Butterfly and Wildlife Gardening And Photography In Houston Texas
Category Archives: Butterflies The Monarch Butterfly tagging and release continues. Beautiful sunshine today although a little chilly in the morning. We had our last (at the moment) indoor Monarch Chrysalis eclose today (it was a female). Actually she eclosed yesterday but it was very windy and cold yesterday so we decided to release her today. In addition…  With the South winds blow very strong the last few days, it’s no surprise that we have seen a decrease in migrating Monarchs. Right now we manage to see about 1 new Monarch per day, which is quite different than last week where we were seeing 15 new Monarchs per day. Tonight, just around dusk,…  Three new Monarch Butterflies today (4 if you count the deformed wing Monarch I posted about earlier). One was a returning male Monarch that we had previously tagged. It was feeding in the early morning on the white flowers of the Butterfly Bush. The second one was one that we had not previously tagged and…  I’ve had a few people write or call me upset that their Monarch Butterflies either did not form a proper Chrysalis or that the Butterfly was born with deformed, crinkled wings. Today, I had the same experience (it’s happened many, many times). I thought I would take a moment to comment on my understanding of…  Before this year and the drought we have experienced, one of the most common Butterflies we had in the backyard was the Gulf Fritillary. That has not been the case this year. We have seen very few and as a result our Passion Vine is taking over one area of the garden (from the lack…  The Fall 2011 Migration of Monarch Butterflies was much slower today than the last two days. I only saw 1 untagged Monarch who didn’t appear until late in the afternoon. It was a good day for photography and Monarchs. We had 1 Monarch (a female) who eclosed today from the outdoor Butterfly enclosure. Here’s the… I promised Valerie I would post about this, and I just plain forgot (check out her great Monarch Butterfly site http://www.evansonart.com/monarch.html). It’s from the Walker County Master Gardeners, and it’s their second annual Butterfly Festival and plant sale. I think Leecy said it’s about 1.5-2 hours away from where we are located in Houston. Below…  Another great day for the Fall 2011 Migration of Monarch Butterflies through Houston. I saw a total of 7 today, and tagged 5 of them. There were roughly the same amount of males and females. I mentioned this on the Journey South site, but what I’m noticing this year compared to previous years is how…  Wouldn’t you know it? We get a nice cold front blowing through yesterday, and today (while I’m at work) Leecy witnesses one of the largest group of Migrating Monarchs we have seen in our backyard. Leecy took both the picture and video with her camera, so I’ll let her do the narration. Hi! Well, yes…  I hope folks don’t mind more pictures of Painted Lady Butterflies. These Butterflies are so drawn to the Zinnas I can’t resist taking advantage of the photographic opportunity.  Zinnias must be full of nectar. It’s become the most popular plant in our backyard. It also appears to be the preferred location for the Painted Lady Butterflies. I did see another Monarch today and the Painted Lady chased it away.  Yea! The first Fall migrating Monarch Butterfly of 2011 (at least the first one I’ve seen) has arrived. I might have seen two, but since I only was able to take a picture of one of them, I’ll just say one for now. I spotted the male Monarch on our pink Butterfly Bush (a Hummingbird…  We’re finally cooling down here in Houston (thank goodness). I think our plants like it as well, especially the Zinnias. They are really blooming right now, and it turn that has attracted Butterflies. I saw a few Painted Lady Butterflies today, and they were all focusing on the Zinnias. These Butterflies are not easy to…  Houston, we have a problem! I found 5 Monarch Caterpillars today. The problem with that is that I’ve been on vacation all week and I’ve never seen any Monarch Butterflies. Leecy gets home well before dark, and she hasn’t seen any Monarch Butterflies either. So where did they come from? Were they Monarchs migrating from…  I had quite a few Butterflies in the backyard today, much more so than normal. The Zinnia garden is attracting many insects including Honeybees, Carpenter Bees, and of course, Butterflies. The Lantana also appears to be a Butterfly favorite. This is an American Painted Lady on a Red Zinnia flower. Although I’ve seen them in… |
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