Daily Butterfly Pictures Page 83: A new thread as the other was getting toooooo long :o)
Was just outside and photographed a Curve-Winged Metalmark (Emesis emesia) enjoying nectar from the eupatorium (Bluemist flower) bush in my yard. An uncommon butterfly that is a new yard species for me!
~ Cat
ps...we came from here:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1128979/#new
This message was edited Dec 11, 2010 7:52 PM
That is really neat Cat. You get to see the most unusual butterflies.
Such interesting pictures. I luv this thread!
Congrats, Cat, on your new one in the yard. Hope your season continues to heat up! so to speak.
Not seeing many butterflies here at home, but I was in wisconsin this weekend and got a first… Milberts Tortoiseshell. Unfortunately, I had a really big lens on the camera so I had difficulty shooting and missed any shots of it with the wings all the way open. Pity. Still, I was very excited.
Good for you too Mrs_Ed - we don't get the Milberts this far south :o)
There's not the usual abundance of butterflies around - seems like this time last year the flowers were covered with a variety of species. Some of the mistflowers at the park are still buds so that might have a lot to do with it.
We're having our fall count on Wednesday - will have to see how many species we see.
~ Cat
We don't have many different species, but we have many butterflies, Queens, Monarchs, Painted ladies, Gulf fritilaries , Giant swallowtails, Bordered patch, some Sulphurs and Silver spotted skippers sometimes they bump into us as we work, there are so many flying around.
I have tagged 44 Monarchs so far. Just a few more stickers left and I am done. I am going to order me a larger net next year, catching them is the only hard part.
I also had a first in my yard. By the time I made it back in for the camera, I got off one shot and it was gone. A long-tailed Skipper a new one for me, so blurry or not I am posting. I don't know if it can be identified from this or not. I don't remember spotting any blue....so maybe the Dorantes Longtail?
This message was edited Oct 25, 2010 7:52 PM
I got a shot of an American Lady today, but it stayed buried inside a mound of Blue Mist and wouldn't come up so I could get a open wing top side. It is pretty on the under side as well though.
Only good shot of the upper wings.
GrEaT pictures everyone. I still have viceroy, yellow sulper, red spotted purple, Gulf Frits, and a ton of skippers. Several kinds. I suppose I should take the camera out and get some pics of the skippers. I'm not that familiar with all their names.
My BST cats have all disappeared now. They had gotten quite large. I hope they made a run for it and made it okay. I'm still hunting around for some evidence.
OK, I have become a certified Monarch Waystation. Tell me about tagging the Monarchs.
Congrats on the waystation!
We had so many butterflies of various kinds this year, Mrs_Ed. It was awesome!
Sheila,
Looks like a Dorantes to me.
Here's one from south Texas.
~ Cat
That is what I think too Cat. I am going with that, thanks.
cville..... Here is the link, but you can't tag but certain times of the year and the tags are dated. But you can be prepared to next year.
http://www.monarchwatch.com/tagmig/tag.htm
This message was edited Oct 26, 2010 9:09 AM
Hi all ... we had some wicked weather here yesterday and I was out early this morning surveying the damage and cleaning up a bit. I picked up this sherpherd's hook that had blown over to lean it back up against the house and this is what I found attached to it. Question: I put the hook back upright against the house but should I lay it back down or ? What next??
I hadn't seen any of the cats for a few days ... one day they were munching out on the parsley and then they were gone. This was encouraging to me in that maybe at least one or two of the others is out there somewhere too. :-)
Sheila, thanks for the link. That's where I registered my Monarch Waystation and didn't even think about that site. Duh-o.
I posted on my pics on the last thread, and thought I was here! lol
I had skippers, a buckeye and a Red Admiral on Monday!
Anyway congrats to all of you getting new BF's!
Carol, congrats on you Waystation!
Those BST caterpillars are sneaky. I would leave it as it is right now standing. By tomorrow it should have hardened into a chrysalid and more likely than not it will overwinter if the temperatures are cooler in your area.
Thanks, nanny and Roly. Temps sometimes get into the single-digits here in the winter but they are saying this year will be warmer and rainier.
Yea Cville!! It would have crawled up and formed the comma when it was standing, after it hardens as Roly said, you can move it to a window screen or something sturdy. Just peel the silk off with the chrysalis attached and pin or hot glue it being careful not to get the pupa.
I was so shocked to find it and glad it survived when the hook blew down!! That location is clear across the carport from where they had been living in the parsley. I haven't glimpsed the other three anywhere but this gives me hope. Maybe I will. :-)
ha! now you know how far they can go!
Yes, and it's up over 5' ... perhaps I'm looking too low too. :-)
Fascinating to watch the cycle up close. I can see the little silk sling threads that attaches it to the pole. This is all a lot of fun. Hey, "we" may have a beautiful butterfly child between all of our efforts. :-D)))
I'm afraid to try to scrape the silk and damage the chrysalid so all of my Monarchs have eclosed in the place that they attach themselves to. They do move a lot. I've found a couple up on the garage door fram about 10 feet high and about another 10 feet away from their host plant. Sometimes we undereastime these creatures.
Cville....A lot of times they will go in the same direction of a previous cat. So look on the ground where the hook landed for more that may have dislodged. I have had them settle on a iris fan, but usually it is something more solid.
I keep looking. I'm sure this one is one of the last two that left the parsley so I keep thinking I will come across the other one. But we had so much strong wind yesterday and there are so many blown leaves and so much plant litter out there right now that it is almost impossible to see anything. I'm going to hunt one more time tomorrow and then I need to clean up some of the leaves. I hope to spot the other one still because I didn't expect to find this one ... but did. :-)
Didn't see the Long-tailed skipper today but the Am Lady was back along with several Monarchs.
Yesterday I got out late and got a few pictures... one of those I tagged was still around.
I also got to see another Common Buckeye yesterday! Love those.
What kind of camera do you use for your photos?
That was a Nikon D50 my favorite, but we do have a Cannon also. I haven't learned to use it properly yet. I didn't take that, my DH did. I was trying to shield my face from the sun and didn't have a free hand. The cameras are his babies anyway.
We had our ribbon cutting today for the National Butterfly Center in Mission, TX.
Here's Jeff Glassberg - cutting the ribbon for the new building.
~ Cat
Best butterfly of the day was an Aquamarine Hairstreak (Oenomaus ortygnus). This is the 5th US Record and it was photographed at the National Butterfly Center in Mission, TX.
It hung around for about 20 minutes so lots of folks got to photograph this extremely rare butterfly.
~ Cat
ps...today was also the ribbon cutting ceremony for the National Butterfly Center (see above post of Jeff Glassberg with scissors in hand)
wow. perfect timing. it's like when you hire a sought after speaker for an event!
The NABA meeting is going on there this weekend correct?? Alongside with the Butterfly festival if I'm not mistaken.
WOW!
Great timing Cat! Congrats are in order for the new opening and for the illusive find!
Skippers
Hairstreak
Red Admiral again on Thursday!!
many skippers
