Puddling, scat and butterfly brew photos

That malachite butterfly was really something to see. I've never seen a green butterfly. It almost looks as if you are overwhelmed with the various types. Defintely jealous!

Cross post. Great minds think alike!

don't they>>>??? LMAO..
Elaine

Shiela,

Great photos! You even have a Question Mark on your hand at that! They are so skittish out here. We see maybe a handful to possibly a dozen during the year. Once they are engrossed in the brew or have consumed enough to fly silly they will stay put...but when they first appear you get to about a fifteen feet away and they spook.

Love that photo of them on the brew bottle!!! Same happens here too. I enjoy driving around the back pasture in the golf cart and stopping every now and then to see what lands. Sometimes I'm lucky enough to see them flying behind my cart...too funny!!!

Penne...the Malachite reminds me of key lime pie with whipped cream and drizzled chocolate :o) It has such a rich brown coloring that really contrasts with the lime green.

Here's another photo of one to show it's full glory.

~ Cat

I am SO jealous.

Aren't we all green with jealousy! I remember you giving that description before Cat, perfect description.

Oh, TPP-- What a treat to look at all your butterflies (visiting scat, poo, and whatever else)! Who knew we would enjoy such pics so much!?

Great theme for a thread. Those TX butterflies really know a nice buffet when they see one...I don't think I've ever seen a butterfly puddling around here, much less such gorgeous ones as yours! Lucky girl!

I'm comin' on down, too! Just got my first issue of "The Butterfly Gardener" from NABA this week and I think I saw some of yours in it!

Tabasco,

Do hope you'll plan your visit to the lower Rio Grande Valley during the Fall season. Our peak butterfly season is from October -December.

Jeff Glassberg was down here this week :o)

~ Cat

Is the butterfly gardener a monthly magazine?

Butterfly Gardener is published four times a year.

http://www.naba.org/pubs/bg.html

American Butterflier is also a quarterly publication

http://www.naba.org/pubs/abm.html

Both are free if you become a member of NABA :o)

~ Cat

Hope at least some of those make their way up here later on. But lovelies like that Malachite and some others you showed never do. The closest to greenish butterflies here are the sulfurs with greenish tinge.

Oh these are great. I really enjoyed seeing your photos.

A mix of Tropical and Goatweed Leafwings on a post baited with butterfly brew :o)

~ Cat

Tropical Leafwings making use of the hummingbird feeder. This of course, freaked out the hummingbirds - they wouldn't go near the feeder while the butterflies were on it and I didn't realize how such little birds could squeak and chirp so loud to make a noisy fuss.

~ Cat

Tawny Emperors on a bait log.

~ Cat

Wire basket with citrus for the butterflies.

~ Cat

Malachite on a log baited with butterfly brew.

~ Cat

Another couple of Malachites, a Mexican Bluewing and a few tawnys on a fallen tree baited with butterfly brew.

~ Cat

A Guatemalan Cracker on a post baited with butterfly brew. What a face!

~ Cat

Gray Cracker on a tree brushed with butterfly brew.

~ Cat

Silver Emperors feeding off of brew and juice that has dripped from a hanging basket of fruit (not seen in photo but it is hanging above the butterflies on the ground).

~ Cat

Red Rim (Biblis hyperia) on a bait log.

~ Cat

Some other Giant Swallowtails mud-puddling.

~ Cat

More Giant Swallowtails mud-puddling.

~ Cat

A mix of Cloudless Sulphurs, Southern Dogfaces, Snouts, Leafwings and Lysides mud-puddlling.

~ Cat

Some Ceraunus Blues and Reakirt Blues mud-puddling.

~ Cat

Well, hey, this is super, love the photos.

Could you post another link to the brew recipe? The one up there goes to some stray webpage...... and I did not before this evening even know there WAS such a thing as butterfly brew....... would love to brew some up. LOL!

Editing to say, I found the link, here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=2008615 but the one that says "letteroflove" is something else entirely................... (hope this works, we will see........)

This message was edited Nov 9, 2008 8:37 PM

Try this link it also has the recipe.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=2008615

*smile* I guess we cross posted there..... thanks!

Yes...glad you found it. Around here it only attracts the bees, hackberry emperors and Question Marks, but I keep hoping. LOL!
Cat hogs all the neat butterflies down south, LOL!

