What Are You Growing to Attract Wildlife?

candyinpok go to Upper Midwest Gardening. The thread is hot and Sunny plants for 4a. Lots of good ideas

I have decided to let nature run its course, here they are today, one week later. Next photo I will get closer.

Is there a park pond nearby? Do you know what kind of froggies these are?

Equi - would it make a difference if they were tree frogs? Or at a certain stage do they need "shoreline" water no matter what kind of frog they are?

My froggies all hop into the water when we walk by, then, when we sit quiet, they come popping out again. Some even came to look at us! Also, there are some other frogs that are out of the water that sing a croaky song once in a while.

I will try and remember to post a picture when my camera recharges.

All critters, just like children, have very basic needs that must be met in order for them to survive. Children must have their basic physiological (food, drink, oxygen, sleep, shelter) needs met or they will not survive. Children not only survive but thrive when safety needs (certainty, structure, order, predictability), belongingness needs (love and affection), esteem needs (attention, acceptance, recognition, appreciation), and self actualization needs (talent, capacity, potential) are additionally met. The basic needs of critters aren't all that different from children-
http://www.chicagowilderness.org/wildchi/livingwild/wildland/needs/index.cfm

Equi - what you say is true. Tads food changes as the froggie changes and amount of food would have to sustain them. Difficult to get the food in a bucket, esp if we don't know what they need to eat.

Had a pr. of robins build a nest entirely out of yarn. They never used it - which is good. A floppier nest I've never seen.

Oh, and today I had to water the new house slab to keep it cool. It was a magnet - butterflies came and used it as a giant "puddle". It was difficult to move the spray of water and not hit one of the lovelies. But, too, it seemed that they flew into the spray of water on purpose - like a hummer!
Saw a California Sister and a Fritillary, and a few smaller/faster butterflies.

I've never tried this,

Let me know if it works for you, too!

I tired it early this morning. Interestingly enough several dragonflies and damselflies landed but no butterflies. You would think there's plenty of water around here for them but I guess they liked the puddle I created. The other odd thing is that my dragonflies and damselflies generally prefer to land on green vinyl coated metal garden stakes I stick in the ground around ponds for them. They seem to like to have a look out point. I also see them landing on decorative stakes I have too. Until this morning, I've never noticed them landing on the ground.

Did my Rufus show up??

No, no Rufus but I wish.

My poor baby is probably wondering why I left him....*sniff sniff*

Did you by any chance get a photograph of your damselfly friend?

I can't seem to locate any of the pictures I took. I think I've got one, if I can find it. I don't like the program that comes with this camera at all :(

Post what you have. Remember, you're talking to the point and click queen here.

Maybe you have enough puddles elsewhere?

Here the only water for a long way around is our "pond" which is nearly dried up - "everyone" is watering at it. Dragonflies are fighting over it. Butterflies can rest on the scum that is around the edge at water level and drink. Oh so sad that the water is going away.

But, if it dries all the way, we plan on making the middle deeper so that it won't dry up again.

We just took these pics at the "pond" today - I think this is a Louisianna Waterthrush - what do you think?

another:

one more

I sat around in my bathrobe for a while waiting for butterflies. I didn't get any. We have enough water around here so I truly don't fully understand why hozing down my patio attracted odonata but it did. I wasn't expecting that. I'm going to try again in the morning and see what I get. Oh, one of the chipmunks came out and scampered across the wet patio. He seemed to like the water too.

What do I think? I think it is absolutely wonderful and you should dig out the center if you can. What a great watering hole! You are one lucky lady.

I just remembered. The property across the street has a creek with springs in it. This LW must be a resident over there. All my reads have said they like moving water and my water ain't movin' no-where! Likely the water level is low and the springs are dry for the moment.
The law here is that you can keep all the water you catch on your land. We have three tanks - the bottom tank is the only one that held water through last year's drought - thus we call it the "pond". This yr the drought is much worse...

I know the pics are difficult to see - do you think the bird is a LW? If it is - it is a little out of territory, isn't it?

do you know what kind of froggie this is? in this pic, he is about an inch long - maybe an inch and an eighth.

The bird I can sort of see but no way I could even take a stab at what it is. Try Hyla spp. for the frog? Now I'm curious which frog you have.

I can't locate the pic I thought I took of Rufus, but these are two of my other buddies. One on my arm, the other on the cleat of the boat.

I love damselflies. You lucky girl you! Two!

I had to come up to the boat to be "photographed". It wasn't unusual to have 3 to 4 on me at any given time. But it was Rufus who became my friend. Drats on not finding a photo. I know I got one, but I can't seem to locate it at all.

Now this one is blurry and what I call my two headed friend(s).........Oh gosh and I forgot......one day I'm laying on the float and they land on me, I look.......what the heck? She was hooked to him, he was hooked to her so they made a heart. It was the neatest thing. My sister was there and laying next to me, so we called them grandma and grandpa.

ovipositing

Don't tree frogs sit w/ their legs up underneath? This guy has spots like a leopard frog of some kind, I think. Maybe when they get bigger, if they get bigger, we can tell.

Hundreds of them go hopping into the "pond" when we walk by. I just hope there aren't snakes around to eat them like in another thread. I am not opposed to snakes, not afraid of them (well, haven't met the right one to be afraid of), just not a lover of them.

Did you catch this one? http://davesgarden.com/place/t/618592/

Hey indirt, look up photos of Hyla chrysoscelis and Hyla versicolor and see what you think. I don't have time to read that other thread but I promise I will.

ok the versicolor looks a bit like this dude, but do you think that my froggie has the toe pads for a tree frog?

Ha! I could barely see the frog. Talk about camoflauge! Sorry, I can't see the toes. They should be slightly rounded almost as if there are little tiny gray and round pinheads at the tips of their toes.

Is there a site out there with images of frogs or Texas where you could go poke around for images?

Pay particular attention to your little guy's white underside as well as to the size you believed he was which was at around an inch to just over an inch.

Here are two sites I found that look really promising-
http://www.zo.utexas.edu/research/txherps/frogs/
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/learning/texas_nature_trackers/amphibian_watch/

Did you by any chance hear it?
http://www.zo.utexas.edu/research/txherps/frogs/calls.html

I've been poking and found one that looked a lot like the one I have, but it was labeled a canyon tree frog. I looked at other sites w/ canyon tree frogs and none of them matched - so I can only presume that the one site had a mis-labeled froggie.
This is that website: http://www.reptilesofaz.com/Turtle-Amphibs-Subpages/h-h-arenicolor.html

Don't get me wrong, I'd be thrilled to have tree frogs. They are the coolest. I will try catching one and looking at its tiny little toes. I might need a magnifier myself.

i just looked at your sites and now i am really confused. i have heard frog calls there, but not the ones in the water- only ones up under bushes beside the water - they sound bigger. can't remember the call well enough to match

You can drive yourself nuts trying to get an id. Here's what we know, it isn't a Cuban Treefrog and it isn't a Cane Toad. Just teasing with you but your froggie is probably a nice native herp. If you see him again, grab him and get some more photos.

Here are some more photos

here is a different kind of froggie - smoother and w a ridge behind the head, but same size

another of that last froggie

now back to the first frog - sorry got the order mixed up