Category Archives: Native Plants

Katy-did-did-did

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Love moments in the garden with Charlotte and her eagle eyes! The fabulously camouflaged  Fork-tailed Bush Katydid seen here was poised on a Common Milkweed leaf. Katydids mostly eat foliage, but they also eat dead bugs and insect eggs (was he planing on eating the freshly deposited Monarch eggs?).One quick, easy way to distinguish katydids from grasshoppers when out in a field is by looking at their antennae. A katydid’s antenna is super long and seemingly very delicate, sometimes as long, and possibly longer, than its body. Grasshoppers antennae are shorter and thicker.

Differentail Grasshopper

Fork-tailed Bush Katydid

PIPEVINE SWALLOWTAIL CATERPILLARS HATCHING!

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Our beautiful Mom Pipevine Swallowtail left several clutches of eggs and both hatched yesterday. They are so teeny tiny, but I think there are about 25 caterpillars in all.

She laid several additional clutches over a period of several days and these batches are way up in the treetops. Good thing our Pipevine plant is so vigorous, possibly about 15 feet high, with still plenty of growth left in it for the season.

The eggs were oviposited on August 13, emerging on the 20th – a one week gestation period.

WOWZA! Doing a Victory Dance for Mama Pipevine!

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The stunning Pipevine Swallowtail that you see in the video is depositing a clutch of several dozen eggs. Her gift represents a success for me of sorts. Years ago, we had a Pipevine Swallowtail in our garden, a male, and he was investigating the heart shaped leaves of our Moonvine. I made a promise to the Pipevine Butterflies that the next time they made it this far north, I would have a Pipevine growing in the garden on which a traveling female could deposit her eggs. I can’t resist but to add – not a “pipe dream after all!”

You see, Dutchman’s Pipevine is one of the few caterpillar food plants of the Pipevine Swallowtail that grows well in northern climates. Like the Moonvine, the leaves of the Dutchman’s Pipevine are large and heart-shaped.

A hundred years or so ago, Pipevine Swallowtails regularly occurred in New England because people planted Dutchman’s Pipevine to embower their porches. In one season, the vine can grow two stories high and equally as wide, providing lush green cooling shade on a hot summer afternoon. When you look at old photographs of porches in New England, most often it’s Pipevine climbing up the porch pillars and along the roof. With the advent of air conditioning, folks no longer needed to plant Dutchman’s Pipevine to cool their homes The vine, and the butterflies, were forgotten.

Julia Lane, later Julia Wheeler, posed for Alice M. Curtis on August 12th, 1915, in Gloucester. Photo courtesy Fred Bodin.

Our visiting Mama Pipevine cautiously investigated the entire plant from top to bottom, fluttering in and out of the large leaves before deciding on this tiny tender leaf to deposit her treasure trove. We had a female come to our garden about ten years after the vine was planted. She deposited a clutch of eggs however, a tiny spider ate them all, every single one. I am not taking any chances this time and placed  the stem with the eggs in a terrarium, covering the terrarium with several layers of cheesecloth, and a wire screen, in hopes of keeping the spiders out.

If you would like to attract the exquisite Pipevine Swallowtail to your garden, plant Dutchman’s Pipevine. It’s an enthusiastic grower, but no need to worry, you can cut it all down to the bare ground after the first frost and it will come back just as beautifully and plush the following spring.

From an older post – Plant! and They Will Come

Nearly five years ago, in late September 2007, I photographed a male Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly (Battus philenor) nectaring in my garden. I found mesmerizing its dark beauty, with black wings punctuated by brilliant orange spots and shimmering iridescence. The wings flashed electric blue in the fading late day sunlight and I became completely captivated!

Although the Pipevine Swallowtail is not rare in its southern range, this exotic looking butterfly is an unusual occurrence in the northeast, and even more rarely found on the eastern outer reaches of Cape Ann. Mine was a stray, carried in on a southerly breeze. I imagined that if a male can drift into our garden, so can a female. And if a visiting female found in my garden her caterpillar food plant, she would deposit her eggs. The following spring we planted the Dutchman’s Pipevine (Aristolochia macrophylla) Read more here

Sneak Attack!

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Some years are better than others for butterflies and this is definitely a banner year for butterflies on Cape Ann. Please write and let me know what you are seeing in your garden.

Daily we have a bunch of half a dozen or so male Monarchs staking out their territory. They not only chase each other but also try to shoo away other species of butterflies.

Wall of Fragrance

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Walking around Niles Pond at this time of year you can’t helped but be knocked out by the fabulous combined scent of the blooming Summersweet (Clethra alnifolia)  and Rosa rugosa. Summersweet, also know as Honeysweet and Sweet Pepperbush, is the large shrub that densely lines both sides of Niles Pond Road. With racemes that look like bottlebrushes, the many florets provide nectar for dozens of species of pollinators, of all sizes. The tiniest winged wonders attracted to the panicles provide sustenance to hummingbirds and I often see them zipping in and out of the Clethra blossoms, too.

