Strangely enough, we have quite a few Monarch Butterflies right now.  We’ve been releasing 1-2 Monarchs per day for the last couple of weeks.  In a way, this makes some sense.  In October and November, the Monarchs we saw were likely migrating to Mexico and had not yet mated.  The Monarch Butterflies we are seeing right now have definitely mated, and are laying lots of eggs.  As we find the Caterpillars, we bring them inside and give them fresh Milkweed.  Could these just be local Monarchs that spend much of their time in the warmer climates?  They definitely don’t appear to be as worn as the October/November Monarchs were.  Another little interesting tidbit.  The majority of the Monarchs that we have been releasing have been female.  I’d say the ratio is like 3:1.

Right now we have 2 female Monarchs that we should be able to release tomorrow, and there’s a good chance another 2-3 will become Butterflies by morning.

We also have several Gulf Fritillary Caterpillars, Chrysalises, and Butterflies.  We haven’t been bringing in as many Caterpillars from this species inside as they tend to hide a bit better than the Monarchs (at least in our yard).

We’ve had a few days of below freezing temperatures, but not for very long (typical of Houston).  We have been covering much of our outdoor Milkweed with a clear shower curtain (Leecy’s idea) and that appears to give the Milkweed sufficient light, protects them from frost, and also serves as a nice bit of insulation.

Fortunately for the Butterflies, we still have quite a few Nectar plants (Lantana, Milkweed, Penta, Mexican Flame Vine) that have been providing the necessary food that these insects require.

This upcoming week is also Christmas!  Leecy says she doesn’t want anything for Christmas and wants to do something for a needy family so we’re going shopping tomorrow to buy some presents for whomever we decide to give them to.  There is a family we are thinking about that have 3 kids, so we talked about buying 3 bikes for them.  My idea is just do drop the bikes off during Christmas Eve night and let them think it’s from Santa.  I’d prefer they not know they were from Leecy and I.

Also this upcoming week I’ll be receiving my rented Canon 300mm f2.8 lens.  I’m really looking forward to shooting with this lens.  If I like it, and I don’t end up taking that trip to Mexico, I’ll probably end up buying one early next year.

That’s about it on this end.  I’m going to try and take some pictures of the Monarch Butterflies that we’ll release tomorrow so check back if you’re interested in seeing the pictures.

I received the lens today mid-morning couldn’t wait to test it out on my Canon 7D.

I had just walked out in the backyard noticed a Squirrel.  Good enough for me.

Squirrel On Fence

Then I hear the unmistakable sound of the Carolina Chickadee (we’ve been seeing a big increase in this birds lately).

Carolina Chickadee Sitting On Branch

Time to try out the lens on Butterflies.  There were 3-4 Monarchs flying around, so I thought they would make good test subjects.

Monarch Butterfly On Penta Getting Nectar

Monarch Butterfly On Penta Getting Nectar 2

Monarch Butterfly On Penta Getting Nectar 3

I’ve also noticed a new behavior that the Butterflies are exhibiting lately.  When they are feeding, they try to do so with their wings spread open and towards the sun.  It makes perfect sense as the temperatures are cooler and they need to stay as warm as possible to fly and feed.

I saw this Monarch in the picture below actually resting in our Pussy Willow tree.

Monarch Butterfly Resting And Sunning In Tree

What I did see a few of today were Gulf Fritillaries.  One was laying eggs and the other just hung around the nectar plants.  I also saw some Gulf Fritillary Caterpillars, but the pictures I took of them weren’t that great, so I’ll get some better ones tomorrow.

On a side note, I’m thinking about heading down to Joshua’s Native Plants if they have a Mexican Orchid Tree in stock.  I previously had one, but it died during the winter.

Gulf Fritillary On Penta Plant 2010

Side Profile Of Gulf Fritillary On Penta Plant 2010

Since the Ruby Throated Hummingbirds were so active this morning, I decided to try and get some fresh pictures.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get many, or not many that were worth posting.

