The MGS Forum

Gardening in mediterranean climates => Wildlife in the garden (birds, butterflies, and how to attract them) => Topic started by: Hilary on August 22, 2018, 05:11:33 AM

Title: Encouraging wildlife into your garden
Post by: Hilary on August 22, 2018, 05:11:33 AM
Insect Hotel
We saw this Insect Hotel in the Royal Botanic Gardens in Madrid.
 A great many people were showing interest in it

We don’t exactly have a hotel for wildlife on our balconies but we certainly do have ants, a few geckos, some spiders, unidentified insects and visiting pigeons.
The ants and geckos are welcome but not the pigeons or the dove which keeps making a very imperfect nest in the bougainvillea. One year we had a pair of pigeons in a nest in a trough on the outside of the canopy. We used to lift up the flap when we were at breakfast to see how the two babies were doing.   

I was going to recommend you to read THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN numbers 83, 85 and 86 to read the articles by Melissa Hamilton about making gardens wildlife friendly.
Then I discovered the page on the MGS website with at least one of her articles and all sorts of other information.

http://www.mediterraneangardensociety.org/wildlife.html

Disappointingly, for us, we have not seen any swallows this year. Where have they all gone? Have all their old nests been destroyed? On the other hand the pine trees in the backyard and a ficus – in the adjoining backyard seem to be full of Sparrows by the noise they make at dawn and again at sunset. What are they talking about and why so much moving around? Are they discussing the day’s events or are they quarrelling about who sits where?
My imagination runs away with itself
Title: Re: Encouraging wildlife into your garden
Post by: Hilary on June 25, 2019, 07:27:48 AM
Rather than open a new thread I stuck this here.

Ants, bees and ladybirds

We always like to stop somewhere on the road between Sparta and Tripolis, in the Peloponnese, to see if I can get a photo of some flower new, to me.

This time I tried several times to snap the bees but they kept looking in the other direction, the ants and ladybirds photo-bombed the snaps ,I didn't see them  until the photos were on the computer.
 
So there is no shortage of insects in the wilds of the Peloponnese and no shortage of references to insects in THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN
I have chosen A GARDEN IN EQUILIBRIUM by Nicolette van der Smissen,
 THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 61 July, 2010 for you to read .
Title: Re: Encouraging wildlife into your garden
Post by: John J on March 04, 2020, 10:15:56 AM
This bee is checking out an early sunflower.