The Summersweet shrubs growing so closely together creates a “Wall of Fragrance,” which always reminds me of Phil Spector’s “Wall of Sound,”  where his musical arrangements called for multi tracking multiple instruments, creating “symphonic saturation.” Niles Pond right now is a symphonic saturation of sweet summer scents – GO!

The following is an excerpt from a book that I wrote back in 2004-2007, which was published by David R. Godine in 2009. The book is about designing landscape habitats for wild creatures and for people, titled Oh Garden of Fresh Possibilities: Notes from a Gloucester Garden, and all that I wrote then, still holds true to day.

“Summersweet is a native shrub that bears small white florets held on racemes, and depending on the cultivar may be shaded with varying hues of pink to rose-red. The tapering spires of fragrant blossoms appear in mid to late summer. Clethra has a sweet and spicy though somewhat pungent aroma, and when the summer air is sultry and humid, the fragrance permeates the garden, Summersweet is a nectar food attractive to bees and a wide variety of butterflies, notably the Silver-spotted Skipper.” See more at Oh Garden

Myriad species of bees and butterflies, along with Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, are attracted to Clethra for its sweet nectar, while American Robins, Goldfinches and warblers dine on Summersweet’s ripened berries.

Beach Rose (Rosa rugosa)

Red-spotted Purple and the Brilliant Blue Iridescence Found in Butterfly Wings

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Little flashes of blue iridescence flitting through the garden quickly caught my attention.

A number of black butterflies sport blue iridescence in their wing scales, including the Pipevine Swallowtail, female Eastern Black Swallowtail, Red-spotted Purple, and the Spicebush Swallowtail. Which one was gracing our garden today?

The newly emerged beauty was a Red-spotted Purple, which I had not seen for several years! The much tastier (to birds) Red-spotted Purple Butterflies are thought to have evolved to mimic the foul tasting and toxic Pipevine Swallowtail. Red-spotted Purple caterpillars eat non-toxic leaves of Serviceberry, oaks, Black Cherry, aspens, birches, Eastern Cottonwood, and hawthorns, which would make both the caterpillars and adults appetizing to birds. By mimicking the Pipevine Swallowtail, which eats toxic foliage of plants in the genus Aristolochia, the mimics–Red-spotted Purple, Spicebush Swallowtail, and female Eastern Black Swallowtail–find some protection, to a certain degree.

Under wing, or ventral wing pattern

Upper wing, or dorsal, wing pattern

The beautiful blue iridescence in butterfly wings is created from the microscopic ridges, cross-ribs, and other structural layers of the individual scales, which play with light waves to reflect brilliant blues and speckles.

We had just watered the garden and I think the Red-spotted Purple was drinking up droplets of water. Perhaps there was salt or some necessary nutrients in the droplets when mixed with the foliage.

A Mutant Lilliputian Lobster Flying in My Garden?

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Saturday mid-morning I returned home from filming shorebirds at dawn to find an extravaganza of winged wonders in our garden. The weather was gloriously warm and sunny, filming the birds had been a great success, and seeing all these creatures flying around our front dooryard garden was the best kind of morning greeting!

Mama and Papa Carolina Wrens were zipping to and from the nest feeding their hungry hatchlings every kind of insect imaginable, a nearly whole Canadian Tiger Swallowtail was pausing to drink nectar from the butterfly bushes, our resident pair of fledgling Ruby-throated  Hummingbirds were whirring about the Rose of Sharon, half a dozen male Monarchs were patrolling the milkweed patches, and two visitors I hadn’t seen in our garden for some time–a  newly emerged Red-spotted Purple Butterfly and a Hummingbird Clearing Moth (Hemaris thysbe)

Hummingbird Moths have been described as resembling a tiny flying lobster or an enormous furry bee and are often confused with Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. Not only do Hummingbird Clearwing Moths share similar coloring to that of RTHumminbirds, perhaps the confusion stems from a characteristic behavior of the clearwing moths, which is a technique for drinking nectar called ‘swing hovering.’  Only certain bats, hummingbirds, and the clearwing moths have the ability to swing from side to side while hovering over a flower to drink nectar.

The Hummingbird Clearwing Moth only visited for a few brief moments, but i was glad to have camera in hand when stepping out of the car. To attract these beauties to your garden plant native honeysuckle, viburnums, and Snowberry bushes for their caterpillar’s food plants and native Phlox ‘david,’ Monarda didyma, and butterfly bushes for the adults to nectar from.

