I’ve got some really interesting, but personal, information to share. I generally don’t share a whole lot about my personal life, but this just seemed so interesting I’ve decided to do it.
A little background. I remember my mother had a Butterfly business when I was a very young child. I don’t recall many of the specifics, but I do remember some of the Butterfly pictures hanging on the wall.
Well Leecy was cleaning one of the upstairs closets, and came across this newspaper article about my mother’s Butterfly business. The article is dated July 11, 1969. I was 3 years old at the time (so now you can figure out how old I am). The article was published in the Evansville Press newspaper, written by Harriet Jenner (I’d love to talk to the person who wrote this article if they are still around).
**Edit. I found out that Harriet Jenner passed away on March 19, 1992 at the age of 87. “She carried with her the secret scandals and disappointments of many of the most noted families in Evansville.” (For a very interesting article about this woman, check out this article written about her over here). There’s another article that mentions her passing and how she retired in 1969.
Since I have no idea if anyone will really be able to read this scan of the newspaper article, I’ll just type up a few of the interesting highlights and some personal commentaries.
The article states that my mother learned a lot about Butterflies in little more than a year (that means she started doing this when I was 2 years old). The started a business and named it “Beautiful Butterflies and Beetles.”
They would order imported Butterflies from some company in New York. They also ordered some type of chemical where they soaked the Butterflies in a solution for 3 days so that they could then pin them to a silk backing.
Strangely enough. the article mentions that she “boils Beetles before we can spread the wings and antennae.” “Some people think we paint them, but they are just very bright in color.”
The article goes on to mention how they recently received an order from Holiday Inn for wall decorations using these Butterflies and Beetles.
.jpg "Mother") Mother's Butterfly Business July 11, 1969 On the second page of the newspaper article, my mother (that’s her in the picture below) recalls how they were finding tiny bugs inside the completed shadow boxes and so they learned to spray all the flora (they used this for decoration I think) with insecticide.
I have no memory, and don’t recall hearing much about it, but the article says that they had outlets in several states and this was a profitable business.
One the most expensive and rare Butterflies they had was a “Ornithoptera Paradisea” also called the Paradise Birdwing Butterfly from New Guinea. It mentions they the specimen they had was the first one they caught in over 30 years (I guess back then they didn’t worry about capturing rare insects and protecting the species). They expected this to sell for $1000-$1200 (remember this was back in 1969).
Now these species are protected by law (fortunately). I also found an article about this species from the Houston Museum of Natural Science.
And now for the part on how I apparently became interested in Butterflies (at least unconsciously).
While my father was mentioned as being a helper with the project, “it’s Larry Jr., (I’m not really a junior) who has tried to be an active partner.” “He (that’s me) has his own Butterfly kit.”
So there you have it. How I became interested in Butterflies may have started as early as 1969 when I was 3 years old.
Interesting story, don’t you think?:-)
 Mother's Butterfly Business July 11, 1969 Page Two
I’m a little challenged right now with photography. It’s so dang hot and humid that I just haven’t been in the mood to go outside to take pictures. Even when I do go outside to take a quick picture, my lenses get so fogged up from the humidity that I completely miss the shot.
Fortunately, I think I may have found something that readers of this blog might find useful. I found a pretty cool Book Cataloging application for the iPhone and iPad. It’s called Book Crawler. It allows you to use your iPhone or iPad to catalog all your books. What I like about it is it allows you to use a bar code scanning application to scan the ISBN code, and then it automatically enters all the information.
What I plan on doing (and how this might be helpful if you read this blog) is that I will make the catalog available for download here on this blog. Let me give you a couple of examples. I’ve just cataloged a few books just in one area of my house. So far I have 9 books on birding, 9 books on butterflies, 4 books on gardening, 6 books on insects (not including butterflies), 32 books on photography, 6 books on koi and backyard ponds, and 5 books on reptiles and amphibians. I’m not even close to finishing scanning all the books that I have.
My goal, or should I saw project, it to finish scanning all of my books by tomorrow evening, and then I will upload the file here to the blog so that you can download it and do whatever you like with it.
Let me know what you think of the idea.
It’s been a real challenge lately of finding any Butterflies or Wildlife to take pictures of. In fact, I haven’t seen any Butterflies lately. When all else fails, there’s always the reliable Purple Martins.
