I can’t believe it. You know what I saw in my garden yesterday afternoon? A cardinal!
I saw one once before, maybe two years ago, but not since then.
It’s so nice to know that my lovely garden is attracting all kinds of wildlife that we don’t normally see in the middle of such a big city.
Looking out at the garden today I’ve seen at least three different monarch butterflies buzzing around all the flowers. They are so pretty!
Now, I must get some photos of these creatures if I can. Last year I hunted down a butterfly for days that was hanging out around my Rose of Sharon tree. Every time I brought out the camera the butterfly flew away as if it knew I was trying to take it’s photo. I did eventually get a few great shots of it though.
Now to do it again.
For lots of ideas to get more wildlife in your yard, check out the “Backyard Habitat” program from National Wildlife.
nwf.org/backyard
You can get ideas on what to plant to attract songbirds & butterflies, hummingbirds & more.
By putting the right “locally specific” native plants in our yard, we went from 2 butterfly species to over 40, and from 5 bird species (2 of which were alien invaders… Starlings & English House Sparrows) to over 40. Our yard, by the way, is only 50 x 100 feet, in residential central ohio.
We’ve even had Coopers Hawks, the elusive & shy Brown Creeper, a pair of Northern Flickers, 3 kinds of woodpeckers, babies of most species… Build it & they will come.
Enjoy,
Marc
p.s. for butterflies… set up your camera & tripod in advance, sit in the shade or under an umbrella without moving. Use a remote “trigger” to get the best images.