Category Archives: #plantandtheywillcome

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.

 

KEEP MONARCHS WILD: WHY IT IS SO DETRIMENTAL AND UNCOOL TO RAISE AND RELEASE HUNDREDS OF MONARCHS

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Captive breeding and captive raising Monarchs in the hundreds, and in some cases thousands, is not the way to help the butterflies. You may feel you are taking positive steps, but we have learned over time that captive breeding and rearing in large numbers spreads disease and  weakens the species. Captive rearing hundreds of Monarchs is HARMFUL. The following is a science based and thoughtful article published by one of the foremost authorities on Monarchs, the Xerces Society.The thrust of the article is that captive 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 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.

A WONDERMENT OF GENTLE FARM ANIMALS AT FELIX’S FAMILY FARM!

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Come visit the spectacular sunflower field and ever expanding wonderful menagerie of animals at Felix’s Family  Farm. The flowers are peaking this weekend! See last week’s post about the sunflower field here

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.

Our Charlotte’s favorite, favorite thing to do at Paul’s farm is to feed and stroke the farm animals. Paul has been daily training all his animals to be super kid-friendly and it is working! I have taken Charlotte to many farms but have never seen animals, especially the alpacas, as comfortable around children as are Paul’s.

There is the Mama Belted Galloway cow, Cookie, and her baby calf Cupcake (Paul thinks of the best names for his mini zoo!).

Midnight the pony

super friendly Mama sheep and baby sheep

the most adorable friendly goats

And a herd of very gentle alpacas!

Our happy girl in her happy place!

ALL CREATURES TINY AND SMALL – NEW SHORT FILM – THE SUMMER POLLINATOR GARDEN

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Come to our summer pollinator garden and see all the creatures, tiny and small, and the flowers that are planted to attract these beautiful winged wonders.

Pachelbel’s Canon in D Major, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center

Internet Archive of Royalty Free Music 

Featuring all manner of bees, including Honey, Bumble, and Sugar; Cedar Waxwing building a nest; Catbird fledgling and adult; Canadian Tiger Swallowtail, Pipevine caterpillars and chrysalis; Cecropia Moth caterpillar, Pandora Sphinx Moth caterpillars; Clouded Sulphur; male Goldfinch;  Monarchs; teeny only 1/2 inch in length male Spring Peeper; Ruby-throated Hummingbirds male, female, and juveniles; and my favorite creature in our garden, nature girl Charlotte <3

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.

OVERJOYED TO BE SCREENING MY MONARCH DOCUMENTARY AT A HOST OF SCHOOLS IN CANADA THIS AFTERNOON!

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A new experience for me, screening Beauty on the Wing for schools in Ontario, Canada. I am not foreseeing any, but with so many kids involved, just praying there are no technical issues.

Monarch Distribution in Canada

The southern regions of Ontario are a beautiful province in which to see Monarchs, especially during the the late summer migration. The Great Lakes act as a barrier on the Monarch’s southward journey. The butterflies gather at the southern most points of Canada to cross the lakes, including Point Pelee in Lake Erie, and Monarch Point Conservation Reserve in Lake Ontario, both on the Ontario side. Just as the Monarchs form overnight roosts at Eastern Point in Gloucester while waiting for the right conditions to cross Massachusetts Bay, they do the same at Point Pelee and Monarch Point in Ontario.

Monarch Butterfly overnight roost

20% OFF SALE AT CEDAR ROCK GARDENS!

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June Sale
20% off all plants in the nursery!

Hello from Elise,

Happy Summer! We are sure you all enjoyed the enormous amount of sunshine this week compared to what we have had this spring so far.

We are having a 20% off sale on all our plants in the nursery starting today and ending Thursday, June 29th. We have some really nice looking bedding flowers and a whole lot of basil along with a great selection of other herbs and veggies.

We have beautiful baskets and pots. Our native perennials selection is stocked up and attracting all the pollinators you can imagine – bring them home to your gardens!

Hope you are having a wonderful summer!

