Every year we get a treat in our yard and it is usually something we have not seen before (in our yard). We live in the city, well almost border. We are shooting for a move in to the country.. At any rate, every once in a while we find a rare treat in our yard. We have been working hard on our landscaping for a lot of reasons. Biggest of all, I really like flowers, but since we are talking about moving, we needed to make it better. (least I thought so)
So none the less, over the years, we have fed many beautiful birds of various kinds. But one we never seem to be able to reach is the Humming Bird. We try so hard to woo them in but the other birds scare them away. So this year I made all my feather friends angry including my beloved cardinal. Usually I am woke up from our Male and Female cardinals and oddly enough I think they have shown their babies how to wake us. LOL. We have a tree outside our window that they usually come to perch in and chirp until I answer them. (Feed Me, Feed Me). If I don't answer they will come to my window and thump it or peck on it. (rare to my eyes as I have never seen this before in my life, but these cardinals are spoiled and I can not help that. Haha) At any rate, I can not turn them down I cave and feed them off and on, but not as much as I used to because I really want to woo the Humming Bird at some point.
So tonight, I was out watering my flowers and imagine how excited I got when a fast sweep in front of me and down to my flowers came a beauty. Unfortunately, as I got closer to this beauty, I found out it was not my Humming Bird but a relative of the Humming Bird. ( Unfortunately I could not get my camera fast enough to snap the picture as he/she was spooked off.) As I went in to google the critter we seen, the exact markings and etc. Here is a picture we located on google of the Humming Bird Moth.
Yes, thats right. The Humming Bird Moth. I was so excited for a split second until I seen it was not really a Humming Bird. But in spite of that, we actually got a pleasant surprise by seeing a rear Humming Bird Moth in our yard. We have never seen them before. People living out in the country may see them a lot and if you have bookoo flowers in your yard you may get a rare glimpse of them. But be careful, it is not a Humming Bird. (Learn more about the Humming Bird Moth Here)
Later on in the night we kept hearing this chirp, that honestly sounded just like my Male Cardinal. I kept thinking, No way, it's too late" and I kept saying to myself "Man this bird is mad about something." So I went outside with my flashlight - (9:00p around here and it is getting dark.) I walked over to the side of my house and kept walking back and forth with my flashlight trying to find my buddy. I could not find him anywhere. I kept thinking maybe my cardinal had been hurt or maybe he was just mad because an animal was near by. But no way could it really be him because it is too late for him to be chirping.
So I finally stopped a moment and listened. Every time the critter would chirp I would move slightly towards that direction I heard it. Now if you were my neighbor staring outside your window, I am almost positive you would of thought I was nuts and even begun laughing at me. No kidding. This little booger had me pinned at my rose bush, and nearly chirping like he/she was moving to both sides. So if you could see me on my walk path by my rose bush with a flash light in my hand jumping from one side then rushing over to the other with the light moving every which way, you would of been laughing at me. Back in forth I went with my little ones hopping along side of me like we were playing a game. Until finally, I yelled out, "I got ya!"
There sitting on my rose bush branch pretending all along like it were a leaf and certainly looking identical to the leaves on my rose bush, here is this beautiful little critter called a Leaf Insect or more commonly known as Phylliidae's, Phasmida, or Phasmatodea.
There are about 30 different kinds of Leaf Insect. Every one is unique and definitely interesting creatures. They have a distinct call, sometimes does sound similar to the Cardinal chirp. This little guy has the leaf veins on him and obviously camouflages perfectly in with the background. It took me plum near 15 minutes of hopping back in forth before I finally caught site of him. I can only imagine if this bug could talk what he would of been saying. Hahaha!
So here was the rare find in my neck of the woods. Have you found something interesting in your yard? I would like to hear about your rare finds. Drop me comment under the post and or leave us your comment on facebook.
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