Butterfly and Wildlife Gardening And Photography In Houston Texas
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Category Archives: Nectar Plants 2011 was such a devastating year for the Gulf Fritillary Butterfly, at least in my backyard. The drought was so bad I think it affected many Butterflies, but in terms of normal abundance, this species was hit pretty hard. Fast forward to 2012, and now January 2013 and these Butterflies have really made a comeback. …  I like the following Gulf Fritillary Butterfly picture because of my accidental glowing background. The butterfly is on a peach Zinnia, and behind that there was a pink Zinnia, and the blue background was the accidental part which is actually part of a pool float.  I went outside this morning because the temperature was so nice. I was surprised to see so many Butterflies flying around. There was an Female Eastern Black Swallowtail laying tons of eggs on the Fennel, lots of Gulf Fritillaries getting nectar from the nectar plants (Zinnia and Lantana), and a male Queen Butterfly on the…  This poor Eastern Black Swallowtail is really torn up. I think she’s on her last legs. I watched her feed on the Lantana for a while, then head over to the Fennel to lay eggs.  I actually thought I posted this pictures last night, but I guess I just uploaded them and forgot to create a blog post. It’s a little early for the Monarch Butterflies to have already made it down to Houston as part of their migration, so I have to assume these are local Monarchs. There is…  I haven’t seen any Hummingbirds lately, but today I saw a female Ruby Throated Hummingbird. She was traveling to every nectar flower she could find and was particularly drawn to the Coral Honeysuckle.  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… 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 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…  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’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…  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… |
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