Archive for the ‘birds’ Category

Beneficial Insects and Birds that Eat Insect Pests

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009

Earlier this week I got a call from a woman looking to buy “aphid eating bees”. I suggested she hang a hot dog out by her aphid-infested plants to attract Yellow Jackets. She didn’t like that idea very much. Apparently, someone at a garden show years ago had sold her “nice bees” that eat aphids. When she described what she bought, it sounded a lot like she’d been sold Orchard Mason Bees. I don’t think they eat aphids, but please correct me if I’m wrong here readers. I’ve seen posts mentioning “aphid bees”, but I have yet to find any real detail on them.

Anyway, back to the ones that do eat aphids and other pest insects — Yellow Jackets and Bald Faced Hornets are notorious meat eaters. They’ll snatch up aphids and clean your plants beautifully. Just steer clear so they don’t come after you. Yes, Yellow Jackets are mean. But, Bald Faced Hornets would rather go about their business than chase you around the garden. Stay away from their nests and don’t swat at them, and odds are they’ll leave you alone. Yellow Jackets on the other hand might just chase you for their own personal amusement.

Hummingbird hovering over Waterfeature

Hummingbird hovering over Waterfeature

That being said, I was thrilled to find a big, fat Yellow Jacket hiding under my floating row cover just above the cabbages and cauliflowers that have been munched on my cabbage worms over the last few days. I’m not sure why s/he decided to plant herself there, but I’m hoping she’s on guard for worm hatches. This morning, I found no new worms and no new worm damage in the bed. Fortunately, when I peeled back the fleecy row cover, I didn’t manage to touch the Yellow Jacket. She stayed put as I gently draped the cover back over the beds after working. Hopefully, she’s my new pest guard and will make my worm picking work easier.

Not interested in attracting Yellow Jackets or Bald Faced Hornets to your garden to help battle pests? Try creating a Hummingbird-friendly space. I’ve caught them harvesting aphids in my garden more than once, and generally they’re pretty nice. They can be territorial and may dive-bomb you, but that’s pretty rare in my garden. Too, attracting wrens, nuthatches, titmice, and other birds will help keep down pest problems from aphids to mosquitos to root-eating grubs to all sorts of other non-beneficial insects we gardeners love to hate.

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Posted in Edible Gardens, IPM, Insects, bees, birds, hummingbirds, pests, vegetable gardening | No Comments »

Spying Robin Egg Blue in the Garden

Saturday, April 25th, 2009

Yesterday afternoon it warmed up enough that momma robin left her eggs alone and exposed briefly. I was fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of bright blue from the window and snapped this photo. The photo might not be perfect, but I didn’t want to scare her away from her nest by getting too close; too, I didn’t want her to attack me while I was taking pictures of her unborn babies. And, it seems I didn’t frighten her off. The eggs are tucked under her this morning and all are nearly invisible from my office window.

Two Bright Blue Robin Eggs in the Nest

Two Bright Blue Robin Eggs in the Nest

Momma Robin sitting on her Nest

Momma Robin sitting on her Nest

Read more about birds in Spring 2009 gardens here.

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Bird Brain Homemaking Tips

Thursday, April 23rd, 2009

The birds have spring fever. Their chorus begins before the sun comes up. Their foraging lasts until twilight begins. The  males’ colors are brightening, and too, their dances and preening and battling for territory is heating up. Our airborne recyclers are collecting trash, pet hair, twigs, leaves, mud, and all sorts of other debris to create cozy little homes for their soon-to-hatch flocks.

A robin nesting in a Viburnum

A robin nesting in a Viburnum

In my day-t0-day working in multiple gardens, I hear tales of bird craziness. Yesterday, a client told me she had a “crazy bird” that kept trying to get through her windows to nest in a fake ficus tree in her living room. The bird would fly at the window and fail. Then, it would pop along the deck looking for entry at other window points. Despite the fantastic forest backdrop view we see from these windows, this bird was determined to live indoors. Sadly, the same client mentioned she had stopped decorating with seasonal hanging pots because one year a bird had built a nest in one of the pots. She hadn’t known about it and had managed to drown the babies when watering the plant. So goes survival of the fittest.