You can read more about the wonderfully unique Clearwing Moths in an article I wrote nearly a dozen and a half years ago, which was eventually picked up by the New England Wild Flower Society publications.

Mama Monarchs!

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Have you noticed how lush our gardens are this year? Perhaps it’s because we never had a sudden deep, deep freeze this past winter but whatever the reason, the blossoms and growth of flowering and fruiting trees, hydrangeas, roses, lilacs, milkweed, and butterfly bushes (to name a few) haven’t looked this grand in a number of years. And our wildflower meadows are also simply spectacular with blossoms. For the past month while looking after the Plovers, we have been delighted with the rich honey-hay smell wafting down to the beach from the Common Milkweed blooming widely across the dunes.

We’ve had a bunch of Mama Monarchs flitting through our milkweed patches and ovipositing a treasure trove of golden drops over the past several weeks. She gently curls her abdomen, ovipositing one egg at a time, while simultaneously, each egg attaches with a quick drying sticky glue. I was showing a friend how to look for the eggs and she was amazed at how teeny they are. Only about the size of a pinhead, we most often find them on the tender new growth emerging in the center of the plant or on the leaves more towards the top of the plant. Wild Monarchs deposit one egg at a time. You can see in the pairs of photos the egg she deposited after carefully inspecting each leaf.

Monarchs held in captivity in breeding cages and tents are observed dumping quantities of eggs in large clusters (not one at a time) on milkweed plants as they are not free to travel around to investigate foliage. This is one reason why Monarch diseases are on the rise. Captive reared Lepidoptera also diminish genetic diversity, weakening a species. If you would like to raise Monarchs, it is highly recommended by organizations such as Monarch Watch and The Xerces Society to raise in small batches, only ten or so at a time, from eggs collected in your garden, not purchased over the internet and from butterfly farms.

Warblers and Whatnots – A Handy Guide to Identifying Backyard Warbling Songsters

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May is the magical month for migration through Massachusetts (along with many other states and regions) and this year seems extra magnificent. The past several weeks have brought an abundance of exquisite creatures passing through, on their way to northern breeding grounds, along with familiar favorites arriving here to breed in our backyards, local woods, ponds, and fields.

I created this short video for all of we who are “warbler challenged,” that is, struggle to identify these tiny choristers warbling and darting through the treetops. Each spring and autumn migrations I turn my camera’s eye to try to capture what charmer is flitting about in hopes of capturing even a fleeting moment, deciding to try to id when I return home and can have a longer look.

The clips that were chosen are meant to show the birds from all angles – belly, butt, front view, side view, wings in flight, and male and female when captured. The warblers/kinglets/vireos are organized by color to better help make side-by-side comparisons, i.e. all the yellow together, etc.  I’ve done my best to give the proper name and will eventually add the audio recordings.

A few notes – a recent tip I learned for discerning whether a Palm Warbler or Yellow-rumped Warbler: The PW has yellow feathers under it’s tail, while the YRWarbler has a patch of yellow on top of it’s tail. Another distinguishing characteristic of the Palm Warbler is that it continually wags it’s tail and you can see the tail wag in the PW clips. The first shot of the Magnolia Warbler, the feathers are so strongly orange -hued I wasn’t sure what I was looking. The second shot shows the more characteristic yellow.

To my songbird friends, please write and let me know if I have made an error; this is a work in progress and we can change anything 🙂

The last clip is a mystery bird, possibly a female Blackburnian Warbler??

 

Beauty on the Wing: Life Story of the Monarch Butterfly at the Essex Greenbelt Film Series!

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Please join me for a FREE screening and Q and A of Beauty on the Wing as part of the Essex County Greenbelt Film and Lecture Series, tomorrow evening from 6:30 to 8:30.

Beauty on the Wing – Life Story of the Monarch Butterfly Mar, 14

WHEN: Thurs., March 14, 6:30-8:30 pm WHERE: HC MEDIA, Studio 101 2 Merrimack St., Haverhill WHAT: Experience the magical migration that happens in our midst, unfolding in backyards, farms, meadows, fields, and along the shoreline, wherever milkweed and wildflowers grow. Stay after the film for a Q&A with Director Kim Smith. Photo: Kim Smith

More from the Industrious Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and Time to Hang Your Hummingbird Feeders!

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Despite that our little woodpecker friend has an injury under her right wing, the extraordinarily industrious Yellow-bellied Sapsucker has, for the past five days, worked on, and dined from, her sapwells. She arrives each morning at sunrise, departing around noontime. The timelapse video shows only one hour of her morning, compressed into one minute.

