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| Photo by Tina Ligon |
BIRDS: Be careful what you wish for when it comes to calling all birds to your yard! The type of seed you supply can somewhat determine what kind of birds you will attract to your feeders. Just remember, you cannot discriminate against your little feathered friends! When you call them, they will come, all of them! So, when you see all of the black birds and sparrows eating up your seed don’t cringe, rejoice in the fact that you are one with the bird world! Don’t hit the bargain table when buying your seed. You want the best food for the health of your little feathered friends. Things to consider: Suet can go rancid in the high heat, sunflower seeds and peanuts in the shell leave a mess, cracked and whole corn attract unpopular birds and squirrels. Just remember, the more natural the better. Try planting flowers and vines in your yard with birds in mind. Some good resources on the web are: National Audubon Society;
www.audubon.org and Backyard Wildlife Habitat Program;
www.nwf.org.
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| Photo by Tina Ligon |
HUMMINGBIRDS: The original “Angry Birds”! They are very aggressive but fun to watch. Provide for their needs and they will come. These basic needs include: shelter, food, water and space. Shelter is critical to hide from predators, such as larger birds and domestic cats and helps to create safe nesting spots. Don’t forget that providing nesting materials is a fun way to help encourage the hummingbirds to stick around longer. Take your empty suet feeder and fill it with soft dry grasses or even dryer lint. Once they’ve established a nest you can spend the summer enjoying all of the excitement. Food usually consists of 70% flower nectar and 30% insects. The nectar provides carbohydrates and fat, while insects provide protein. Make your garden standout. Plant flowers that are red and purple. Some great perennials to include are: Agastache, Bee Balm, Columbine, Scarlet Gilia , Hyssop, Zauschneria, Salvia and Red Hot Poker. Penstamons are especially attractive because of their high nectar content. Also include some fall Salvias. Water is important for cleaning their bills and feathers. They like moving water like creeks and stream beds. A small fountain or waterfall can be a great substitute. Space is their last habitat need, it is critical because hummingbirds like to roam to feed and perch on hidden boughs. The females will stake out their territory around a nest while the males will have a more general flight territory. A great website to visit would be:The Hummingbird Society;
www.hummingbird.org.
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| Photo by C J Clawson |
BEES: Don’t be afraid! Bees are usually too busy to bother with you! However a Wasp doesn’t need a reason to go after you! Make sure you make the bees happy and they will make you happy! Try some of these basic things to make your bees happy. Bees prefer white, yellow or blue flowers. Bees can’t see red! They need a good source of fresh or running water, select native plants that bloom at different times of the year and provide lots of pollen, plant flowers in and around your vegetable garden and avoid pesticides. Some resources to use for more information are:
www.audubonmagazine.org, North American Pollinator Protection Campaign
www.nappc.org,
www.xerces.org/Pollinator
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| Photo by C J Clawson |
BUTTERFLIES: Oh, what a pleasure they are! You definitely want to attract them to your garden! Adult female butterflies search for plants so they can lay their eggs. Caterpillars of the Monarch butterfly develop only on milkweed. The Black Swallowtail caterpillar feed only on parsley, dill and other closely related plant families. Adult butterflies like to eat sweet liquids like the honeydew left behind by aphids and nectar from flowers. Having purple flowers in your garden are sure to draw butterflies to your yard. Some great choices are: garden phlox, zinnias, lavender, verbena, asters and rock cress. Some wonderful examples of flowers that break the purple rule would be: daisies and sunflowers. These are single stem flowers with a central disk ringed by petals. This is a butterfly banquet! The butterfly will stay longer and linger to check out each and every little petal for nectar. This could lead to great photo opportunities! Some of the websites listed above are excellent resources for all pollinators.
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| Photo by Joyce D'Agostino |
Start planning now for your new visitors and enjoy!!
