Time again for a new thread....we came from here
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1121944/
Hard to believe but butterfly season is almost over for us folks up north here. Time just seemed to fly by so fast this summer.
Male Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.....We have had so many EST this year! I don't recall ever seeing as many as I did this summer. There always seems to be one out in the flower bed.
This message was edited Aug 26, 2010 10:45 PM
I just love Cabbage Whites on Ironweed!!
Male BST....
BST & EST!!
Gray Hairstreak on a new sedum plant I bought recently.
Thanks for the plastic tote idea Nanny.
We bought these butterfly cages...they weren't too expensive, and are washable. From Cat...to Eclose, they've worked great for us. Sometimes I just put a potted plant in the bottom, and let them eat that, then replace it. When not in use they "fold up" and can be easily stored.
We also have smaller "cages" we made from plastic containers. Cut a square in the top and hot glue fine mess screen. Again easy to clean and store.
Very nice mjsponies!!!
if you want something pre-made like the first one I showed, just do a google search of 'butterfly cages"........you'll get every size shape imaginable....and lots of idea's for making your own as well as the links in the resource threads.
Thanks nanny for starting a new thread....loved the pair of buckeyes on the previous one. Those thistles are popular nectar spots.
mjs....always nice to see someone protecting the flutterbys.
Giant Swallowtail from below
He carries his straw with him !
((smile))
nice pictures mjs.
This message was edited Aug 27, 2010 6:41 PM
mj.. I just love that straw picture. You need to enter that in the photo contest!!!
I haven't done any rescuing this year, but have tons of Gulf Frits, Yellow Sulphurs, ETS, and Black Swallowtails.
I saw a Monarch last evening,,,, I'm sure it was. I ran to get my camera and don't you know when I went back, he was gone.
EFGeorgia1,
If you knew how many times I've run to get my camera only to have the shot "long gone" it would bowl you over. I don't carry my camera on me, and have missed some amazing shots because of it. So now I make sure it's charged and not full ( which I've been spending the last several Hours ! saving/deleting photo's to make sure I have room for more. I just wish I could get some really good hummer shots', but don't have the time to "sit", and wait, which is what you have to do with the hummer's. Rapid fire sequence shot's and a good eye for focus is a key. I keep learning, and a "pro" photographer who came out to the farm to do a shoot gave me some excellent tips to getting the most I could from the camera that I have.....which isn't much. You can do quite a lot with an average digital camera, and knowing how to use it, Which I still have a lot to learn. I've done a lot of photography for 20+ years, and am still learning, as technology develops. It's amazing what you can do now with a little cheap camera, that you could only do with fancy lens's and editing even 5-15 years ago. Just mess around with the camera you have and you may be surprised. !
I don't have any butterfly shots but if I don't post I don't get updates and miss the pictures. Here is however a picture of the garden filling up nicely.
Looking good Roly! You're sure to have plenty of butterflies soon enough.
My Common Buckeye eclosed today and was released!!
I like to take advantage of break time when weeding to wait for hummingbirds. It doesn't usually take long. And you know what? If I can take a picture that comes out half way decent with my camera, then anyone can take a picture. Really. I'm known for my bad pictures...lol... ;)
Well it is late, but if I don't post now, another day will be gone....
Sugarfoot brought me bordered patch caterpillars to raise a week or two ago. They immediately went to chrysalis the next day. This morning two of the four had emerged and I took this one as one was getting ready to take flight.
I love their bold pattern.
I have one pupa left that is in good shape...you can see it in the picture. However if you open the photo, the one on the left did not form properly and has a dark coloring.
.......As I opened the cage to release the two eclosed bfs, I realized why. Down in the bottom of the cage was a large pupa. It grew inside of the cat and then emerged when it began the metamorphosis. This is why I bring in the cats as early as possible, so they don't get eggs deposited in them by parasites.
I placed the chrysalis beside it to give perspective.
This message was edited Aug 28, 2010 9:49 PM
Nice hummer shot Terry!
The Border Patch is so pretty!! Sorry they didn't all develope but thanks for showing the difference & the problem.
Hard to see but there are 7 EST in this shot!! This is out by the road right across from my house. My elderly neighbor saw them and came to the door & told to grab my camera & get out there!! lol
8 Butterflies total in this one!!
I may have to allow a little thistle in my wild bed this year! NIce!
Me too on the thistles. Pretty butterflies all.
Sunflower and Sulphur
Eastern Tailed Blues not singing the blues.
Hummer
4 Buckeyes
Common Sooty Wing
Wow, look a all you guys go.
Nice hummers Terry and Jack! Nanny, can't believe all those ESTs. I've never seen a sooty wing.
I missed this new thread. Been kinda slow here this week. Not sure if it's the wind or what. I tell you, I really miss not having the Zinnias this year. I only have a couple small ones. And I lost one of my big tithonias. Fell over and broke! don't know if a squirrel or other critter was involved.
I feel so bad too because I didn't get the swallowtails on the fennel moved in in time. I was out of town and was going to take them in on Saturday when i got home. They were all gone. I suspect a chickadee because I saw one checking that plant out later. Darn. Not a good year for me!
Beautiful Bordered Patch Sheila, I just love them.
I have yet to raise a Buckeye even though I have the larval plants, sure wish they would come by here.
Sugarfoot brought me a pot of cowpen daisies to try here. Josephine, if I plant them now in semi shade would they make it through the winter? Or should I keep them potted so I can bring them in?
Love that sulphur on the sunflowers....almost stealth! What is the plant that the buckeyes are all over?
Missed your posts Marna, glad you are back...ss about the BSTs. The wasps are my main insect attacking the cats here this year I think. I was trimming the neighbor's privet legustrum where it was hanging over my fence yesterday from atop a ladder. I clipped a limb and it fell, only to be staring at a paperwasp nest two foot from my face! Needless to say I got off that ladder quickly. I didn't realize they made nests in bushes like that.
Shelia, the Buckeyes are hanging out in a patch of some kind of mint.
Mint has a redeeming quality...at last!
whoa. that was a close call Shelia!
The cardinals were my first "birds of interest", but when I saw that little chickadee checking out the fennel, he became the the chief suspect! LOL. ah well. two lessons learned this year.
Is anyone ever finding cats on sunflowers? I have all kinds of holes there, but never find any cats.
Sheila, are you saying that you didn't have Cowpen Daisies?
I think that if you plant them now they will probably make seed and come up in the spring for you.
They are annuals and I don't think that carrying them through the winter would help much, but I have never tried it, so it might be worth it as an experiment.
This message was edited Aug 30, 2010 6:57 AM
Mrs Ed, many butterflies lay eggs on the sunflowers but it seems that they get gobbled up by ants, birds or who knows what, as soon or shortly after they are laid.