Dubbed Miss Featherton by Charlotte, the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker arrived bedraggled and injured but I think is becoming rejuvenated from the sap. Insects, too, are beginning to appear at the wells. I read that Ruby-throated Hummingbirds often follow the migration of sapsuckers as they too will imbibe on the sap and insects attracted. We usually hang our Ruby-throated Hummingbird feeders out at the end of March, but with all the sap flowing, we hung our feeders a few days ago.Notice the red wound under her right wing from the still taken from the video

PiPl Update and Save the Dates!

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Good Morning Piping Plover Friends,

Much to catch up with but I first wish to thank everyone who is contributing to our Piping Plover film project fundraiser. Thank you so very much for your generous contributions and very kind comments on our fundraising page.

Not wanting to count our eggs before they have hatched, but we have interest from PBS! and are hoping to have a fine cut ready to submit to film festivals by May1st.

With gratitude to the following PiPl friends for their kind contributions – Lauren Mercadante (New Hampshire), Sally Jackson (Gloucester), Janis and John Bell (Gloucester), Jane Alexander (New York), Jennie Meyer (Gloucester), Alice and David Gardner (Beverly), JoeAnn Hart (Gloucester), Kim Tieger (Manchester), Joanne Hurd (Gloucester), Holly Niperus (Phoenix), Bill Girolamo (Melrose), Claudia Bermudez (Gloucester), Paula and Alexa Niziak (Rockport), Todd Pover (Springfield, MA), Cynthia Dunn (Gloucester), Nancy Mattern (Albuquerque), Marion Frost (Ipswich), Cecile Christianson (Peabody), Sally Jackson (Gloucester), Donna Poirier Connerty (Gloucester), Mary Rhinelander (Gloucester), Jane Hazzard (Georgetown), Duncan Holloman (Gloucester), Karen Blandino (Rockport), Duncan Todd (Lexington), Sue Winslow (Gloucester), Amy Hauck-Kalti (Ohio), JoAnn Souza (Newburyport), Karen Thompson (San Francisco), Carolyn Mostello (Rhode Island), Susan Pollack (Gloucester), Peggy O’Malley (Gloucester), Hilda Santos (Gloucester), Maggie Debbie (Gloucester), Sandy Barry (Goucester), and my sweet husband Tom 🙂

Can you believe it’s that time of year already – Piping Plovers will begin returning to Cape Ann at the end of the month. We hope so very much that Super Dad and our amazing, disabled Super Mom will return for their ninth year nesting at Good Harbor Beach. Typically Plovers only live for five to six years however some, like “Old Man Plover,” lived, and fathered offspring, through his fifteenth year. If you would like to join our group of incredibly dedicated Piping Plover Ambassadors, please email me at kimsmitghdesigns@hotmail.com.

Some upcoming events and screenings – I am honored to write that I am being presented with the Conservation Award at the 130th annual March Conference of the Massachusetts DAR. And will also be giving a Piping Plover presentation to our local Cape Ann chapter of the DAR on April 6th at 11am, which I believe is open to the public. On Thursday evening at 6:30, please join me for a public screening of our documentary Beauty on the Wing: Life Story of the Monarch Butterfly as part of the Essex County Greenbelt 2024 Film and Lecture Series. Last, but not least, this coming Friday, I am joining a group of talented Cape Ann women writers. We will be reading excerpts from books by Cape Ann women writers of note, in celebration of International Women’s Day.

As the weather warms, please think about purchasing one of our awesome Plover Besties decals, tees, or onesies at Alexandra’s Bread. We have a pretty cerulean blue in stock, some pink, and I am planning on printing yellow tees and onesies for spring. They are a really great quality, pure cotton, a little longer than is typical, and printed locally at Seaside Graphics. Alexandra’s Bread is located at 265 Main Street, Gloucester.

Thank you again for your kind support.

Warmest wishes,

xxKim

Upcoming Events for March

March 8th, Friday at 7pm. In Celebration of International Women’s Day Women – Women Authors of Cape Ann. Presented by the Gloucester Writers Center at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 10 Church Street, Gloucester.

March 14th, Thursday, at 6:30pm. Essex County Greenbelt 2024 Film and Lecture Series. “Beauty on the Wing: Life Story of the Monarch Butterfly” documentary film screening and Q and A with Director Kim Smith. HC Media, Studio 101 at 2 Merrimack Street, Haverhill.

March 15t at 12noon, Friday. Massachusetts DAR 130th March State Conference and Luncheon. Kim Smith honored with the Conservation Award. Wellsworth Hotel Conference Center, Southbridge, MA.

April 6th, Saturday, at 11am. Cape Ann DAR . Kim Smith presentation  “The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay.” Veteran’s Service Building 12 Emerson Avenue, Gloucester.

Happy World Wildlife Day! #WWD2024

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Every year on March 3rd, United Nations World Wildlife Day (WWD) is celebrated  The purpose of the celebration is to recognize the unique roles and contributions of wildlife to people and the planet.  Read more here.

