The Discovery of Archie Jr.'s

 Last week I talked about Archie's Garden, when I got free worms and milkweed. Turns out those milkweed came with a bonus prize:

On May 8 while tending my seedlings to my great surpise there was an Archie Jr.!

As if things couldn't get any better, the next day I found...

Two monarch caterpillars at once - and we've never had any! I am extatic. Mother was less thrilled, her first reaction when I did the happy dance and "I got Archie's" song was "oh no, now you're naming caterpillars?". She was a bit cheerier when I explained why they are named Archie Jr and why they are so special, as well as making the promise that they don't come inside the house... (I accidentally brought a green one in with some salad greens last year and her reaction when I found it was rather hilarious)

Three days after discovery Archie Jr #1 has most definitely grown... Also, they each tried to stop my heart by disappearing for a day, but they each came back.

And by one week later:

Ok, at this point I was starting to have doubts about those Milkweed seedlings keeping up with the Archies. And those doubts turned out to be well founded because by the 15th they'd eaten one milkweed seedling bare of leaves and were working on the stem; and the other seedling triplet was only a degree better. Commence emergency nursery runs...

First I went to my local nursery: asked for milkweed, got a funny look, clarified "butterfly milkweed, butterfly bush" and got pointed to the only variety they had (and also picked up a purty columbine and echeveria because I am weak) only to discover a couple of hours later that the Archies weren't eating it... wrong butterfly bush. They gave me buddleja, similar common name, way wrong species :/ (I will be returning it, just haven't gotten around to it quite yet)

So I zoomed over to Home Depot because damnit, milkweed is popular now and it's blooming season and they ought to have it! But no, they don't. *&#%$^@!!!

And it was off to the International Garden Center (I could wander that place for hours... alas it is a bit pricey and reserved for special days *sigh*) where they're nicest little old guy happily showed me each of the milkweeds they had. Real milkweeds - Asclepias tuberosa (there was also a buddleja in bloom, thankfully I learned the first time though). I finally picked out the all yellow one first previewed in my Belated Bloom Day post. I also took home a blue annual dwarf delphinium *coughcough* for my mom of course.

And at home I wasted no time repotting that sucker and relocating the Archies!

 

Naturally a day after that one of them disappeared again... he has not come back yet `:( Then my remaining Archie Jr. started doing the Dracula here:

 He did the Dracula for 3 days straight. I thought he was going into crystalis mode, but no it was just a ruse. He started nibbling again...while I did battle with his cousins - the Fuzzy Terrors!

  You deplete my Kale, you get banished to the ornamentals in the front yard... :P

Anyway, last time I saw Archie Jr. he was still happily munching away his milkweed and getting super chubba. I didn't see him for a couple of day again, but then he reappeared this morning. I just wish he'd get to the crystalis stage so I can stop fussing over him!

 *sigh* I am a sucker for living critters.

Btw, the little milkweed seedlings look like they may acutally survive. The one that was eaten bare is trying to sprout new leaves, as are the other ones. Hoorah!

Happy Sightings!

I've had four sightings in the last 3 weeks that have made me do happy dances :) Sadly, each time I had no camera in my hands :/

Three weeks ago I saw my Cooper's hawk fly overhead just before sunset. I assume he/she was heading to wherever the nest is for the night. I hadn't seen it for awhile and was worrying over it.

The week after that I got up to water my green children one morning and found hover flies everywhere in my container garden! They were going after my alyssum and too fast to catch on camera :/ I saw many different sizes and colors so I think that means there's a good variety in my mini-habitat :)

Last week I stopped by home in the middle of day and there was the Cooper's hawk again! It flew out of dad's avocado tree (online info says they like to ambush little birds inside tree canopies) and sat on our fence briefly before flying off to chase a crow. That was amazing to see. Despite the fact that it's trying to make a meal out of my little army (as I call the sparrows and morning doves that come to our feeder) I really like having that hawk around. I would just prefer it to eat more pigeons instead...

Aaand... this morning while watering my green children again I heard a weird buzzy noise and looked up and - hummingbird! First I've seen this year. It was checking out the Alaska nasturtiums in the backyard :) I'm surprised to have it visit the container garden when I've hung a hummingbird feeder in the front yard :z

I must add more nasturtiums.... and transplant the red salvia I got last week....

Happy wildlife sightings to everyone!

I Has a Falcon! - Scratch That - HAWK!!!

...or possibly a hawk - but I think it's a falcon :)

We've spotted a pair of these (and once a young'un) in my neighborhood many times in the last 3 or 4 years. This is the first time I've caught one on camera. It always raises my spirits to see them.

Suprised the hell outta me. There was a commotion in the avocado tree, at first I thought it was a squirrel. Then I heard my little army (the flock of sparrows) getting very upset, so of course it must be the Felis catus "Predator Mode" and I approached cursing at her... Then I hear "maouw" from the carport and oh - Felis catus is on the ground with me... At that point I turned on the video mode just in time to catch it flying out! That was about two weeks ago, last Sunday I watched it fly from our tree again but no camera :/

The video pretty much sucks. I got a few almost decent pics as you can see. I love my Fujifilm cam, but long distance zoom is not one of its strong points... I'm comparing with photos of LA County birds, but still not sure exactly which species this one is...perhaps Falco peregrinus anatum the American Peregrine Falcon, or "Duck Hawk"...? If anyone out there knows for sure please tell me! Here are the best close-ups:

On a related note I've lived in the same neighborhood my entire life (minus about 18 months) and wildlife was a bit on the scarce side until about 7 or 8 years ago. As a kid I was absolutely thrilled to once see a squirrel at the park down the street and a possum on the next block. Besides the sparrows, crows, mourning doves and pigeons that was it, seriously. I had heard of other wild animals in nearby neighborhoods but never seen them. As a kid I felt a bit cheated.

Now it's different. I don't know what or why but there's alot more diversity around here now and it makes me silly happy :D There are quite a few squirrels on my street (I know they could potentially become an annoyance in my garden but I'm still thrilled they're here!), I see possums on my evening walks, there are the falcons of course, I've spotted an american goldfinch in our cosmos, mom saw a blue jay last week (not sure which specie yet either), and Sunday morning I shooed a young lizard out of our kitchen :) I've also found more different bugs in the yard than I ever saw as a kid, many I've never seen at all!

And so I wonder why now? It makes sense that there's more bug diversity and lizards in our yard - I've grown insect attracters, created more shelter, the flower beds hold more moisture and much longer. But what about the squirrels, possums and falcons? What suddenly brought them to us and got them to decide to stay? They started coming long before we improved our yard. They're certainly not surviving off our garden (although the falcon is making more effort to ambush my army!). Several homes have been improved quite a bit, but (except a highly select few) hardly anyone has gone for a garden suitable to wildlife. I don't think the number of backyard habitats has gone up at all.

So why are they coming?

I have no idea... but I'm definitely encouraging them to stay!

***UPDATE 9/23/10***

I owe a big THANK YOU to Glenn Nevill who responded to this post and was able to tell me - I has a Cooper's HAWK! It pleases me greatly to put a name to these raptors.... hey wait a sec.... I has Raptors! Cue the Jurassic Park soundtrack!!!