Wren Nest in Bike Helmet

Wren Nest in Bike Helmet

In my own garden, I have at least one pair of house wrens nesting smartly in a woven basket style birdhouse I hung on a climbing hydrangea. The nest is somewhat hidden and high off the ground in a spot that would be difficult for a cat to access. Too, the branches aren’t quite strong enough to support a hungry larger bird. In my neighbor’s Doublefile Viburnum, a robin is nesting. She’s well hidden, but I can spy her out my office window. So can Twinky the cat, but he never goes outdoors, so he’s no threat to her. Here’s an update with sitings of her eggs!

My favorite bird brained nesting story came this morning from my sister in Virginia. Her daughter’s bike helmet had been hanging outdoors, cup side up long enough for a house wren to make her nest and lay eggs in it. I guess my niece will be getting a new helmet for spring because they’re all very excited to see the eggs hatch. Hopefully, she’ll send more photos as the baby birds emerge. I know I’ll be watching!

Have your own crazy spring bird stories? We’d love to hear them in the comments below!

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Robin’s View of Winter & Preview of Spring

Tuesday, January 27th, 2009

Today I woke up to more sprinklings of snow on the ground and flurries flying through the air. It was cold and grey and seemed like just another wintery Seattle day in January.

Robins Drinking & Bathing

Robins Drinking & Bathing

Then I caught sight of my namesake bird, the robin. Actually, a flock of them, gathering around an ice-water filled cauldron in my garden — the same cauldron that my great-grandparents used to wash clothes and cook. A flock of them was jumping through my beds scratching up layers of mulch looking for worms and grubs. And, they took turns hopping to the edge of the cauldron for a drink of fresh water, or in some cases a dip in an icy pool.

My mom always told me she named me Robin for the first bird of spring. (I was born a few days into spring, so her hope of naming me Spring didn’t quite fit. Though, I wouldn’t have minded the name at all!). Funny thing is robins really don’t seem to be the harbingers of spring, or at least not anymore. Maybe they’ve adapted or maybe they’ve really be hanging out in our gardens all winter and somehow we just didn’t notice. Granted, their red chests do turn a dull rusty-brown in winter, but to me, they remain distinctive — especially when they have a garden party feasting on fermented winter berries and then go falling down drunk from the tree branches, crashing to the soil, stunned in a drunken stupor.

Cauliflower Seed Germinating

Cauliflower Seed Germinating

So, if the robins weren’t my preview of spring, what in the world could be spring like on a snowy, icy day like today? Well, how about the first germinating seedlings in my 2009 vegetable garden? Yes, the cauliflower, kale and cabbage that I seeded just two days ago is already beginning to germinate. Yesterday, the seedling tray enjoyed bright, warm sunlight in a southfacing window. Today, the furnace continues to provide these babies with much-needed bottom heat, and there is some diffused wintery light filtering their way. It was a joy to see the seed casing breaking away, fuzzy rootlets pushing downward and just the hint of dicot leaves threatening to emerge. Spring, summer and fantastic homegrown food is not far into the future — even if it snowy and the robins are taking Polar Bear Club ice baths today.

Now if I can just keep my cat, Twinky, from trying to make the seedling trays into his own personal bed — stupid kitty keeps trying to lay on it and just slips off. I pray he doesn’t take the whole tray down on his next attempt. He has learned to hate the spray bottle. When I brought it over to mist the seedlings earlier today, he hightailed it out of sight. So, I’ve set the spray bottle next to the seedling tray as a warning. So far, today, so good. But, he’s bound to push my gardening buttons at some point soon.

Read more on the idea of robins as the first day of spring here.

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Posted in Edible Gardens, Food, birds, propagation, seasons, seedlings, trees, vegetable starts, winter garden | 2 Comments »

Hummingbirds and Water Features

Wednesday, August 6th, 2008
Hummingbird perched on waterfeature

Hummingbird perched on waterfeature

Throughout the year I’m blessed with hummingbirds in my garden. In the winter they feast on Garrya elliptica, Flowering Winter Currant and Witch Hazel. In fall they sip at Monkshood, Hardy Fuchsia and Pineapple Sage. In spring they snap up aphids and sip nectar from a smorgasborg of annuals and perennials. And in summer the bountiful feast includes Hot Lips Salvia, Penstemon, Bee Balm, Cleome and much more. Plus, in the height of summer these marvelous creatures visit my garden to sip from and bathe in the flowing water in my waterfeature’s bamboo spigot.