A special event for World Wildlife day is being held at the UN tomorrow, March 4th, that anyone is welcome to tune into. Here is the link and more information:

https://www.linkedin.com/events/worldwildlifeday2024uncelebrati7163493005688041473/comments/

#SaveTheDate 📅 🌱 Tune in online to watch the hashtag#WorldWildlifeDay 2024 UN Celebration!

When: 4 March (10AM-1PM EST)
Where: webtv.un.org

This year, we are exploring digital innovation and highlighting how digital conservation technologies and services can drive wildlife conservation, sustainable and legal wildlife trade and human-wildlife coexistence, now and for future generations in an increasingly connected world. 📱💻🐟🐯🌳

Meet our organizing partners: UNDP, ifaw, Jackson Wild, and WILDLABS Community

hashtag#WWD2024 hashtag#ConnectingPeopleAndPlanet hashtag#DigitalInnovation hashtag#TechForWildlife

 

FATAL ATTRACTION – ROBIN TRAPPED IN BIRD NETTING

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Over the weekend I came upon a sweet American Robin trapped in green bird netting and fighting for it’s life. I waited several moments before approaching, hoping it would set itself free but the more the Robin struggled, the more tightly he became enmeshed. I approached cautiously so as not to stress the bird any more than it already was and was able to very carefully untwist the netting and release.

I was grateful for this easy extraction. Once before Charlotte and I had found a Robin wrapped tightly in bird netting. It took the farmer and I half an hour to carefully cut away the netting digging into the birds flesh and choking the life out of him.

Bats, birds, turtles, frogs, and small mammals all too often become entangled in the green netting draped over trees and shrubs. I could write more about the fatal attraction in planting an ornamental shrub with brilliant red bird-attracting berries, and then covering it with deadly dangerous netting, but what is the point of that?

Instead, the following are just only a few suggestions to help prevent deer browsing:

Wrap in burlap.

For new plantings, consider using individual cages. Paint white as wildlife can see that best at night. Please inspect exclosures regularly to ensure no little wild friends are trapped within.

Hang bars of the strongest smelling deodorant soap you can find, Irish Spring comes to mind.

On a positive note, the ‘winter’ Robins are here, dining on every berry in the neighborhood they can locate. One of the most joyful sights in winter is the criss crossing of Robins through our landscapes as they devour the fruits. For over a month, I have been filming them eating the following:  winterberry, which must be the tastiest as it was the first to go, sumac, crabapples, privet, rose hips, euonymus, and cedar berries.

Many, many thanks to the home owners of the hollies with the green mesh. I knocked on their door to let them know what had happened. Shortly after that, they cut away the green netting. Thank You!

 

WONDERFUL WILD CREATURES 2023 YEAR IN REVIEW!

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Saying goodbye to 2023 with a look back at just some of the magnificent creatures and scenes we see all around our beautiful North Shore.

The slide show begins with January and runs through December. When clicking through, you can see the photos are captioned and dated. If you would like more information, all the photos are from posts written throughout the year, and most of the posts have short videos featuring the animal.

Some of the highlights were a Northern Lapwing blown far off course, Barred Owls, flocks of Snow Buntings, successful Gray Seal rescue by Seacoast Science Center, the return of handicapped Super Mom and Super Dad to Good Harbor Beach, Great Blue Herons nesting, Rick Roth from Cape Ann Vernal Pond team helping me find frog’s eggs for my pond ecology film, Bald Eagle pair mating, Earth Day Good Harbor Beach clean-up, Osprey nesting,Creative Commons Collective native plantings at Blackburn Circle, mesmerizing encounter with a Fisher, Mama Dross Humpback and her calf, Beth Swan creating PiPl logo, PiPl chicks and Least Terns hatching, Pipevine Swallowtail pupa, PiPl t-shirts and decals selling at Alexandra’s Bread, rare Nighthawk, Spring Peepers, chicks fledging, trips to Felix’ Family Farm with Charlotte, Monarchs in the garden, Merlin, juvenile Glossy Ibis, and a  flock of Horned Larks.

Perhaps the very most memorable moment was a wonderfully close (and extended) encounter with a Fisher. Read more about that here: Lightning in a Bottle

 

Happy New Year Friends. We’ll see what 2024 brings our way <3

YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKERS AND POKEBERRIES IS WHY WE RELISH OUR WONDERFULLY MESSY GARDEN!

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Oh my goodness, what was that fleeting and larger-than-usual red-headed woodpecker doing in our garden? We get lots of Downy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers but even though the sighting was merely a flash of red, black, and white, the visitor seemed like neither of these two.