Sale week hours
Friday: 8 am to 4 pm
Saturday: 8 am to 4 pm
Sunday: Closed
Monday: 8 am to 4 pm
Tuesday: 8 am to 5 pm
Wednesday: 8 am to 4 pm
Thursday: 8 am to 4 pm

All the best,
Elise, Tucker and the Cedar Rock Gardens crew
CedarRockGardens@gmail.com
Products we have in stock
Coast of Maine Potting Soil
Coast of Maine Raised bed mix
Coast of Maine Lobster compost
Black Earth Compost
North Country Organics ProGrow
Neptunes Harvest Crab Shell
Neptunes Harvest Fish Emulsion
Neem Oil
Inseticidal Soap
Diatomaceous Earth
Row Cover
Seeds

Cedar Rock Gardens is located at 299 Concord Street, Gloucester

For more information, visit CEDAR ROCK GARDENS WEBSITE HERE

Images courtesy Cedar Rock Gardens

MORE ABOUT CREATING COMMONS COLLECTIVE IN THE GLOUCESTER DAILY TIMES!

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Check out the excellent commentary featured in the Gloucester Daily Times on Wednesday –

Commentary: Creating Commons

“If this land be not rich, then is the whole world poor.”

So wrote Thomas Morton upon his arrival on Cape Ann in 1624. In a treatise published in London, Morton described the coast he encountered as a “New English Canaan,” a promised land filled with flora and fauna the likes of which Europeans had not yet known. Morton’s description of the area’s bounty was not singular. For example, John Smith’s report back to the imperial center preceded Morton’s and John Josselyn’s was published shortly after Morton’s. Such 17th-century writings inspired the English occupation of what would become the New England colonies and the accompanying genocide of the Native populations that had been here for centuries before the first European set foot on Cape Ann.

We begin with a return to this early settler history not to celebrate the violence and destruction it inspired, but to recall how awestruck Europeans were by the abundant natural beauty of the place that we call our home. Cape Ann was beautiful then, and it is beautiful now. This hardly needs saying. Artists have captured its twilight, poets have described its “granite teeth,” and mystics have meditated on its shores. But even as the land has been celebrated over the centuries, it too has been exploited. This story is not unique to Cape Ann, of course; it is the American story of land. On this island, the merchants of the 18th century were replaced by industrialists who then gave way to the 20th century’s financiers, all of them extracting, privatizing, and profiting from Cape Ann’s abundant timber and granite. With the dawning of beach tourism in the mid-19th century, the extensive coastline with its generous beaches led to further cordoning off and construction.

Now, in the 21st century, as we stare down the barrel of climate collapse, we must consider how, over four centuries of European occupation, we have grown so estranged from the land, so out of step with its natural rhythms and cycles. We are invited, in the spirit of the Potawatomi environmental biologist Robin Wall Kimmerer and others who advocate for new paradigms of land stewardship, to consider how we might live in relationships of reciprocity with the place we inhabit and with its many abundances. We seek, to borrow a phrase from the novelist Catherine Bush, “not control, but the agency to engage in acts of repair.”

This is the common cause that unites our collective of artists, avant gardeners, arborists, historians, and thinkers. We are all longtime residents of Cape Ann, and we share an endless fascination — even infatuation — with its local flora. READ MORE HERE 

Golden Ragwort (Packera aurea) currently blooming at Millbrook Meadow, Rockport

OUTSTANDING WORK IN PROGRESS BY LOCAL LAND STEWARDS ORGANIZATION CREATING COMMONS COLLECTIVE

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Lucas, Xavier, Mark, Nick, Kim, Molly, and Sarah

What a joy to meet these members of Creating Commons Collective, a grassroots organization passionate about developing beautiful, native plants landscapes for our community.

The project at Blackburn traffic circle began last spring.The soli was tilled (with the help of Mass DOT) and the first batch of plants were introduced. The group is selectively adding native flowering plants with the long term goal of creating a self-sustaining, pollinator friendly, native plants meadow.

Sarah mentioned Creating Commons Collective native plants project at Burnham’s Field, which I am very eager to go check out, and Nick shared a recent article “Improvised Landscapes” that he wrote for Arnoldia, the quarterly publication of the Arnold Arboretum. It’s a great read and you can find the link to the article below.