I decided to do a nest check today as I know there are some babies in the Martin House.
I’ve done a poor job of nest tracking this year once I got past nest 6. The first two pictures below are of a nest that has 4 babies. Right now they all look very healthy. As soon as we opened the door, they started squawking for food, and when Leecy took this first picture, it left her a little present.
 Baby Martin Pooping In Leecy's Hand Baby Martin In Leecy's Hand The other nest just has a single baby. Although he appears healthy, I think he’s struggling a bit with the heat. The last two times we’ve checked the nest, the baby had moved all of the leaves to the other side of the nest. We moved some of the leaves back over to his side of the nest thinking it would keep him cooler, but I guess we were wrong. He appears to like laying directly on the aluminum of the housing.
Young Baby Martin Just Starting To Get Feathers In addition to the above two nest babies, we have one other nest that has two babies with full feathers. I’m not sure why they haven’t fledged yet, but they do look healthy.
We’ve had a little surprise sitting on our fence the last couple of days. The first time (Sunday morning) we saw this Red Shouldered Hawk it was sitting on our fence. By the time I got my camera it had flown over to the pond, and from there it quickly flew off. Today when I woke up I look out the window and again see the Hawk. It was early in the morning and the sun was just starting to rise.
Red Shouldered Hawk On Fence Front View I’m not sure how long the Hawk had been sitting there, but the Purple Martins were not in their house, nor were there any loud panic alarms from them. They might have been up already feeding.
What’s even more interesting is that there was another Hawk that flew on the branch behind this one although I couldn’t get a picture of that.
This Hawk that I did get a picture of was clearly hunting. It did jump down from the fence and grab something, I’m assuming a Lizard or a Mouse as it gulped that thing in one swoop.
Here’s a view of the back of the Hawk. I will say one thing. I’ve seen a few Hawks visit my backyard before, but this was the largest Hawk I’ve ever seen!
Red Shouldered Hawk On Fence Back View
I saw Melvin again today. He (actually it’s looking like a she) doesn’t look like a Cardinal at all now. It’s day 13 for Melvin.
Because it’s so hot down here, many of the birds are flocking to my bird fountains to get a drink, and that includes Melvin.
Melvin The Cowbird Begs For Food From Cardinal Mother Later Melvin begged his adopted mother for food. It appears she is now feeding Melvin nuts and seeds, whereas previously it appeared to be just insects.
Melvin The Cowbird Gets Fed Nuts From Cardinal Mother You can see in this second shot, that Melvin is looking less like a Cardinal and more and more like a Cowbird (I’m guessing a Brown Headed Cowbird). Shortly after I took this last picture, Melvin flew off into the woods behind my house.
Melvin The Cowbird Gets Fed Nuts From Cardinal Mother On Bird Feeder
I’ll start with the good news. Melvin became a fledgling today. He actually left the nest. He didn’t travel far, just down a few branches, but I still think that qualifies him as a fledgling. It’s also his eleventh day since he hatched, so that would be right on schedule.
Now for the not so good news. I’m pretty sure Melvin is not a Cardinal and instead is a parasitic Cowbird. Below is a picture of Melvin that I took today. Since he was just sitting on a branch in the same shrub where his nest is, it didn’t take much to just pick him up. Yes, I know I should probably leave him alone, but I had to know if Melvin is really a Cardinal or a Cowbird.
Melvin The Cardinal Cowbird Imposter In Leecy's Hand Melvin doesn’t seem to have the feathers I would expect of a baby Cardinal, but that’s not the most telling evidence I discovered.
Melvin In Leecy's Hand Raising Leg The most telling evidence, at least from what I gathered online, is that Cowbirds have a red/”cherry-ish” interior of their mouths. Melvin did open his mouth for just a bit, and it was definitely reddish in color, not yellow, not white.
If Melvin is a Cowbird, what this ultimately implies is that Melvin’s real parents destroyed the real Cardinal eggs and laid their own. The parent Cardinals, who have been working hard to raise Melvin, haven’t been raising a baby Cardinal to carry on their own lineage, but instead a Cowbird. Cowbirds are notorious for parasitizing Cardinal nests.