The following morning when returning from an early walk, I crept down the garden path in hopes of catching a glimpse and to see what he was up to. Sure enough, the woodpecker was there, perched between the branches of the lilacs and plucking ripe juicy purple fruits from the Pokeberry plant. A male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and what a handsome fellow he is! The sapsucker stayed for a few minutes, long enough to capture some footage.

The songbirds (and we) are relishing in the messy disarray of of our cold weather garden. Fallen leaves provide shelter for birds, insects, and small mammals; the seed heads on the expired stalks of asters offer sustenance; and the fruits of the winterberry, holly, crabapple, and American Pokeweed  are filling the little bellies of many.

American Pokeweed, also known as Pokeberry, Pigeonweed, Inkberry, and Poke, is a North American native perennial herb that can grow as tall as 20 feet, although we are more likely to see a four to five foot plant. The stems of the Pokeberry are a striking shade of magenta, but otherwise, it is a rather ungainly plant.

We didn’t plant our Pokeberry. Perhaps the seed of the first plant to colonize our garde was deposited by a bird. Each berry contains 10 seeds. The seeds have an extraordinarily hard shell that allows them to remain viable for up to 40 years.

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds reportedly drink nectar from the Pokeberry’s tiny white/pinkish/greenish flowers and the leaves are also the caterpillar food plant for the Giant Leopard Moth.

According to Cornell, “the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker is the only woodpecker in eastern North America that is completely migratory. Although a few individuals remain throughout much of the winter in the southern part of the breeding range, most head farther south, going as far south as Panama. Females tend to migrate farther south than do males.”

Okay, well let’s get going Mr. Sapsucker!

 

YELLOW-ORANGE RAINBOW HOUSE FINCH!

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What is that beautiful and unusually feathered friend eyeing me from the distant safety of a tree limb. He looks identical to a House Finch but rather than a bright pinkish red head, this boy’s feathers are shaded in hues of yellow, orange, coral, and pink.

He foraged along with the other House Finches, took a brief nap, and then departed. I couldn’t wait to get home and learn more about why this House Finch was so striking in plumage.

According to several online sites, the color of the male House Finch feathers results from 3 carotenoid pigments: ß-carotene, which produces yellow to orange color in feathers; isocryptoxanthin, which produces orange color in feathers; and echinenone, which produces red color in feathers. Yellow House Finches are frequently seen in the southwest and Hawaii where natural foods are low in some of these carotenoids. In the east, birds often feed on the high-carotenoid fruits of ornamental plants. For comparison sake, you can see in the first clip the more typical color of a male House Finch at this time of year.

RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD NOT SHARING GARDEN WITH MIGRATING MONARCHS!

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Our summer resident Ruby-throated Hummingbirds stayed at our Cape Ann garden well into the fall. Daily, and frequently throughout the day, they made their rounds from the back borders to the front borders, making brief stops at each nectar station. But the backyard was clearly their personal fiefdom. Here they spent a great deal of time splashing in the bird bath and preening while perched in the ancient pear trees.

The Monarchs and other late summer butterflies mostly stay in the sunnier front border however, whenever a Monarch ventured to the New England Aster patch round back, a hummingbird was sure to harass. The attacks were seemingly not vicious; the RTH would simply fly to and from the butterfly until it departed. I wondered if this was a juvenile RTHummingbird checking out a never-before-seen-butterfly-equal-to-its-size, or a more experienced female defending her territory.

Despite repeated attempts on my part, this was extremely hard to capture on film. I was looking at footage from this past season and was delighted to find a very few brief seconds of both beauties together.

LAST MONARCH FROM THE GARDEN

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Last of the season’s Monarchs from our garden eclosed, despite being so late in the year and the big dent in her chrysalis. Happily, Charlotte was home when she emerged. The butterfly attached itself to Charlotte’s hair, and to her great joy, stayed there while she skipped around the garden collecting flowers and food for her fairies.

Monarchs that emerge late in the year, when some are already arriving to Mexico, migrate nonetheless and have a good chance of reaching their destination.

Fairy Tree House

BLUET DAMSELFLIES MATING IN THE CATTAILS

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“Get a room,” my friend Lauren laughed when we arrived at the Pond, noticing within moments dozens upon dozens of bluet damselflies readying to mate. The little pond is surrounded by a magnificent variety of vegetation however, the damselflies were only interested in perching on the cattail blades, in some instances three pairs per blade!

During mating, the male clasps the female by the neck while she bends her body around to his reproductive organs, forming a “mating wheel.” The damselfly photos here show the damselflies in the initial stages of mating.

There are no fewer than twenty different species of bluet damselflies in Massachusetts. One quick way to tell the difference between a damselfly and a dragonfly when out in the field is to look at the eyes. Dragonfly eyes are large and spaced very close together, whereas the eyes of damselflies are smaller and separated.