Improvised Landscapes

By Nicholas Anderson April 4, 2023

OVER THE YEARS I have abandoned and inverted my horticultural training, and today, I struggle to describe what I do. When time is short, I simply say that I make meadows with native plants; sometimes I use the term “ecological maximalism.” But definitions don’t really matter when it’s late September, and I’m stopping off at a patch of dirt in Gloucester, Massachusetts, sandwiched between a new housing development and a Market Basket on the edge of a woodland remnant. Just now I don’t particularly need any new plants, as I have a dozen or so ongoing meadow projects that double as plant nurseries, but I can’t resist a salvage mission before going grocery shopping. I walk past orange-painted surveyors’ stakes through one of the spots where I scattered seeds the previous winter. Most of the seedlings have succumbed to the drought, but a few anemic partridge-pea plants (Chamaecrista fasciculata) are visible amidst the tire tracks. This space is used as a parking lot for little league games in the summer and the city deposits untold tons of salty snow here every winter. Remarkably, whorled loosestrife (Lysimachia quadrifolia) and sweet fern (Comptonia peregrina) insist on colonizing into the very spot that gets savaged by the plows year after year. I pull up four rhizomes of the sweet fern and grab two tiny volunteers of winged sumac (Rhus copallinum) before heading over to the other side of the lot, where frost aster (Symphyotrichum pilosum) and oldfield goldenrod (Solidago nemoralis) are in bloom amidst mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) and tendrils of asian bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus). Out of the midst of these introduced species, I yank up twenty-odd plants with tender violence and put them in a wet, plastic bag.

READ more here


Monarchs drinking nectar from Seaside Goldenrod florets

TOMATOES AND WARM WEATHER SEEDLINGS AT CEDAR ROCK GARDENS!

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Elise from Cedar Rock Gardens writes –

IT’S THAT TIME:
Warm Weather Seedlings!
Starting May 17th, our warm weather seedlings will be available to come shop at the nursery.

Hello and happy May!

We have fully stocked the nursery area with 40 varieties of tomatoes, a handful of cucumbers, squash, 33 varieties of sweet and hot peppers, eggplants, zinnias, basil, rosemary and much more. We are very excited for another summer growing season and are excited to play in the dirt under the warm sun. We have added some new varieties this year so take some time and ask any questions you may have on new items and staff favorites.
We will have sunflowers, and melons coming out of the greenhouse along with some more varieties of zinnias over the next couple of weeks.

If we do get any nights that go under 40 degrees F we recommend that you cover basil, cucumbers and squash with row cover, they do not like to be cold.

A little PSA – the bridge going over Walker Creek that takes you from Harlow Street in Essex onto Concord Street is out for the summer so please re route to using the Sumner Street turn off 133 or the other end of Concord Street.

Also, our internet has been a little slow lately which means running credit cards and apple pay has been a little slow – we can definitely still take all forms of payment but cash or check will make the line move faster.

Looking forward to seeing all the familiar faces and talking warm weather plants!

We have a great selection of hanging baskets and annual and perennial herbs and flowers. Our native perennials selection is stocked up and attracting all the pollinators you can imagine. I saw my first hummingbird today flitting over the Cuphea Vermillionair – bring them home to your gardens!

Hope you are having a wonderful spring!

We have posted all the Flower, Herb and Vegetable varieties we are growing this year on our website for you to check out and get excited for!

For more information, visit Cedar Rock Gardens website here.

Cedar Rock Gardens is located at 299 Concord Street in Gloucester.

Shadblow blooming in a gentle spring rain

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Simply one the most beautiful sites has to be when our native Shadblow comes into bloom. The airy white flowers light up the woodland scene and water’s edge.

Shadbow, Shadbush, Chuckleberry Tree, Serviceberry, and Juneberry are just a few of the descriptive names given the beautiful Shadblow tree.

Shadblow (Amelanchier canadenisis) is one of the first of the natives to bloom in spring, growing all along the Atlantic coastal plains. A fantastic tree for the wild garden, over 26 species of songbirds and mammals, large and small, are documented dining on the fruits of Shadblow (including bears). The small blue fruits are delicious, though rarely consumed by humans because wildlife are usually first at the table.

The foliage of Shadblow is a caterpillar food plant for the Red Admiral Butterfly. Look for her eggs on the upper surface at the tip of the leaf.

Shadblow buds with dewdrop necklace

LIGHTS OUT FOR BIRDS AND TIME TO HANG YOUR HUMMINGBIRD FEEDERS!

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From National Audubon

Providing Safe Passage for Nocturnal Migrants

Every year, billions of birds migrate north in the spring and south in the fall, the majority of them flying at night, navigating with the night sky. However, as they pass over big cities on their way, they can become disoriented by bright artificial lights and skyglow, often causing them to collide with buildings or windows.

