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- A view of our backyard along Lemon Bay with a beautiful Asiatic hibiscus which has no nectar to attract insects and birds
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- A carpenter bee visits a burgundy passion flower
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- A mangrove skipper obtains nectar from an exotic penta
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- This female monarch has just emerged from its chrysalis after we reared it from an egg deposited on giant milkweed in our garden
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- This mourning dove is a common visitor to yards
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- A male pine warbler is not commonly seen in our yard where it is attracted to a water drip
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- The male cardinal is not only spectacular but its beautiful winter time song is a prelude to spring
We are fortunate in having a lot on Lemon Bay which is both picturesque and attractive to wildlife. However a major aspect of the yard that brings in wildlife is the vegetation. We have about 160 species of plants divided almost equally between natives and exotics. However I have to fight against an “addiction” to beautiful flowers such as the Asiatic hibiscus that provide no benefits to insects since they lack nectar.
One exotic flower that is beneficial to local insects is the burgundy passionflower, which attracts insects such as this carpenter bee. The leaves are eaten by passion vine specialists such as caterpillars of zebra and gulf fritillary butterflies. A mangrove skipper whose caterpillar might have fed on nearby red mangroves is attracted by the nectar in flowers of this exotic penta. Our monarch butterflies (which require milkweeds for food at the caterpillar stage of their life cycle) benefit from the presence of exotic milkweeds (both giant and tropical) as native milkweeds do not thrive in our area. The photo shows a female monarch that has just emerged from her chrysalis. We raised her from an egg laid on one of our giant milkweed plants.
When birds come to our water drips we get an up close and personal look at them which can be very interesting. For example this common “trash bird” the mourning dove or “modo” has a beautiful face pattern. Another visitor to the drip is a male pine warbler which has a subdued beauty. We have a pair of cardinals in our yard which nest here and we especially enjoy the spectacular song of the male this time of year. His color is also spectacular but those of us who have grown up with cardinals have become too familiar with them to fully appreciate their beauty. When our relatives from Utah visit, they cannot believe how astounding the male looks. Apparently the female cardinal is also smitten by lots of red since she is likely the evolutionary agent that has selected to mate with males with the brightest red color.
When you think about enjoying wild animals, do not fail to look right in your backyard. If you select yard plants that have specific qualities that attract animals, you will be richly rewarded.