My personal feeling about all this is that it makes me a little angry. Some have asked what I would do if I found out Melvin is a Cowbird; would I put him down? The truth is I can’t do that, even if Melvin is a Cowbird (or I don’t have the heart to do that). Perhaps Melvin’s adopted parents will lay additional eggs later on, and I’ll try and keep a close watch out for Cowbirds, to discourage them from hanging around my yard. On the bright side, I do have lots of other young Cardinals in the yard right now.
If anyone thinks I am wrong, and Melvin is not a Cowbird, please don’t hesitate to correct me.
I’m really confused. I’m wondering if Melvin is really a Cardinal or might he be a Cowbird?
I was asked the other day how I discovered the Cardinal’s nest. It was then that I recalled that I saw two broken egg shells (from what looked like two different type birds) near where the nest is now. Since I saw the broken egg shells I wondered where they came from since I hadn’t seen any bird nests previously. As I went hunting in the backyard, it was at that time that I found the Cardinal nest. I’m not saying Melvin is a Cowbird just yet, but I am really getting confused.
Leecy was courageous enough to take a close up picture of Melvin as well as the unhatched egg in the nest.
The cracked egg came from Melvin’s nest (so it obviously will not be hatching). The other egg was from a Sparrow nest we found yesterday from the Martin house (that’s another story).
Here’s my first question. Is the cracked egg a Cardinal egg, a Cowbird egg, or perhaps something else?
Cardinal Egg And Sparrow Egg Here’s a picture of Melvin’s nest.
Melvin's Nest From A Distance And here’s the same picture cropped.
Melvin In Nest Cropped Once I recalled the story of how I discovered Melvin’s nest I’ve started to question whether or not Melvin is a Cardinal or a Cowbird. For those just reading the blog for the first time, this is day 10 since Melvin hatched.
So, can anyone tell me if Melvin is a Cardinal or Cowbird conclusively? I go back and forth and I’ve searched the Internet for a conclusive answer but haven’t found one yet. Those white lines around the wing tips make me think he is not a Cardinal and instead a Cowbird. Yet when I review the previous videos (even though they are black and white) I don’t see what looks like a red mouth (what appears to be a distinguishing feature of Cowbirds). If Melvin turns out to be a Cowbird, I will admit that I’d be disappointed that he’s a parasitic bird and those poor Cardinals lost their real eggs.
Even if you can’t say with absolute certainty on what species of bird Melvin is, I still would like to hear opinions so it can help me make my own guesses.
First things first. Thank you to everyone who wrote a comment of concern on the blog or to me personally. I really appreciate it.
I’m happy to report that Melvin’s mother has returned tonight. It was a scary night when she did not return last night and Melvin had to spend his first night alone.
Now as to why she may not have returned, I have a theory and I think it may have been my fault.
Because it’s been so hot, I not only asked Leecy to turn on the mister and point it towards the nest, but also asked her to place this sun shade fabric over the top of the shrub where the nest is. I thought it would help keep Melvin just a bit cooler, and since both parents had returned after she placed the sun shade over the shrub, I didn’t think the parents were too freaked out.
I think I was mistaken and the sun shade did bother the mother enough where she didn’t return for the night. Whatever the cause, I did remove the sun shade and the mother spent a lot of time at the nest today cleaning up the nest and just watching Melvin.
As you’ll see in the video below, Melvin is continuing to grow, and growing new feathers every day.
I was going to post some new videos of Melvin today, but now I have a more pressing concern. Mama bird did not return to the nest tonight (it’s 9:43 pm and totally dark outside).
What should I do? It’s only supposed to get down to 79 degrees tonight, so I’m guessing it will be warm enough for him (especially since it was 105 degrees earlier today) throughout the evening. What about tomorrow? Again, I’m just assuming, but I would like to think that the male Cardinal can still feed him, although both parents have been previously sharing that duty.
How long can these baby birds survive without one of parents feeding them? When do I make the determination about whether or not to take him to a wildlife rehabber? It’s supposed to be 100 degrees again tomorrow so I know he will be hot. We wouldn’t be able to get him to a rehabber until late tomorrow afternoon.
Thanks for any advice anyone can offer.
By the way, Melvin is only 7 days old so he is likely too young to be a fledgling.
Here’s a video of Melvin tonight, alone in his nest.
I haven’t seen the male Ruby Throated Hummingbird, but the female has been hanging around much more frequently.
