Wildlife Wednesday – What's in Your Garden?

I love being able to work from home. Our property (two acres worth) is a wonderful wildlife habitat and I can look out the windows and see all sorts of things like rabbits and butterflies and birds and turtles and bees and many, many other little critters. I feel incredibly lucky to have this garden view but I do sometimes find the critters a bit distracting.

Take this morning, for example. There are so many birds on my feeders and butterflies on my flowers that I almost thought about pulling down the blinds and turning on the radio so that I wouldn't be distracted by the wonderful sights and sounds. Hah! Not likely.

But then I thought of something much more fun. I'll start my own Wildlife Wednesdays. Every Wednesday I will post a photo of whatever wildlife I see in my yard that day, and encourage other bloggers and gardeners around the internet to join me.

I know this isn't an original idea. I got the idea for Wildlife Wednesday from fellow garden blogger, Carol and her blog May Dreams Garden. Way back in February of 2007, Carol decided to start keeping track of what was blooming in her garden from year to year by posting photos of flowers on the 15th of each month. It was kind of interesting that she decided to start her Garden Bloggers Bloom Day in the middle of the winter, but that didn't stop fellow gardeners from stopping by and adding their lists.

Since then, the popularity of Garden Bloggers Bloom Day has grown! To participate, garden bloggers post photos of what is blooming in their yard that day and then list their blogs on the list on the May Dreams Garden blog. This past week, on July 15th, 2010, 136 people listed their blogs on her site. And anyone who wants to wander through the flowers in other gardener's landscapes can just click on the links listed on the post.

So with credit to Carol, I would like to officially launch Wildlife Wednesdays. Here's how it works.

• Every Wednesday, I encourage all bloggers to wander through their gardens and take a photo of whatever critter is visiting at the time. Birds, butterflies, hummingbirds, snakes, deer - think of this as the Noah's Ark of the Internet. Every critter is welcome.
• Next, create a post on your own blog, including a little bit about where and when you saw the critter. Include photos, of course!
• Now, visit the Metro DC Lawn and Garden blog Wildlife Wednesday post and add your name and url on the Mr. Linky widget. Then leave a comment to tell us what wonderful wildlife you saw so we can pay you a virtual visit!

If you don't have your own blog, the National Wildlife Federation has a Facebook Page for posting Wildlife Wednesday photos.

If you don't HAVE any wildlife in your landscape, then your gardens might need a little eco-tweaking. Environmentally friendly landscapes that incorporate native plants and eliminate chemicals just naturally attract more birds and butterflies and other little critters. So keep visiting the Metro DC Lawn and Garden blog and we'll help you create an environmentally friendly landscape that rolls out the welcome mat for wildlife!

Have fun! I can't wait to share your wildlife wonders with the world!