Cattail flowers are not bright and showy because they do not need to attract pollinators. Multiple tiny florets grow on the cylindrical-shaped stalk and are pollinated by wind. After releasing pollen, the flowers fall off leaving behind the spikes. The spike falls apart eventually to release the fluffy seeds, which are also disseminated by the wind. Clearly, the blades of Cat-O’-Nine-tails are useful to damselflies. The fluff is also wonderfully beneficial to songbirds, such as Red-winged Blackbirds, for lining their nests.

A BIT OF MONARCH FAKERY – THE BEAUTIFUL VICEROY BUTTERFLY

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Over the course of past week, we on Cape Ann have been graced with a splendid mini Monarch migration across our shores, and many other species of butterflies too are on the wing. To my utter delight, yesterday while filming at what I like to think of as a butterfly hotspot, a pint-sized butterfly went zooming past. Wow, that is the smallest Monarch I have ever seen. But no, the butterfly traveled across the field, and when it paused for a few moments to warm its wings, I realized it was a Viceroy Butterfly! This was the first time I have observed a Viceroy on Cape Ann.

The Viceroy has a faster flight pattern than the Monarch and I was only able to get a few minutes of footage and only several photos before it disappeared over the horizon however; you can see from the photos how very similar the wing pattern is. To make a quick comparison when out in the field, the Viceroy does not have the mitten-shaped cell that the Monarch possesses and it has a prominent black line running along lower wings.

Monarch Butterfly

Viceroy Butterfly

To read more about Monarch and Viceroy fakery, read the following terrific article from New Jersey Audubon here: “Monarchs and Viceroys: A Tale of Mimicry”

The ‘royal’ butterflies –

 

BEE-UTIFUL!

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Filmed at my friend Paul Wegzyn’s sunflower field, at Felix’ Family Farm –

“Peter and the Wolf” by Sergei Prokofiev, performed by Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra – downloaded from the Internet Archive of royalty free music.

PLEASE DO NO HARM! HOW AND WHY CAPTIVE BREEDING AND CAPTIVE REARING IS HURTING MONARCH BUTTERFLIES

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Following mating, a female Monarch will be ready to begin ovipositing her eggs after only several hours. She travels from leaf to leaf and plant to plant, typically depositing no more than one egg per leaf and only one or two eggs per plant. It is thought that when the female lands on a leaf she is testing the plant for suitability with the sensors on her feet that are called tarsi. She curls her abdomen around, ovipositing a tiny golden drop that is no larger than a pinhead.

In the short video, in the second clip, you can she she ‘rejects,’ the leaf. She first tests it with her feet, then curls her abdomen, but does not leave an egg. In the third and last clip, success! She finds a leaf to her liking and leaves behind a single egg.

The female continues on her quest to find milkweed, possibly returning to the same plant, but more likely, she will go on to the next patch of milkweed. In the wild, female Monarchs deposit on average between 300 to 500 eggs during her lifetime.

It’s a very different story for Monarchs that are captive bred. The attendant will walk into the enclosure where the frantic males and females are kept, with a handful of milkweed leaves. The female is so desperate to oviposit her eggs, she will dump a whole load on one leaf, without even testing it with her feet. I have observed this behavior at breeding locations and it is really quite disturbing, knowing  how wholly unnatural it is for Monarchs to deposit eggs in large clusters.

Four reasons to stop mass breeding and rearing:

  1. Mass production of Monarchs makes it easy to transmit disease.
  2.  More virulent strains of pathogens are spreading to wild Monarchs.
  3. Reared Monarchs are smaller than wild Monarchs.
  4. A genetic consequence of breeding closely related individual Monarchs weakens the species.

The Xerces Society, Monarch Watch, Journey North, Monarch Joint Venture, and the petition to list Monarchs as an endangered species all recommend the following:

From the Xerces Society

Answers to a few frequently-asked-questions and answers about rearing

How can I rear Monarchs responsibly?

  1. Rear no more than ten Monarchs per year (whether by a single individual or family). This is the same number recommended in the original petition to list the monarch under the Federal Endangered Species Act.
  2. Collect immature Monarchs locally from the wild, heeding collection policies on public lands; never buy or ship monarchs.
  3. Raise Monarchs individually and keep rearing containers clean between individuals by using a 20% bleach solution to avoid spreading diseases or mold.
  4. Provide sufficient milkweed including adding fresh milkweed daily.
  5. Keep rearing containers out of direct sunlight and provide a moist (not wet) paper towel or sponge to provide sufficient, not excessive, moisture.
  6. Release Monarchs where they were collected and at appropriate times of year for your area.
  7. Check out Monarch Joint Venture’s newly updated handout, Rearing Monarchs: Why or Why Not?
  8. Participate in community science, including testing the Monarchs you raise for OE, tracking parasitism rates, and/or tagging adults before release.