This was the best of the bunch from today.

Ruby Throated Hummer Feeding On Penta Plant

Because of the cooler weather, Leecy and I ventured out to the backyard, she was doing her crafting, and I decided to try and get some new pictures of the Ruby Throated Hummingbirds.

Afterwords, we came inside and just happened to catch this wonderful video on PBS called “Hummingbirds Magic In The Air.”  You can actually watch the video online here.

One of the more unusual photographs I took today was of this Hummer flying towards the camera.  The plant that it was feeding on is a Penta.

Ruby Throated Hummer Flying Towards Camera

Another plant that I really like the color of is the Salvia Leucantha.  It has these lavender blooms that normally attracts lots of Bees, but the Hummers seem to like it as well.

Ruby Throated Hummer Feeding On Salvia Leucantha

A few weeks ago we purchased a new Hummingbird feeder and it has become one of their favorite feeders.  I normally don’t care for glass feeders as I’m concerned that the feeders will fall and the glass will break, but this one is nice because it has such a deep reservoir.

Ruby Throated Hummer Feeding On New Feeder

Finally, after all that feeding, every Hummer needs to rest.

Female Ruby Throated Hummer Resting On Perch

Gulf Fritillary On Coneflower And Bee Flying

Here’s another shot with the Gulf Fritillary on a Marigold.

Gulf Fritillary On Marigold

This last shot I really like as well.  We have lots of Purple Coneflower right now, all growing because Leecy saved the seeds from last year.

I like how the eye is drawn to the foreground Coneflower and Butterfly, but it appears as a nice pleasing background with all the other Coneflowers slightly blurred.

Gulf Fritillary On Field Of Purple Coneflowers

This particular Spicebush appeared to be younger than the one I saw last week who had the tattered wings.  It was really enjoying getting nectar from the Penta.

Spicebush Feeding On Penta

The shot below was done using a different technique than I normally use, but I like the result.  I like how I was able to blur the foreground Penta and focus on the Butterfly and Penta towards the back.

Spicebush Feeding On Multiple Pentas

In this first image, the Swallowtail is getting nectar from one of our Penta plants.

Giant Swallowtail Feeding On Penta

These next two images are “almost” the same, but one of them contains a notorious Butterfly Caterpillar killer.  These pictures are a little unusual as well (at least to me) because the Giant Swallowtail is getting nectar from the Milkweed plant, which is the Host Plant for Monarch Butterflies.

Giant Swallowtail Feeding On Milkweed With Wasp

Giant Swallowtail Feeding On Milkweed

There are a total of 5 videos, each one is less than 2 minutes long.  Watching these should give you a decent idea of how to start (or continue) a successful Butterfly Garden.

In this first video, I talk about how to buy Milkweed, what prices you should expect to pay (at least in Houston), how to tell if you have healthy Milkweed, and how to plant your Milkweed plants.

In this second video clip, I talk about the importance of having Nectar plants for your Butterfly Garden.  I also show a brief clip of my Butterfly Enclosures.

By the way, some good nectar plants I recommend are Penta, Salvia, Purple Coneflower, Lantana, Butterfly Bush, and the Cigar Bush.

In this third video clip, I talk about some other Host Plants for your Butterfly Garden including, Pipevine, Fennel, and Citrus Trees.

In the fourth video clip, I talk about some additional Host Plants for Butterflies including Spicebush and Passion Vine,  as well as what kinds of Butterflies you can expect to attract with the different Host Plants.

In this fifth and final video clip I talk about some additional Butterfly Gardening tools such as portable Butterfly Enclosures and long tweezers.

If you have any questions about these videos, where to buy plants or the additional Butterfly Gardening tools, just send me an email or leave a comment.

Hope you enjoy and it makes sense!

This is a picture of a Polydamas Swallowtail feeding on the Hummingbird feeder.

Here’s that same Polydamas later feeding on a Penta.