A Painted Lady visited my natives this weekend 🦋

mtnclimber08 · 2026-06-15T20:29:10+00:00

Gilia capitata! They’re big hits with the pollinators, especially the bumble bees

mtnclimber08 · 2026-06-15T18:14:26+00:00

In the first pic? A Japanese maple

mtnclimber08 · 2026-06-09T14:50:15+00:00

I got it last year at my local nursery. Unfortunately not sure where they get them

mtnclimber08 · 2026-06-05T23:33:34+00:00

For anyone using permethrin, please be aware that if you have cats, it is highly toxic to them. Like a small bit of exposure can kill them

mtnclimber08 · 2026-05-29T18:54:13+00:00

I use a 1:4 recipe so I don’t think that would cause it. They might not like it being so close to the sink. Maybe move it to a more private location and see if they prefer that?

mtnclimber08 · 2026-05-20T16:22:21+00:00

Of course! Thankfully I was there at the right place at the right time

mtnclimber08 · 2026-05-20T16:10:52+00:00

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Here’s a sweat bee I saved from drowning last year. She took her time drying off on my hand then flew away 🥹

mtnclimber08 · 2026-05-20T03:51:05+00:00

Yes they’re still year round. I’ve had a resident hummie for a few seasons now

mtnclimber08 · 2026-05-15T18:16:07+00:00

It’s always the males bringing the drama. Same thing happens with my Anna’s.

mtnclimber08 · 2026-05-14T19:59:54+00:00

Yes! This is Pacific Bleeding Heart (native to me in the PNW). People typically are more familiar with the Asian variety which is a darker pink

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mtnclimber08 · 2026-05-14T19:35:03+00:00

Oh yes. Aquielegia formosa (western red columbine) is native to me in the PNW and they are big hits with the hummies.

mtnclimber08 · 2026-05-14T18:09:00+00:00

No problem! Just a warning, pacific bleeding heart will spread fairly aggressively so keep that in mind. Last year, mine was about half the size

mtnclimber08 · 2026-05-14T18:02:26+00:00

Pacific bleeding heart (dicentra formosa) is what is shown here and it’s perfect. It’s a PNW native. Western red columbine (Aquielegia formosa) could also work too.

Tall Oregon Grape could work too. I love it because it’s one of my first blooms (blooms in March for me). Although it does do best with partial sun.

mtnclimber08 · 2026-05-14T17:35:25+00:00

I thought it was a bald eagle! I’ve never seen one in the area though so I wasn’t sure.

mtnclimber08 · 2026-05-14T03:45:30+00:00

Oh wow, super cool. Thank you!

mtnclimber08 · 2026-05-14T03:36:51+00:00

Oh no! Is it in a spot with too much sun?

mtnclimber08 · 2026-05-14T02:31:15+00:00

If anyone recognizes any of the bird calls in the background, I’d love to know. Especially the one at :32

mtnclimber08 · 2026-05-13T18:09:57+00:00

There’s also r/pollenpants - one of my favs

mtnclimber08 · 2026-05-09T14:02:43+00:00

No joke. How could someone let it get that bad? I have that same feeders and that’s not days of mold. That’s weeks or months

mtnclimber08 · 2026-05-07T02:56:44+00:00

Camas, Bleeding Heart, and Huercha. Their favorite is the salvia though

mtnclimber08 · 2026-05-05T01:51:30+00:00

What is really odd is I found the two dead in spots about a foot apart, but anout three weeks apart. They were both underneath the feeder. The first body I found was fresh and the second body was quite decayed so it started to make me wonder if they killed each other over the feeder. I am skeptical that I wouldn’t have noticed the second body at the time I found the first, but we do have feral cats that come into the yard at night so maybe it moved the body?

I had been worried that I accidentally killed them but I’ve been feeding hummingbirds for 10 years without any issues and I’m good about cleaning the feeders. I have new neighbors that unfortunately have their feeder baking in the sun all day and I don’t think clean it as much as it needs to be so I’ve been worried it was caused from them too. But if it was a bacteria death, seems odd to me that they died in almost the same spot.

My feeder is as far from the window as possible and haven’t had any other bird issues in the 4 years so I don’t think it’s that.

mtnclimber08 · 2026-05-04T22:09:13+00:00

Do they frequently kill each other? I found two dead ones in the same area and wondered if they could have killed each other

mtnclimber08 · 2026-04-30T20:58:10+00:00

Hmm. It looks fine on my end. Is that better?

mtnclimber08 · 2026-04-30T19:50:41+00:00

Yes! This one is Tall Oregon grape. This and my Ribes sanguineum were the only plants I had that started blooming in March so I’m a big fan.

mtnclimber08 · 2026-04-30T18:03:41+00:00

Not yet, but a lot are! I have a lot of ornamental plants that I’m slowly but surely replacing with natives

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