Hummingbird hovering over Waterfeature

Hummingbird hovering over Waterfeature

Anyone familiar with hummingbirds knows they’ll hover and toy with you, appearing whenever you are without a camera in the garden. They’ll watch you, buzz you and chirp away if they are accustomed to sharing the garden with you. If they aren’t accustomed to you, they may buzz and dive at you in a not-so-nice “get out of my territory” way.

Hummingbird washing in stream

Hummingbird washing in stream

Over the last several weeks my resident hummingbird has been in the garden feeding away. He seems to visit mostly in the morning and just before dusk, or maybe that’s just when I tend to see him out there. And, during several mornings I have found him sipping at the bamboo spigot. He is very accustomed to sharing the garden with me, and I swear we talk to each other. He chirps. I say, “good morning beautiful.” Today as he took his morning bath, he posed for the camera. Usually, he’s quite shy, but as you can see, he wasn’t this morning.

So, to those who would like us to believe that “…these water features serve no functional or practical purpose, their water use is not considered efficient.” (section 4.1.4). I propose they are functional and practical in ways beyond human purpose.

If you would like to comment back to the EPA on their suggestion in the Watersense program draft that waterfeatures are functionless and impractical, the comment period has been extended once again to September 4, 2008.

If you’re interested in building your own small water feature, check out a couple of installation diaries:

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Posted in birds, hummingbirds, right plant right place, water feature | 1 Comment »

Quail Encounter Near Seattle

Wednesday, July 30th, 2008

During my childhood years in Northern California, I often encountered families of Quail scurrying through my outdoor playgrounds. We lived in what was then a remote western town with Hwy 101 running through it. Our house was on the semi-rural outskirts of town with a hillside in front of us and a forest behind us. Cattle fields were nearby with faery rings of redwoods at the top of the hillside where we played. Creeks filled with salamanders and clay bullets and water snakes offered cool resting spots for my sister, my dogs and me. We would pick miners lettuce for dinner salads and blackberries and wild apples as snacks. More often than not families of deer would freeze in our paths and then wander away. And, cute families of quail were always scurrying out of the undergrowth ahead of us with Daddy bird’s little decorative cap leading the way.

As I was measuring a new client’s site just north of Seattle, I heard the familiar peep of California quail in the overgrown weeds of her recently clear-cut site. (I can’t talk about the clear cut; its way too depressing and all-too-common in her area.) I watched the weed tops as the quail moved through them and caught a glimpse of the colorful adult male and then the duff colored female adult. But, it was obvious an entire family was with them. Too many tiny peeps to be a couple alone on a date.

I moved away from the area where they were hiding and went to work in another spot. Later, they caught my eye again. And, try as I might to capture a photo, they all eluded me. Eventually, quite camera shy, they returned to the blackberry and other brambles in the creek, leaving me alone in the weedy field that had not long ago been a forest of Pine, Doug Fir and Hemlock. I look forward to help design a native garden to help rebuild the habitat, offering the quail and other wildlife (as well as the homeowners) something more to live in and feed from than a sorry field of nipplewort, dockweed, braken fern and stinky bob.

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Posted in Big Trees, Food, Gardening, birds, weeds | No Comments »

Hummingbirds Eat Aphids!

Saturday, June 28th, 2008

I’ve had an ongoing problem over the last couple of years with aphids eating the tender summer growth on my Acer triflorum. Summer growth is the second surge that the tree puts on, and each year the aphids have distorted the leaves and made the last new growth of the season look pretty sad. The tree survives the infestation just fine, but it is unsightly. Plus, as the tree has gotten taller & taller, its become near impossible for me to spray the aphids to disrupt them. So, I’ve been left wondering how to get rid of the aphids organically and easily.

Well, it seems the answer is to invite in the hummingbirds! I have several that visit my garden daily throughout the year. IIn addition to having a wide assortment of spring and summer nectar producers, I’ve installed plants that flower into the late fall and others that bloom through the winter. So, the hummers love this garden. And, I’m being repaid not just with their buzzing, chirping and shining wonder, but by their carniverous habits as well.