Like everything else in Houston, she welcomes any opportunity for water. While I was watering the Wildflower Garden, she decided to take a little “birdie bath (the term we use when our African Grey Parrot takes a bath).
Female Ruby Throated Hummingbird Flying In For Birdie Bath Female Ruby Throated Hummingbird Flapping Wings In Birdie Bath Female Ruby Throated Hummingbird Stretching Neck In Birdie Bath
The Purple Martin colony got a little scare early this morning.
I woke up early to take some video shots of the Purple Martin Colony and immediately looked out the window to see a Hawk (not sure what kind) sitting on the rocks around the pool.
I quickly grabbed the camera, but I couldn’t find the Hawk.
About that time, the entire colony of Purple Martins took off in a loud screaming frenzy. They were chasing the Hawk away.
Despite the Hawk scare, I think this was probably a good lesson for the fledglings. It also appeared to reinforce the bonding of the colony as once they came back from chasing the Hawk they are gathered around the Martin house to preen and vocalize.
Purple Martin Fledgling Basking In The Sun
The only Butterflies I’m seeing consistently right now are the Texan Crescent Butterflies.
I’ve got to assume this drought is effecting the Butterflies. I’m doing all I can to keep the nectar plants adequately watered.
Speaking of nectar plants, we pulled up the Indian Blanket Wildflowers. Most of them had finished blooming, and they were starting to crowd out the other Wildflowers. We planted some Zinnias in their place.
Texan Crescent Butterfly Stretching Wings On Black Eyed Susan
Today is Melvin’s 6th day. His (I say he, but it could be a she) eyes are just beginning to open.
As I’ve mentioned in the my last few posts about Melvin, his father is taking a very active role in his feeding.
Here’s Papa Cardinal bringing in some food for Melvin. It looks like he has some kind of worm in his beak.
Papa Cardinal Sitting On Pool Rock Looking At Nest Once I moved away from the nest, Papa brought the worm to Melvin.
If you look closely you can see Melvin’s eyes just beginning to open.
Later Papa kept watch on the nest while I was watering the garden.
Papa Cardinal Chirping On Perch WIth Shadow In Background
Melvin the baby Cardinal is growing fast, and it’s only day 5. He’s got some nice wing feathers coming in, and it looks like his eyes may be starting to open. Today I was lucky enough to record a brief video where Melvin’s dad, Papa, dropped off a quick meal, and Melvin showed his appreciation by giving Papa a nice big piece of poo.
It’s day 4 and “Melvin” the baby Cardinal has really grown by leaps and bounds. He’s got some very small wing tip feathers now. Also for the first time, the father of “Melvin” dropped by to contribute to his feeding. I’m not sure what the heck he brought, but whatever it was it was huge. It took “Melvin” and his mother several tries before he was finally able to swallow the food.
The video is about 10 minutes long and I find it quite interesting to watch. Both parents bring this huge piece of whatever it is to “Melvin.” Mama’s piece of food was reasonable, and Melvin gobbled it right up. Papa’s piece of food was huge, and “Melvin” struggled to swallow it. I think Papa got a little frustrated with “Melvin’s” inability to swallow the food, so he gave it to Mama and it took her a few tries to finally get “Melvin” to eat the whole thing. You’ll notice that the second egg still hasn’t hatched. Leecy checked it today, and the egg doesn’t have any cracks, so perhaps it will still hatch soon. The eggs were originally laid within one day of one another, but this second one is taking a while to hatch.
Before all of this happened, I noticed Papa watching me check out “Melvin’s” nest. At first I don’t think he was too thrilled I was so close to the nest, but after a while he calmed down.
Papa Cardinal Worried I'm Bothering His Baby If anyone has any guesses as to what that giant piece of food is they are trying to feed “Melvin” I’d love to hear what you think!
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by texdr
3 comments
Valerie Evanson - Fascinating! Thanks for sharing! Shane has recently shown an interest in vouchering (scientific preservation & display) adult leps.July 8, 2011 – 10:59 am
texdr - You’ve created a monster!:-)July 8, 2011 – 11:03 am
Maeda Mayran-Brown - Very cool! You got the Butterflies from Mom, Photography from Dad and Birds from Grandpa!July 17, 2011 – 12:27 pm