Wonderful photo's. I never had them visit my plants, just flies and wasps. You must have been realllllllly sneaky to get these!
I go a step further, although it's a very anthropocentric view, I don't like to see any beautiful or 'helpful' critters (aka: non-pests) get captured by my CPs. While I feed them yellow jackets, I periodically rescue butterflies. When Jim Scott fed that sphinx moth to his CPs a few weeks ago - - - - - let's just say, that was something I would probably not do....LOL see that's about the only type of bug I wouldn't mind a CP not eating
Most of the time, I'm too late anyway ...Well, I neither rescue insects from my outside CPs, or feed them any.
Same here - although I wish they were more successful with the non-native, flying-bowling-ball European starlings than they are with the others... Several years ago, we had a massive blizzard Christmas eve into Christmas day. My wife was on the phone wishing her mom happy holidays & catching up while idly watching the heavy snow fall. All of a sudden a Coopers hawk swooped in and snatched a male cardinal. She almost swallowed the phone as she called to us. The Coopers spread his wings over his catch for a minute in the snow before taking it to a nearby pine & eating it (plucking it 1st).I also do not worry when a hawk takes a songbird from my feeders.
Outside house cats (& their feral cousins) are a major songbird issue .... what do you do?I do however interfer if my neighbor's cat is out.
Outside house cats (& their feral cousins) are a major songbird issue .... what do you do?
Actually, they won't. Not any type of butterfly, as far as I know. I raise some.Just be careful they don't lay eggs on your plants. Caterpillars can be devastating...