Daily Pics of Butterflies

LOL Becky!!
ONe of the rotting bananas fell on the ground into the mulch, so I left it stuck on to cover how gross it looks. Their proboscises are definatly long enough to get in there. If it gets too small for the crowd when I finally make the brew I will go find a nice puddle plate to smear it in. This will work for now though.

Saw a few fly bys too but didn't capture in time, However I did see another Silver -spotted Skipper...> They're ganging on me now that the word's out on the Amorpha fruicosa putting out new shoots.

What a day! I knew I had to cram it all in tonight, because tomorrow moring it's back to Monday again.

:-Deb

Rofl Roxanne!!! Glad I wasn't drinking anything, it would have come out my nose!! LOL!! Hey! You gals never seen a banana before?? A little mulch sprinkle accident really helped, didn't it? Some of the best ideas happened by accident, right?

You guys are the best!!

:-D

Speaking of 'big 'ol turds'........I made a little brew today and DH jokingly said I should add some doggie doo doo. (we have 3 dogs) Well, that got me to thinking......butterflies do seem to like it.......has anyone ever used a little doggie doo mixed in when you set it out? That's gross and weird, I know! But he could be on to something.....

Debra

LOL, Debra! I have doggie pooh-pooh from my pet dog in my backyard that I pick up once a day. I have never, ever seen any butterflies eating it. So ....... nah ..... I wouldn't add that to the butterfly brew. Yucky and stinky!!! Ewwwwwwwwwwww ............... LOL! Stick with the beer!!!! LOL!

Ok, this is a bad picture but trying to get a butterfly to pose for a picture is harder than herding cats. I was wandering through the wetland preserve to see if my friends the hooded pitcher plants had woken up yet. On my way, I saw this swallowtail. Again, it's doing that puddling thing. I seem to be seeing that a lot lately...

Love that Silver Spotted Skipper!!! Thanks for showing those privet photos too. I had a Red Admiral and a Mournful Duskywing on the two I potted up. Didn't have my camera with me when I was outside earlier...but will try to get a photo if I see them again.

Ya'll are too funny!!! First you say my little guava skipper cats looked like turds...now you say the nanas do :o) HA! HA! Ya'lls gots potty brains!!! :o)

Mind you, I went to the grocery store today to get nanas to make butterfly brew and remember this post and just had to laugh. Fellow customers must have thought I was nuts!

Have never seen butterflies on doggy doo but have seen them pudding on cow patties though. We're going to rent out part of the acreage to a fellow rancher who wants to put cattle on it. Am hoping once we get the fences mended and he moves his cattle in I'll be able to get some photos of that lovely sight!!! :o)

As for butterflies pudding...this is one of my favorite photos. I usually see assorted sulphurs but it's not very often I'm able to catch the Giant Swallowtails at it.

~ Cat

Cat - Oh WOW! Loved the photo of the puddling Giant Swallowtails. That is one of the butterflies I hope to entice into my garden this year. I have my two wild lime plants growing very nicely and have hopes that a GST finds them! :-)

As far as things looking like "turds" .... I call it as I see it! LOL!

Guess you can call it anything ya want...just so long as we don't have to sniff it right?! ROLF!!!

~ Cat (will never look at a banana the same way again!!!)

Cat - Oh! I get enough of that at work changing poopy diapers! Don't need to go around sniffing in my gardens too unless of course I'm smelling the flowers! LOL!

Nice shot Cat, I'm with Becky attempting to draw all the GSTs I can this year. I went overboard with their host plants, and I think I've reached my quota. The last of them are on a UPS truck in GA somewhere now.. Z. clava.
I now have:
Hops Ptella t.
Hercules Zanthoxlyum c.
" " h.
Ruta g.
Flying Dragon Poncirus t.

Wouldn't it be crazy if I couldn't get them with all this?, LOL.

