Posts Tagged: yard

What's a Group of Butterflies Called?

What's a group of butterflies called? A kaleidoscope, swarm, or rabble. If you've ever had a kaleidoscope in your childhood and admired the...

Migratory monarchs in a Vacaville pollinator garden filled with Mexican sunflowers (Tithonia rotundifola). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Migratory monarchs in a Vacaville pollinator garden filled with Mexican sunflowers (Tithonia rotundifola). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Migratory monarchs in flight over a patch of Mexican sunflowers (Tithonia rotundifola) in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Migratory monarchs in flight over a patch of Mexican sunflowers (Tithonia rotundifola) in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Zinnia Nectar: Flight Fuel for the Migratory Monarchs

Zinnias are a great nectar source for migratory monarch butterflies as they wing their way to their overwintering spots along coastal...

A migratory monarch butterfly nectaring on a pink zinnia in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A migratory monarch butterfly nectaring on a pink zinnia in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A migratory monarch sipping her fill of nectar from a zinnia in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A migratory monarch sipping her fill of nectar from a zinnia in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Yes, Hawks Eat Insects

Ever watched a red-shouldered hawk on a hunt? They eat a variety of prey, including small mammals, birds, snakes, lizards, fish, crayfish,...

Red-shouldered hawk devouring what appears to be a praying mantis. It caught the insect in the Vacaville Museum and then perched on a telephone line to eat it. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Red-shouldered hawk devouring what appears to be a praying mantis. It caught the insect in the Vacaville Museum and then perched on a telephone line to eat it. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

UC Davis distinguished professor emerita Diane Ullman of the Department of Entomology and Nematology and Gale Okumura, Department of Design faculty emerita, in front of "A Bird's Eye View." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

UC Davis distinguished professor emerita Diane Ullman of the Department of Entomology and Nematology and Gale Okumura, Department of Design faculty emerita, in front of "A Bird's Eye View." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

It's Friday Fly Day!

It's Friday Fly Day, and time to post an image of a fly that masquerades as a bee. That would be "the bee fly," a fly so named because it resembles...

A bee fly, family Bombyliidae, foraging on sedum in a UC Davis garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A bee fly, family Bombyliidae, foraging on sedum in a UC Davis garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Celebrating the Crab Spider in Arachtober

It's Arachtober and that means celebrating arachnids for the entire month of October. Well, we ought to celebrate them year around, but October...

A crab spider eating a lygus bug, an agricultural pest in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A crab spider eating a lygus bug, an agricultural pest in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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