Butterfly and Wildlife Gardening And Photography In Houston Texas
Category Archives: Plants Our Butterfly Bush is really starting to bloom now with big purple flowers. That has attracted both the Hummingbirds (Ruby Throat) and the Butterflies. This one particular Monarch Butterfly was feasting up a storm on this plant. I think it was also on a bit of a sugar high as this crazy Butterfly was chasing…  This year is the first year that I haven’t had to buy Milkweed. It’s not because we haven’t had lots of Monarch Butterflies hanging around, rather it’s because after so many years of buying Milkweed and letting it naturally seed, we have quite a few plants. Today I saw two Monarch Butterflies that were feeding…  Last year the Gulf Fritillary butterflies seemed to be hit especially hard with the drought. Fortunately this year we have seen quite a few. I’ve also spotted several Gulf Fritillary caterpillars and chrysalises. The picture below is from my wildflower garden. I’ve essentially just let it grow wild this year and it has done fantastic. … Is it just me or do the Ruby Throated Hummingbirds seem to be a little late in arriving in the Houston, TX area this year? We saw our first Hummingbird yesterday (March 23rd). We can’t even say for sure it is a Ruby Throat, although Leecy said she did see the bright red throat. Whatever…  I saw our first female Monarch from Mexico today! She was laying eggs on our Family Jewels Milkweed (Asclepias physocarpa). Overall, I’d say she looked pretty good considering she’s likely been alive for nearly 8 months and has traveled thousands of miles. When I see these Monarchs from Mexico I have mixed feelings. On the…  I got really lucky the other day when a big flock (is that the correct term?) of Cedar Waxwings decided to make a visit to my Maple Tree. I think we counted at least 17 in this picture below. Cedar Waxwings, for me, are not that uncommon around my backyard as I often hear their…  It must be getting close to Spring as I’m starting to see some Butterflies. For the first time this year, I saw an Eastern Black Swallowtail and she was laying eggs on the Fennel. We never cook with Fennel, we just let it grow however it wants in our garden. The result is that we…  This might be one of the coolest bird pictures I have taken. I had just set up the new Bluebird House with the hidden BirdCam and I heard the distinctive call of the Eastern Bluebird. I ran inside to get some mealworms as I figured the Bluebirds would be coming to visit soon. Sure enough,…  I think the mystery Hummingbird is solved. My friend Greg Lavaty came by on Friday so that I could help set up his computer, and if we really got lucky, to see the mystery Hummingbird that has been visiting my Coral Honeysuckle. Fortunately the Hummingbird did appear and Greg and I captured several pictures. Greg…  I’m telling you, something strange is going on this year with the birds, at least in my yard. While I’m watching the Eastern Bluebirds, Cedar Waxwings, and the American Goldfinches, Leecy says “hello hummer!” My first thought was it’s too early for the Ruby Throated Hummers to arrive so she’s seeing things, then I saw…  We’re still raising Monarch Butterflies despite it being late January. Of course, this is Houston and today’s temperature was 78 degrees so it’s not like we’re having a lot of cold weather at the moment. I had forgotten how our Maple Tree is a source of nectar for Butterflies and Honeybees until I saw this…  I know I haven’t posted in a while, I’m just taking it easy. It’s also been a little more challenging to take photos since it gets dark so early. So on to this post. I’m guessing that most folks don’t think about Butterflies two days before Christmas, but I wanted to share our Monarch Butterfly…  I’ve mentioned previously that we really haven’t seen many Gulf Fritillary Butterflies this year. I still think the drought has something to do with that. However, while I was out photographing the Monarch Butterflies, I noticed a smaller Butterfly chasing the Monarchs. It turns out it was a Gulf Fritillary. I’m assuming this one is…  We still have lots of Monarch Butterflies flying around the yard and even more Monarch Caterpillars. Most of the Butterflies look very clean, not like they have been migrating for several hundred miles so I’m assuming these are new releases. What I’ve also noticed is that these Butterflies are mating, and in the case of…  We’ve had around 7-8 “new” Monarch Butterflies arrive withing the last two days, but they definitely weren’t new. These poor Butterflies were as torn and worn as I’ve ever seen in Monarchs. Take a look at the male Monarch in the picture below. He has that torn upper wing and had difficulty flying from flower… |
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