wednesday—a meme, hosted by Tina at My Gardener Says..., that celebrates wildlife in the garden on the first Wednesday of every month.

Butterflies and Host Plants

A newly planted butterfly garden at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge was aflutter with butterflies last Saturday.

Common Buckeye on Indian Blanket

A Common Buckeye posed nicely for me on an Indian Blanket flower, which happens to be one of its host plants. 

Host plants are important in attracting butterflies to your garden. Each variety of butterfly has specific types of plants that it will lay its eggs on. That plant then become food for the caterpillars when the eggs hatch.

Palamedes Swallowtail on Cowpen Daisy

The Cowpen Daisy, also known as Golden Crownbeard, was the most popular flower in this garden. It was attracting dozens of Palamedes Swallowtails as well as other butterflies and pollinators. Based on what I saw, this is a flower that I should add to my own garden.

Palamedes Swallowtail

I'd love to attract the Palamedes Swallowtail to our garden, though I've never seen any in our area. Perhaps we are out of its range, however it wouldn't hurt to try by planting one of its hosts, Sweet Bay, which is also a host plant of the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail which we see frequently.

Duskywing on Cowpen Daisy

Also attracted to Cowpen Daisy for its nectar was a small butterfly which I think is called Horace's Duskywing. Oaks are its host plants. 

This butterfly was a little bit faded and missing the tip of one of its forewings, but it was still going strong. I've observed butterflies far more tattered than this one maneuvering in flight like they were newly emerged from the chrysalis. I've learned that butterflies are tougher than they look.

Bordered Patch Caterpillars on Cowpen Daisy

Soon we began to notice clusters of caterpillars on the Cowpen Daisies. A plant that is a great source of nectar and a caterpillar host is a bonus in any butterfly garden. I'm definitely planting this flower as soon as I can locate a source.

We later identified the caterpillars as the larva of the Bordered Patch butterfly. I wish I would have been able to get a picture of one. There were probably some around, judging from all the caterpillars we saw.

The butterfly garden at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge was just planted this year in April, but it's off to a great start.