Well, after my first burst of enthusiasm, I remembered that, only a few weeks ago when it was warmer here, the butterflies practically swarmed wherever there was moisture -- the puddling thing, drinking.... and gosh, it might get dangerous to attract any more than come naturally with just watering the beds here, LOL ...... but it is great info to have, and I think I am gathering that the brew will attract ones that might not come around just for plain ole water.

See, I am new to this area of the country, and in NC where I was til September, many things were different, I am still learning the local ways of the land and bugs and critters etc. Never seen so many butterflies just from a little watering, before this. I love the putting fruit out too, that I will likely try before the brew stuff.

Ok Puddingprint you need to stop posting these fabulous pics, were all getting depressed seeing these BT's that we don't have here! LOL

By the way, what is SCAT, I never heard that term used before? and could you send some here?????????????????

Looks like you are painting on the brew are you? Do you have a problem with flies and bees? I know I have some fruit out now and the flies and bees are all over it, to the point that they are annoying the Question Marks. See the pic with flies and bees on it? You might tell us about how to best use the brew, that would be helpful.

Keep posting I really enjoy the pics and the information.
Peg

Yes, please send Peg some scat, ROTFLMAO!

(Scat is poo, Peg. Animal droppings and such.)

Melanie

No, seriously, this is a great business idea! For all t hose who have no local scat but wish to attract the butterflies that flock to it, it could be packaged and sold for very little overhead......

LOL!

Wonder where that name came from, anyway?

You may be on to something there. I know lots of places that sell compost and manure, but I refuse to pay for anything I can make myself or get for free! Plus, I have a very nice horse riding place that lets me get all the composted manure I can shovel!

Melanie

Peg,

Surely you don't want me to mail scat :o) As Mellie said...it's animal poo - out here it can be anything from cows and horses to coyote, bobcat and wild hogs etc.

I've found that butterflies seem to like whatever it is that owls upchuck. At least I think it's owls...could be coyotes or a giant hairball from a bobcat. Whatever it is...it looks like a mixture of hair and bones and other ucky stuff - perhaps it's coyote poo. I find it on the roads around the ranch - and when I re-hydrate it (pour water over it) the butterflies find it and get up into that nasty stuff!

There are several butterfliers that go on camping trips. When they are out in the woods there is one lady that makes the men all go pee in one spot - the butterflies are attracted to male urine over female urine. Don't ask me why...but it works out here!!!

As for bees, wasps and flies on brew - well, that's a given. Those critters like the stuff too. You might be able to keep their numbers down if you pour a little bit into a bowl about four inches in diameter and set a plastic scrubbie over it. The butterflies' long proboscis will be able to reach down through the holes in the plastic scrubbie to get to the brew but the bees and wasp with short tongues can't. Another thing you might try is to put a shallow tray of really sweet sugar water in a far corner of your yard. Once the bees find that and take note that it is the sweetest nectar they should make a bee line for it and stay away from your brew. Other than, well, you just have to live with it - the butterflies out here eat side by side with them.

I use a brush to paint it on tree branches and some old fence boards too. Best to keep using the same bait log or fence post - the residue lingers and keeps the butterflies coming back waiting for the next refill.

~ Cat

ps...I have two dogs that poo in my back yard and that has never attracted any butterflies...go figure! Guess the butterflies prefer wild poo that is laced with animal parts and such instead of kibbles and bits :o)

LOL!! Peg...be glad she didn't just put some in the mail!!
Cat...That is a great idea with the scrubbie, I have found dead bees if I put too much out. They get in the puddles of bait and the sun dries it and they can't fly I guess.

We get dead insects and butterflies as well if we pour the brew too deep or it is too thick and sticky. Hence, using a brush to brush it on the side of tree bark, old fence posts or such works well too.

Other than that making a hanging bait log and using a saw to cut some quarter inch deep groves or carve out a shallow channel works too. Those grooves help catch and hold the liquid but keeps the butterflies from falling over into it and drowning. They can get drunk on the brew ya know!!!

~ Cat

This is a photo of a hanging bait log with a channel cut out in the top middle. A bit of bait can then be poured into the 'well' - there is a Red Rim (Biblis hyperia), a Red Admiral and some wasps on this one :o)

This is another hanging bait log made out of a piece of firewood. I peeled away some of the bark and cut grooves on the top. The grooves, the sides where the bark starts again and the bark itself will catch and hold the brew. There's a lone Red Admiral on this one. This photo is from winter two years ago :o)

~ Cat

Oops...would have helped if I'd added the photo! EY!!!

~ Cat