 

FELIX’S FAMILY FARM IS THE BEST SUNFLOWER FIELD EVER!

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Come see the latest magnificently beautiful and wonderfully immersive creation by farmer Paul Wegzyn and his Dad (also Paul) at Felix’s Family Farm. Formerly named School Street Sunflowers, the farm with the new name is the same beautiful field, same wonderful family owned operation, only with many new additions. Just to name a few – a healthy, growing and glowing pack of alpacas!, a herd of baby goats <3, live music, picnicking, and yoga classes in a Yoga Yurt!  

The field is at its peak this week and next and Paul says it is truly their best field ever. I agree one thousand percent. Row upon row of freshly opened and newly opening flowers will take your breath away. The Farm is utterly enchanting. Bring your family and take lots of photos or just wander through the fields. I hope you will be as enthralled as was I.

Felix’s Family Farm is located at 20 Lowe’s Lane, just off 1A/Rt. 133, in Ipswich. For tickets and more information, visit the Felix Family Farm website here.

In year’s past, the sunflower field has had a theme. One of my favorites from several years back was “Transcendentalism.” This year, the theme is “Family.” Quotes placed throughout the field leave you to stop and take a moment to reflect on our families and how dear they are to us.

Father and Son Paul Wegzyn and Paul Wegzyn

KEEP MONARCHS WILD: WHY CAPTIVE REARING ISN’T THE WAY TO HELP MONARCHS

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Although seemingly counterintuitive, the reasons why captive raising Monarchs in the hundreds, and in some cases thousands, is not the way to help the butterflies. The following is a fantastic article recently published by one of the foremost authorities on Monarchs, the Xerces Society.

The gist of the article is that rearing no more than ten at a time is educational and worthwhile, if the guidelines provided below are followed to a tee. If you are one of the well meaning folks that are rearing hundreds/thousands of Monarchs, please read the following –

Keep Monarchs Wild: Why Captive Rearing Isn’t The Way To Help Monarchs

By Emma Pelton on 15. June 2023

Instead of rearing—which is risky and unproven in helping monarchs—we should focus on more effective ways to conserve these glorious wild animals.

Many of us have been there: Finding a monarch caterpillar, collecting it in a jar, raising it on milkweed, and then waiting patiently for a butterfly to emerge and take flight. Helping a child (or an adult) learn about this captivating, up-close example of metamorphosis can be incredibly rewarding. Unlike many wild animals, monarchs are easily reared, so it is no wonder that bringing caterpillars into the classroom or home has been used by teachers and parents for decades as an educational tool—or just for the pure enjoyment of it. Rearing monarchs also has been a part of monarch research: From the tagging efforts started by the Urquharts in the 1960s to the multiple tagging programs of today. These programs, as well as other community science projects, have greatly expanded our understanding of migration paths.

Because rearing a butterfly in captivity enables people to share in the amazing transformation from a caterpillar to winged adult, it deserves a place in the future of monarch education and research efforts. However, we need to approach it thoughtfully and responsibly. Like any wild animal, we have to make sure that our interest in rearing monarchs does not harm the butterfly’s populations. This is particularly important today, with monarch populations down by 80-97%. These levels are so low that the migratory phenomenon to Mexico and coastal California is at risk. In an attempt to help reverse the monarch’s population free-fall, many people are attempting to save the species by rearing and releasing monarchs on a large scale. There are, however, serious concerns about this approach.

READ MORE HERE

For more about how you can help the magnificent migrating Monarch, visit my documentary’s website here – Beauty on the Wing

From the Xerces Society

Answers to a few frequently-asked-questions and answers about rearing

How can I rear monarchs responsibly?

  1. Rear no more than ten monarchs per year (whether by a single individual or family). This is the same number recommended in the original petition to list the monarch under the Federal Endangered Species Act.
  2. Collect immature monarchs locally from the wild, heeding collection policies on public lands; never buy or ship monarchs.
  3. Raise monarchs individually and keep rearing containers clean between individuals by using a 20% bleach solution to avoid spreading diseases or mold.
  4. Provide sufficient milkweed including adding fresh milkweed daily.
  5. Keep rearing containers out of direct sunlight and provide a moist (not wet) paper towel or sponge to provide sufficient, not excessive, moisture.
  6. Release monarchs where they were collected and at appropriate times of year for your area.
  7. Check out Monarch Joint Venture’s newly updated handout, Rearing Monarchs: Why or Why Not?
  8. Participate in community science, including testing the monarchs you raise for OE, tracking parasitism rates, and/or tagging adults before release.