Hummingbird and Butterfly Gardening: DAILY BUTTERFLIES Page 74, 1 by mellielong

mellielong wrote:
We came from here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1069797/

I've been in hibernation due to all this cold weather here. You know we had the most days in a row where it didn't reach 70 degrees since like 1920-something? Below 70 is when Floridians start to freeze, LOL!

Seriously, I'm also on medical leave as my job has stressed me out so much I was having anxiety attacks at work. And my blood pressure was up. So I'm doing as my psychiatrist ordered and taking my meds and getting lots of exercise - by chasing butterflies and looking for caterpillars, of course!

I haven't been able to get too many pictures since all the butterflies seem to be on the move. They aren't laying many eggs either, darnit! A couple of weeks ago I was working in the yard and I swear nature was mocking me. I walked around the back of the house and saw the familiar blue flash of a Pipevine ST! I was so excited. A bit later, something caught my eye so I looked up to find a Tiger ST flying over me! At that point, I was like, you have to be kidding me! But it got even worse. I was washing my car and a Zebra ST flew over! By then, I was yelling at the sky and telling them to come back here. Luckily, no neighbors to witness my meltdown. And even after that, I drove up to McDonalds to get lunch and saw another Tiger ST up the street!

I've also seen a Phaeon Crescent, and a couple of unidentified skippers in the yard. Oh, and the Cloudless Sulphurs are flying around but they have yet to discover my cassia.

Knowing that the Zebra ST were flying around, I went hiking and picked some eggs. There were lots of butterflies but they were on the move. Oh, I also saw a few Palamedes while I was out there. I always see those guys where I hike but they rarely stop for photos.

I also visited the "used to be vacant lot" which has a half-built house on it. As you may recall, it's one street over from me and there were lots of pawpaws growing on the land. They've destroyed most of them, but I found a few and gathered two Zebra ST eggs. I didn't realize how many cherry trees they had and was super excited to find a Red-Spotted Purple cat! Actually, I found two but the one was no longer of this world.