Yesterday, I was standing under the Acer and heard a hummingbird swoop-buzz my way. It started popping its head from branch to branch in the aphid-infested top branches of the tree. I wondered at first if the tree was blooming late. Then I realized it was picking aphids off the leaves and tender branches. Clearly, a little protein must help power up these birds that are so well known as nectar feeders. I’m not sure that they’ll completely clean up the problem, but they’ve found it and recognize it as a safe source for grabbing little meaty snacks — after which they can hit foxglove, salvia, phygelius, fuchsia, petunia, mimulus, scented geranium, heliotrope, and so many other sweet nectar-filled summer flowers. And, they can (and do) grab a flowing drink now & again from my patio water feature. Truly, the garden is their unlimited smorgasborg.

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Ways to Beat Mosquitos

Wednesday, June 18th, 2008

One of the top questions of the summer is, “How can I beat mosquitoes without using lots of bug sprays?”.  Last year, this was a popular topic when originally published in June of 2008, so I’m republishing today with a few added updates and tips.

Well, there are a lot of things to try, but those pestering little buggers are difficult to fully eradicate. One tiny bit of standing water — in your garden or on neighboring property — can turn into a breeding ground for these tiny vampires. Following are a few things you can do to help reduce their habitat and their populations:

  • Remove standing water. This includes standing water features, old pet watering bowls, wadded up tarps and other junk, cleaning out gutters, emptying planting container trays, and anything else that holds even the tiniest amount of standing water
  • Screen water catchment systems: If you’re catching water in a rain barrel, be sure there’s no way for the adult mosquitoes to get in to deposit their larvae. If they can get in, be sure to add screens so the emerging adults can’t get back out.
  • Increase habitat for mosquito predators: Encourage bats, swallows, frogs, salamanders, hummingbirds and other mosquito-eatin’ critters to live in your garden. Add fish to your water features. Bring in carnivorous plants.
  • Add plants mosquitos don’t like: Start gardening with strong scented plants like Australian Bush mint, Eucalyptus, scented geraniums (particularly Citrosa geranium) and others to seating areas to keep them at bay. (Some have reported that thyme, sage, and rosemary can deter mosquitoes, but I haven’t seen that to be true.)
  • Mosquito dunks are your friends: Add mosquito dunks to your water features. Even if your water is trickling, mosquitos can try to raise their young in moving water. Mosquito dunks are pet, children, plant, fish and wildlife friendly. But they sure don’t invite mosquitoes into your space.
  • Start a fire: Burning incense, citronella and even a fire can help keep mosquitoes at bay. Toss eucalyptus cuttings on the fire to ward them off. But, know that eventually they’ll sneak down to snack on your ankles. And, if you wander from the fire, you’re going to be under attack.
  • Citronella and Bug Sprays: Yes, sometimes these are your last ditch efforts. One trick my Mom uses is spraying the nasty stuff a few areas before an outdoor party begins. Spraying the area rather than the people can keep them at bay for a few hours without coating people with sticky, stinky, nasty toxins.

If you have other handy tips or ideas to help keep the mosquitoes away — short of humanity evolving away from being warm-blooded mosquito banquets — please share!

  • Updates for 2009:
    • Recently, friends who live in bug-infested Virginia, introduced me to an Avon product called “Skin so Soft”. It contains insect repellent as well as sunscreen. Plus, it has a blue tint, so you know if you missed a spot when you apply it. (Don’t worry, the blue does fade away.) Apparently, it helps repel gnats, mosquitoes and ticks. I doubt the ingredients are all natural, but after being nearly eaten alive by mosquitoes and seeing loads of ticks on my recent visit, I know I’d probably give it a shot if all else failed!
    • On the same trip, I learned that rose geranium oil can repel mosquitoes and ticks as well. Pick up a small bottle of rose geranium oil from your herbalist or natural food store. Your herbalist can probably help you determine dilution rates to create a spray bottle of herbal bug repellent!
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Posted in IPM, Insects, hummingbirds, mosquitos, pests, water feature | 2 Comments »