I’ve said it many times, but if you don’t subscribe to Journey North I highly recommend you do. In this week’s publication one of the things that is discussed is how this severe drought in Texas is affecting Monarch Butterflies. I encourage you (especially if you live in Texas) to read this fascinating article. In short, the article talks about how the severe drought we are having (possibly the worst it’s been since the 1950′s) has affecting the Spring population of the Monarch Butterflies. Normally we (us Texans) would expect to see about 49% of the total sightings by April 15th of each year. Last year Texas reported 65% of the total sightings during this time period. This year it’s only been 35%. What does this drought mean to Monarch Butterflies? Less Milkweed and less nectar plants.
For the record, I’ll relate my own personal story. Yes, it is extremely dry. I try and water really well one day, and the next day it is dry again. Driving by some local lakes, the levels are so low that Leecy and I saw deer wandering in the grass in areas that normally would be underwater. Most of my plants (host plants and nectar plants) are doing okay only because I’m watering them fairly frequently and because I have lots of native or plants that have lower watering needs (wildflowers). My fruit trees appear to be producing less fruit this year. I’m constantly refilling the pool, pond, bird baths and fountains. They haven’t put my specific location on water restrictions, but I imagine it’s only a matter of time. Once they do that, things will become increasingly difficult to maintain.
On a side note, I’ve noticed that the Purple Martins seem to bringing home a lot less full sized Dragonflies, which they really seem to love (or at least love feeding them to their offspring). The insects they are feeding the babies are much smaller (small grasshoppers and such).
To give you an example of the heat, when I got in my car, the temperature was recording 107 degrees. Combine that with little wind, high humidity, and no rain anticipated in the near future, and you get the idea.
All this would add to a piece of advice I would like to share. If possible, try and plant native plants for your area. These plants have a much better chance of surviving extreme weather (cold, heat, rain). If you like attracting birds to your backyard, get a bird bath or fountain. The birds in my backyard really seem to appreciate it, and all of them are taking advantage of one of the few water sources around.
So check out the Journey North article mentioned above, and for those of you getting rain, try to send some this way as we sure need it.
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