Backyard freeloaders

[Narrow Way Knapper]

My oldest son found a cocoon in a bush. He put it in his critter cage and it hatched into a very large moth.

[Tam]

Cool lesson for your son .

[Uncle Trav]

An awesome find!!! That’s a Cecropia moth. The largest moth in North America. Very very cool!
👍😃

[Uncle Trav]

My temporary backyard for this week has been Shenandoah National Park. We put in a lot of miles doing some grueling waterfall hikes. I always take point on these hikes. The trails are mostly rocks, boulders, logs and roots. I always keep an eye on those little patches of morning sun shining through the canopy because some of the locals need a morning warm up. We gave one local a wide birth while he was basking in the sun. A good size copperhead! I’m not a fan of snakes but it was cool to see. Back to the grind come Monday morning and I already miss the mountains.

[clovisoid]

A beautiful snake! (And pretty calm if left alone.)

[Uncle Trav]

A new visitor to the garden this year. A Great Spangled Flitillary. A welcomed site. Butterflies populations in my area have been very low in the past couple of years.

[clovisoid]

Very cool thread. My grandmother loved feeding birds, when she was old and moving really slowly, she'd make her way outside and sit in the sun and feed a couple by hand. My kids were fascinated by that because they couldn't sit still long enough to get the birds comfortable enough to get close.

[CMD]

Very cool thread. My grandmother loved feeding birds, when she was old and moving really slowly, she'd make her way outside and sit in the sun and feed a couple by hand. My kids were fascinated by that because they couldn't sit still long enough to get the birds comfortable enough to get close.

I ran across this woman in my Facebook feed. She gets so many different species to eat out of her hand. Wish I were a bird whisperer!

Male Red-Bellied Woodpecker, followed by a male Downy Woodpecker…..

[Uncle Trav]

That is very cool! Thanks for the link. I tend to have a lot more patience with the wild critters than I do with most people LOL.

[Uncle Trav]

With the garden finally filling in the small critters are making the best of it. One cool visitor was a hummingbird moth enjoying the lantana nectar. These little guys hover and fly exactly like their namesake. Really hard to get a good pic of them flying. My wife says they look like a flying shrimp. Also a pic of our house wren in her nesting box and a couple of the bumbles on the purple bee balm. Thanks for taking a look.

[Uncle Trav]

Here’s one of the main freeloaders stopping by the snack box.

[Uncle Trav]

Seems like the good weather is finally here to stay for awhile!! My backyard critters are in full on spring mode. Time to plant the annuals in the flower garden to bring in the butterflies and other pollinators. Gonna be a good summer and I plan to milk it for all it’s worth.
😃

[Narrow Way Knapper]

A guy at Lowes gave me a big bag of birdseed because of some bar code problem. When I was passing the birdseed isle, I could hear a pretty large critter gorging itself back behind the birdseed bags. I couldn't stop laughing because that critter was set for life.

hope to keep the mourning doves around, since they are some of my favorite birds.

[Uncle Trav]

Here’s mother house wren peeking out her new abode. She’s on a clutch of eggs. We have another next box with a family of house wren as well
😃

[SGT.Digger]

Teach the arrowheads how to do that and you’ll be a millionaire

[Uncle Trav]

😂🤣

[Narrow Way Knapper]

Ever seen a Velvet Ant? It's technically a wasp, but the beautiful female doesn't have wings.

[Uncle Trav]

Very cool. I’ve never seen one before

[Josie]

Even though a wasp, we call them cow ants. I went out to throw something in a compost pile and had a clear Tupperware like container in my hand. Came back on the porch and there was a cow ant on the porch. I threw the container over it and went inside to get a boot or something to kill it with. Came back out and the cow ant lifted the bowl and crawled out from underneath it😂. They are tough little creatures.

[clovisoid]

Josie, that one deserved freedom!

[Tam]

[Tam]

This guy came in for the kill this afternoon .

[Narrow Way Knapper]

That's a large looking bird. What's the narrative?

[Uncle Trav]

I have hawks come by meal now and again. All the critters have to eat and feed their young so I welcome them the same as all the others