The WFSU Ecology Blog
  • Home
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    • EcoShakespeare
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    • Classic WFSU Ecology Documentaries
  • Habitats
    • Estuaries
      • Oyster Reef
        • The Effects of Predators and Fear on Oyster Reefs
        • Apalachicola Oyster Research
        • Animal Species in a North Florida Intertidal Oyster Reef
        • Oyster Reef Ecology | On the Reef
      • Salt Marsh
        • In the Grass- Salt Marsh Biodiversity Study
        • Plants and Animals of a North Florida Salt Marsh
        • Salt Marsh Ecology | In the Grass
      • Seagrass Bed
        • Predatory Snails, and Prey, of the Bay Mouth Bar Seagrass Beds
      • In the Grass, On the Reef Glossary
    • Waterways Big and Small
      • Aucilla/ Wacissa Watershed
      • Apalachicola Basin
        • Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines | Virtual Field Trip
        • The Age of Nature Screening & Discussion | The Future of the Apalachicola
        • Apalachicola River and Bay
        • Apalachicola RiverTrek | Kayaking, Camping, & Hiking the River Basin
    • Longleaf Pine & Fire Ecology
  • Backyard Habitat
    • Backyard Blog
      • The Backyard Bug Blog 2018
      • Backyard Blog January 2019
      • Backyard Blog February 2019
      • Backyard Blog March 2019
      • Backyard Blog May 2019
      • Backyard Blog April 2019
      • Backyard Blog June 2019
      • Backyard Blog July 2019
      • Backyard Blog August 2019
      • Backyard Blog September 2019
      • Backyard Blog October through December 2019
      • Backyard Blog January 2020
      • Backyard Blog February and March 2020
      • Backyard Blog April 2020
      • Backyard Blog May 2020
      • Backyard Blog June 2020
      • July and August 2020 Backyard Blog
      • Backyard Blog September/ October 2020
      • Backyard Blog November/ December 2020
      • Backyard Ecology Blog | 2021
    • Backyard Flora and Fauna
      • Bees of North Florida and South Georgia
      • The Seasonality of Bees (and Bee Plants) in North Florida
      • Woody Vines of North Florida
      • Flies of North Florida are More Diverse than You’d Think
      • The Case for Weeds, Our Unsung Florida Native Plants
      • Devil’s Walkingstick: Your New Favorite Thorny Pollinator Plant?
      • Florida Native Milkweed | Tips for Growing Your Monarch Friendly Garden
      • Mistletoe | A Parasite for the Holidays (But Maybe We Like it Anyway?)
    • Florida Friendly Seasonal Planting Guide
    • Pollinator and Gardening Posts
    • Gardening Web Resources
Kayak and Canoe Adventures
RiverTrek 2021: Five Days on the Apalachicola River
Lower Lake Lafayette: Kayak Tallahassee’s Hidden Swamp
Chipola River Paddling Trail | The Ovens and...
Kayaking Bald Point | Adventure on a Living...
Wacissa Springs Adventure | Kayaking a Wild Florida...
A Geologist’s View of the Apalachicola River |...
Upper Chipola River Kayak Adventure | Ghosts &...
Tate’s Hell & the Apalachicola River Delta |...
Kayak Scouting Mission on the Ochlockonee Water Trail
Merritt’s Mill Pond | Kayaking and Spring Caves