On another note.. A fella woke up the other day in Ellis County to find thousands of Hackberry Emperor caterpillars ALL OVER HIS HOUSE...It was covered with green cats, such a deal!! Lucky him!!
They were in his truck too, he had to scoot them off the seat to drive...If it wasn't so far I would drive out there and take pics. I don't know his exact location either....rats!
I found the article >>
http://www.waxahachiedailylight.com/articles/2007/04/22/dailylight/news/01-04-22-squirm.txt

This message was edited Apr 24, 2007 6:53 AM

Deb...

Great article. I hadn't read that one. Way cool!!! We get hundreds of tawny cats out at the NABA park...there is a picnic table under a huge hackberry tree and they are forever dropping from the tree. If you walk under it you'll surely end up with some in your hair or on your shoulders...but nothing like that photo and story!!! WOW!!!

I think you got enough larval host plants now :o) I only have three citrus trees in my yard...a tangerine, navel orange and a ruby red grapefruit. I get caterpillars every year...but this year they are using the rue plants I bought for the black swallowtails! First year I've had them on rue :o)

Do you get Giant Swallowtails nectaring in your yard? Out here they really like nectaring on Red Salvia, Lantana and Pride of Barbados aka Mexican Bird of Paradise tree. There is a place about 8 miles from me that has a row of Pride of Barbados trees along the fence line...everytime I drive by there I can see gobs of GSTs on them. So I bought two sapling for my back yard!!! Last fall they had a few blooms and sure enough...there were always a couple of GSTs on them :o)

~ Cat

Yeah DH came out and told me when the article came on the News..He knew I would love that... Imagine thousands!!! WOW indeed! I am so glad the people welcome them and are not using pesticides too!
And Yes I do get GSTs...they fly through regularly here. I just want some to hang out for a while longer and generate from here. I forgot to add that I have Meyer Lemon, Do they ever use that as a host? If not, I'm sure to get a slew of them this year with all the other hosts I've planted.

Deb

Here's a couple pics from March 31 this year>

Just one more, lol.

How neat to have a bazillion HE cats all over the place!

Great pics of the SWTs!

Here's a new little guy I released yesterday....the spots on his wings are actually cat hair on my lens, I forget to clean it.

Thanks, Deb, for posting the link to that news article! Very cool! The teacher I work with got a big kick out of reading it too! Wouldn't that be fun to watch all those cats! Though I'd be a nervous wreck worrying that I'd step on some of the cats if there were that many around my home. LOL!

I love the GSTs! Deb - I'm with you ..... I hope my yard attracts some this year. I'd love to raise some GST cats this year! That would be so exciting!!! :-)

Nice photo, Rox! Is that a Calla bloom your Monarch is on? Very pretty bright yellow flower!

Thanks Becky, it is a Calla, they do really well here.

I whipped up a batch of "Butterfly Brew" yesterday, and decided to put it all down on a page with pictures. I was looking for some of Cat's spectacular shots of the flocks on logs at NABA, and couldn't find them. If you guys make it and want to share your pics, send them to me so I can post them on the page.
Cat~ If ya have any of those pics handy, I would love to have a couple to show maximum results...
http://www.theletteroflove.com/wallpaper/

A lovely Bordered Patch on a native wildflower back at the ranch. I love the contrast of color :o)

~ Cat

Really neat Deb, I checked the link to your site and I think you are doing a wonderful job. Keep up the good work.
Josephine.

Thanks Deb, great info, I printed the page so I can make it soon. I'm so afraid I'll forget to burp it lol

CAt, that is a pretty combo!

Here are some Zebra Longwing Caterpillars I found on my new passiflora suberosa and a zebra butterfly, too.

And a monarch visited me.

Cat - That Border Patch photo is LOVELY! Nice shot! :-) Working all day, I miss out on seeing my butterflies until the weekends. I NEED my butterfly fix!!! (Glad the weekend is just a day away!) lol

Deb - That is a great idea to put the butterfly/moth brew on your website. The photo is great for folks like me who are more visual learners. Good idea!!!!

Rox - I am growing Calla this year too! A couple different cultivars. Do you grow yours in full sun or partial sun? Are yours in the ground or potted? Inquiring minds want to know!!!

snuzer - Your photos are great!!! I love the one of the Zebra Longwing with the cats!!! Beautiful shot!!!! Thanks for sharing them with us!!!

