AquaNooga - Backyard wildlife habitat

The Water Garden Display Ponds Are Certified Backyard Wildlife Habitats The Water Garden's display gardens at our former retail store location in Chattanooga was a an official Backyard Wildlife Habitat™ certified by the National Wildlife Federation. We encourage our customers and visitors to welcome nature into their yards and water gardens. Although our Backyard Wildlife Habitat™ is just over a year old, the NWF's Backyard Wildlife Habitat™ program has been encouraging people to make the environment around homes and businesses wildlife friendly for more than 30 years. When we moved to our new location in the fall of 2002, we undertook the project of building a new garden area featuring multiple ponds. The gardens currently feature 5 display ponds ranging in size from 1,400 gallons to 18,000 gallons. Two additional smaller ponds will be added in coming months. We invite you all to come visit our Backyard Wildlife Habitat™ next time you are in the Chattanooga area. Below are a few photos of some visitors to our Backyard Wildlife Habitat™ as well as a pair of temporary residents. All Photos on this page Copyright©2003 - 2005 The Water Garden/WaterGarden.com
We saw our first dragonfly teneral of 2005 today (4/16/04). As you can see in the photo (left), it had recently emerged from the water and was clinging to the exuviae it will leave behind. Once it completes the transformation from a naiad to dragonfly, it will take to the air for for the first time.
	A damselfly [thought to be a Citrine Forktail (Ischnura hastata) - immature female?] sitting on a Queen of Siam water lily flower (above). A Toxomerus Hover Fly feeding on the nectar of an aster flower (left).
Female Blue Dasher Dragonfly.	We discovered this Robber Fly eating a male Blue Dasher dragonfly near one of our large ponds. More Dragonfly Photos
Face to face with a grasshopper in our butterfly garden area.	A Water Strider moves across the surface of one of our aquatic plant beds.
A Mocking Bird atop tree that is home to her two hungry offspring.
A dragonfly hovers over a water lily bloom (above). A dragonfly larva cuticle is left behind after metamorphosis of a dragonfly exuviae (right).
A Blood Worm, taken from one of our pond filters, is shown on a fingertip in this photo.	A treefrog sitting on an arrowhead plant leaf.
A lady beetle walks across a leaf dotted with morning dew.
A water beetle sits near the surface eating an insect (left). Above, a scarlet skimmer (Crocothemis servilia) dragonfly. This is a non-native insect that has shown up at our ponds recently. More Dragonfly Photos
Visit the Backyard Habitat Section of the National Wildlife Federation's Website to learn how you can have your "Backyard Wildlife Habitat™" certified. All Photos on this page Copyright©2003 - 2006 The Water Garden/WaterGarden.com