The WFSU Ecology Blog

  • Home
    • About
    • EcoAdventures
      • Kayak and Canoe Adventures
      • Hiking
      • Wildlife Watching
    • Observations From the Field
      • White Pelicans Visit Dr. Charles L. Evans Pond in Tallahassee
      • An April Walk at Ochlockonee River WMA
      • Nesting Raptors at Honeymoon Island State Park
    • WFSU Public Media Home
  • Documentaries
    • EcoCitizen Show | Seasons in South Tallahassee
    • Red Wolf Family Celebrates First Year at the Tallahassee Museum
    • Roaming the Red Hills
    • Oyster Doctors
    • Testing the Ecology of Fear
    • EcoShakespeare
    • Stories from the Apalachicola
    • Classic WFSU Ecology Documentaries
  • Habitats
    • Estuaries
      • Oyster Reef
        • The Effects of Predators and Fear on Oyster Reefs
        • Apalachicola Oyster Research
        • Animal Species in a North Florida Intertidal Oyster Reef
        • Oyster Reef Ecology | On the Reef
      • Salt Marsh
        • In the Grass- Salt Marsh Biodiversity Study
        • Plants and Animals of a North Florida Salt Marsh
        • Salt Marsh Ecology | In the Grass
      • Seagrass Bed
        • Predatory Snails, and Prey, of the Bay Mouth Bar Seagrass Beds
      • In the Grass, On the Reef Glossary
    • Waterways Big and Small
      • Aucilla/ Wacissa Watershed
      • Apalachicola Basin
        • Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines | Virtual Field Trip
        • The Age of Nature Screening & Discussion | The Future of the Apalachicola
        • Apalachicola River and Bay
        • Apalachicola RiverTrek | Kayaking, Camping, & Hiking the River Basin
    • Longleaf Pine & Fire Ecology
  • Backyard Habitat
    • Backyard Blog
      • The Backyard Bug Blog 2018
      • Backyard Blog January 2019
      • Backyard Blog February 2019
      • Backyard Blog March 2019
      • Backyard Blog May 2019
      • Backyard Blog April 2019
      • Backyard Blog June 2019
      • Backyard Blog July 2019
      • Backyard Blog August 2019
      • Backyard Blog September 2019
      • Backyard Blog October through December 2019
      • Backyard Blog January 2020
      • Backyard Blog February and March 2020
      • Backyard Blog April 2020
      • Backyard Blog May 2020
      • Backyard Blog June 2020
      • July and August 2020 Backyard Blog
      • Backyard Blog September/ October 2020
      • Backyard Blog November/ December 2020
      • Backyard Ecology Blog | 2021
    • Backyard Flora and Fauna
      • Bees of North Florida and South Georgia
      • The Seasonality of Bees (and Bee Plants) in North Florida
      • Woody Vines of North Florida
      • Flies of North Florida are More Diverse than You’d Think
      • The Case for Weeds, Our Unsung Florida Native Plants
      • Devil’s Walkingstick: Your New Favorite Thorny Pollinator Plant?
      • Florida Native Milkweed | Tips for Growing Your Monarch Friendly Garden
      • Mistletoe | A Parasite for the Holidays (But Maybe We Like it Anyway?)
    • Florida Friendly Seasonal Planting Guide
    • Pollinator and Gardening Posts
    • Gardening Web Resources

Backyard

by Rob Diaz de Villegas February 6, 2019
Backyard

WFSU Ecology Producer Rob Diaz de Villegas observes and photographs the wildlife in his yard. In his years of photos, we see the rhythms of the seasons, and the relationships between plants and insects, and the birds, reptiles, and other larger animals who depend on them.

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Mating monarchs perch on a cree myrtle.

The 2021 Backyard Ecology Blog

We’re maintaining one page throughout the year, adding new entries as we log new observations. So keep checking back!

Orange-spotted flower moth (Syngamia florella)

Backyard Blog November and December 2020

As the year ends, insects prepare to overwinter, flowers go to seed, and migratory birds visit our fruit bearing trees.

Close up of monarch proboscis sipping nectar from Brickellia flower.

Backyard Blog September and October 2020

In September and October of 2020, most of the smaller bees have gone away, but we do see showier butterflies and moths as we transition to the fall flowers.

Backyard Blog July and August 2020

In July and August, The late summer flowers bloom, inciting an explosion of bees and wasps. We also see predatory insects, and of course butterflies.

Zebra longwing on lance-leaved coreopsis.

Backyard Blog June 2020

We continue to see more and more bees, and a high diversity of wasps. There were a lot of plant eating insects in the yard, but plenty of animals to eat them as well.

Backyard Blog May 2020

As different flowers begin to bloom, we see more and more species of bees. Butterflies remain active, and caterpillars are grazing their host plants.

Backyard Blog April 2020

We see a lot of butterflies and wasp species, and an assortment of flies serving various functions in the yard. Also, newly fledged birds!

Thin-lined calligrapher (Toxomerus boscii).

Backyard Blog February and March 2020

We use iNaturalist to identify native “weeds,” in the yard, we start seeing a few bee and wasp species, and meet the doubly beneficial hoverfly.

Dead monarch chrysalis in shades of brown and dull green.