I've seen a few Zebra Longwings (they are the state butterfly here), but I can never seem to get them to settle down and pose for me. Love your pics! I just bought a passion flower vine so hopefully I'll have some ZLs soon!

Nice pics snuzer! Love the ZLs and the Monarchs! I think I need a Datura!

Becky, I have some Callas in the ground, full shade and part sun and they all have done well. Some spots are under trees and dry out pretty quick, but they don't seem to mind. Have you seen the splotchy leaved ones? That yellow one was one.....muy pretty!

Thanks! I am just learning to put photos together. Too bad the quality of the Zebra photo was a bit poor. I hava a hard time getting quality shots of those....Either the yellow is washed out or they fly away before I get the shot! But anyway thanks!

Here is one of a Gulf Frittillary (sp?) cat / butterfly. However the butterfly photo is not a brand new one (last year).

Nice...how did you get 2 pics on there?

I use adobe photoshop. I have just figured it out so I am playing around with it a bit. I go to New to get a blank photo, then copy & paste existing photos, after resizing the ones I want to use.

Thanks, sounds easy, but there's not a thing easy about Photoshop! I've got CS2 and it frustrates me to no end.

First of all I have to say wow snuzer nice pics of cats and bfs! Your doing great with the pics! I have Photo Studio 5.5 that came with my camera that I am barely now figuring out.... so I hear ya!
Cat, what a great contrast with the Bordered Patch, I love it!
The 'brew' recipe inspired me to do a "Rachel Ray" blow by blow of ..it really works well! Muchas Gracias sistah!
Thank you very much too Josepine:-), feedback is so nice..if something is off track I can change it very easily.
Big wide smile Roxanne, about burbing, yikes!
Becky, I had to take the 'fear' out of this recipe, I know every good bf gardener needs to make some......kaboom! LOL!

Seriously folks it wont explode of ya check it every couple days. Cat lives in one of the hottest places in North America and she only checks hers every couple to few days. I put a bucket over mine in plain sight, besides I won't miss it because I use it so much.

Millie I am so glad you have Passionvine, now the ZLWs will flutter for hours and tickle you till you cry 'uncle'. We dont get them here, so I love to see y'all's pics and hear your accounts of them.

Today was really great out there, nice and cool.. I got a lot more done. I saw a few I didn't reconize right away, which is good, (means I might be doing something right),

Had a party of Skippers on at the Golden Daisys I got from the swap in Arlington.. Still haven't looked up what they are yet. Figured someone here could chime in and tell me. Some kind of Skippers, several of them,,

:-D

I think I found my macro.. Here's another shot of 2 ...

This one hung around for a long while.... The brew and daisys were a hit today!

Anyone know his name?

Too late! She's a Varigated Fritillary...now that explains why she was on the PV, lol. See how tired I was last night? LOL

Deb

More to come....

This message was edited Apr 27, 2007 6:11 AM

I think my Skippers are "Firey Skippers", any other suggestions are always welcome, as usual.
http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species?l=2066
They were sure having a party on the Astercae yesterday. I was way to tired to look it up then.. Their big eyes abnd white eye rings remind me of the wee Kinglets that visit in winter........ Just adorable!

What do y'all think?


Deb

This message was edited Apr 27, 2007 6:02 AM

Going to the dentist, one of my fillings fell out this morning,,,,how inconvienent!!!
Had to post just one more pic of V-frit before I move on with my day.

What a view!

Cute skippers and Gorgeous Varigated Fritillary. The yellow blossom really shows them off! It's really fun when you can get 2 or more butterflies in the same shot. I haven't managed that very many times. Maybe I will have to try rotting fruit or brew this summer. BTW- Thanks for all the smiles!

They do look pretty on the yellow....great pics Deb....hope your dentist appt wasn't too bad :)

Deb - Is that a Daisy bush plant that the butterflies are on? I have a huge clump of it and I rarely see butterflies on it. Mostly bees.