Backyard Blog January 2020

An unseasonably warm January sees early blooms, and monarch caterpillars out of season. We see why tropical milkweed needs to be cut back after Thanksgiving.

Georgia aster (Symphyotrichum georgianum), a purple flower with yellow buds.

Backyard Blog October Through December 2019

Halfway through the month, a 47 day drought ends. How did our plants respond? And how did pollinators respond to a stressed backyard ecosystem?

Recently hatched monarch caterpillar next to its egg.

Backyard Blog September 2019

A huge wave of monarch caterpillars meet a mysterious end, a harsh drought hits Tallahassee, and we identify several “weeds” and insects.

Brown-winged Striped Sweat Bee (Agapostemon splendens) on blue lobelia.

Backyard Blog August 2019

New flowers bloom, the most popular is beebalm. They’re pollinated by a variety of native bees, and we see fanpetals get visited by checkered skippers (to lay eggs?), a hidden monarch, and a few other interesting insects and weeds.

Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae nigrior)

Backyard Blog July 2019

So many pollinators in the yard, including a few species of native bees. Also, iNaturalist helps me identify several “weeds” in the yard. I found a couple of interesting natives, and a couple less welcome plants. Also, predatory insects, weird looking nymphs, and a Carolina wren nest.

Black swallowtail caterpillar eats its egg.

Backyard Blog June 2019

I’m sure plenty went on in our backyard this June, we just weren’t here for much of it. We did see a summer look for a winter visitor to the yard, and in the week after we got back, our first black swallowtail eggs of the year.

Monarch butterfly oviposits- lays an egg- on tropical milkweed.

Backyard Blog May 2019

Pollinators became active, and we see a monarch butterfly lay eggs.  Also, we continue to use iNaturalist to identify insects and weeds.

Dead monarch caterpillar.

Backyard Blog April 2019

Our first monarchs arrive, and the City Nature Challenge gives me an excuse to ID several plants and animals in my yard using iNaturalist, including an insect I suspect might have killed a monarch caterpillar.

Pale green assassin bug

Backyard Blog March 2019

iNaturalist helps identify more weeds.  I also use it to ID insects in the yard.  Are they beneficial, or pests?  That partially depends on your point of view.

Blueberry flowers.

Backyard Blog February 2019

It was a slow month for insects, but several plants were re-sprouting leaves, and we start tp see blueberry and lemon flowers.  Also, iNaturalist identifies several weeds in the yard, arming me with the information I need to decide what stays and what goes.

Ilia underwing caterpillar, a black and white moth caterpillar.

Backyard Blog January 2019

A warmer than usual January had our flowers in various states.  iNaturalist helps me identify a mysterious, unseasonable caterpillar and a few weeds.

Saddleback caterpillar (Acharia stimulea), larva of a species of slug moth.

Backyard Bug Blog 2018

Yes, it’s a whole year’s worth of insect and spider observations.  You see several species of butterfly go through their life cycles (which I summarized in this post).  But we also witness the biodiversity found in a relatively small patch of earth.

Click to subscribe to the WFSU Ecology Blog


Close up of monarch proboscis sipping nectar from Brickellia flower.

Dig Deeper into Backyard Ecology

What can we do to invite butterflies, birds, and other wildlife into our yards? And what about the flora and fauna that makes its way into our yards; the weeds, insects, and other critters that create the home ecosystem? WFSU Ecology Blog takes a closer look.

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WFSU-FM Environmental Stories

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iNaturalist

iNaturalist became a part of the WFSU Ecology Blog during the EcoCitizen Project in 2019.  Since then, we’ve used it to help identify the many plants and animals we see on our shoots.  And on the Backyard Blog, we show how it can be used to identify weeds and garden insects, to help figure out what’s beneficial or a possible pest.  Below is the iNaturalist profile belonging to WFSU Ecology producer Rob Diaz de Villegas.

iNaturalist.org

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View robdv’s observations »

My Garden of a Thousand Bees | NOW STREAMING

PBS Nature: My Garden of a Thousand Bees

NOW STREAMING

My Garden of a Thousand Bees features renowned wildlife filmmaker Martin Dohrn, who, with the world in lockdown during the summer of 2020, turned his exceptional macrophotography filmmaking skills on his own tiny backyard and the surprising number of wild bee species that live there.

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