Contribute to Lights Out

  • Turn off exterior decorative lighting
  • Extinguish pot and flood-lights
  • Substitute strobe lighting wherever possible
  • Reduce atrium lighting wherever possible
  • Turn off interior lighting especially on higher stories
  • Substitute task and area lighting for workers staying late or pull window coverings
  • Down-shield exterior lighting to eliminate horizontal glare and all light directed upward
  • Install automatic motion sensors and controls wherever possible
  • When converting to new lighting assess quality and quantity of light needed, avoiding over-lighting with newer, brighter technology

READ MORE HERE

Reminder –

We’ve had several Ruby-throated Hummingbirds passing through our garden and one male is checking in regularly. There isn’t much yet available in the way of nectar plants blooming, either in fields or gardens. If you place your feeders out at this time year, you may encourage a female to nest in your garden. Every year we see (mostly) females, and by summer’s end, two juveniles appear at the feeders. I wish I could see their nest but it is so small, merely the size of a walnut! 

Don’t you love this poster for Lights Out for Birds!

MONARCH BUTTERFLY STATUS UPDATE AND LOOKING FORWARD TO SCREENING ‘BEAUTY ON THE WING’ MONARCH BUTTERFLY FILM IN NEW JERSEY ON SUNDAY!

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A very brief Monarch population status update – For the second year in a row, the Western Monarch population is seeing an uptick in numbers. The population is at roughly at 335,000, up from the historic low of only 2,000 counted in 2020.  Two years of relatively good numbers gives us all hope the Western population can be saved.

It appears as though the Eastern Monarch population is not doing quite as well as last year. The final count for the winter of 2022- 2023 is not yet in. We’ll check back in on that count as soon as the graph becomes available.

Sunday afternoon, I’ll be screening Beauty on the Wing at the New Providence Memorial Library in New Jersey. New Providence is only about 20 minutes from my Mom and Aunt’s childhood home and it was at my Grandmother’s gardens where I first fell in love with the natural world.

I am also super excited to share that we will be screening Beauty on the Wing for school children (and grownups) across Prince Edward County on June 23rd.  Prince Edward County in on Lake Ontario and is a late summer gathering point for Monarchs before crossing the Lake into the US. The entire long point peninsula on the South Shore of Prince Edward County is a designated International Monarch Butterfly Reserve (established in1995).

“The land area of the IBA (editor’s note- Canadian acronym for Important Bird Areas)  is comprised of shallow soil over limestone bedrock with areas of alvar habitat. Much of the habitat consists of old field (savannah) and shrub thickets, with small deciduous and coniferous forests being present. In addition to several natural wetlands, the IBA contains two large wetland areas created after berm construction by Ducks Unlimited. The IBA is important for concentrations of migrating birds, bats and butterflies and also supports several rare vascular plants including Four-leaved Milkweed, Butternut, Bicknell’s Sedge, Short-stalked Chickweed, Brainerd’s Hawthorn, Limestone Hedge-hyssop, Green Arrow-arum, White-tinged Sedge, Eastern Few-fruited Sedge, Ram’s-head Lady’s-slipper, and Carolina Whitlow-grass. Largely undisturbed sites are important to ensure survival of these plants.”

The PEC south shore is also home to the Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory, where a diverse and extraordinary number of birds concentrate during migration.

Monarch and Whorled Milkweed (Asclepias verticillata)

CEDAR ROCK GARDENS IS CELEBRATING 10 YEARS IN BUSINESS!!!

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OUR DEEPEST CONGRATULATIONS TO ELISE AND TUCKER FROM CEDAR ROCK GARDENS – CELEBRATING 10 YEARS!!!

Elise writes the seasonal update for Cedar Rock, opening April 12th, and if you read further, she shares the history of the past ten years, beginning with the farm’s earliest days. 

We Love You Cedar Rock Gardens! Thank you for ten years of beautiful flowers, veggies, native plants, and herbs (and a joyous farm at which to visit and to shop).

 

IT’S THAT TIME:
Welcome to the 2023 Season!

~We will be open April 12th for the season. We have some really wonderful perennials starting up this year including a big native plant selection and many that are enticing to pollinators of all kinds.

~ We have a new nursery manger this year, Maarit, who is coming to us from Rockport. She is quickly becoming well versed in all things Cedar Rock and will be a great addition to our team this year. She has a background in cheesemaking and is looking forward to learning about soil health and growing bangin’ brassicas and cut flowers.

~As always we will have many cold tolerant veggies, herbs and flowers to plant early in the season, so make sure to plan some space in the garden to get some early successions going.

~We will also have a larger medicinal herb selection this year, we have had success trialing some new varieties from seed that will be available and we are partnering with our friend Emma at MilkyWay Apothecary to provide varieties she has grown and divided.

~Tomato and pepper release day – along with all the other delicious warm weather veggies and plants – will be May 17th. That is when you will be able to shop all the plants that can be planted outside without a danger of frost hurting them.

~Check out our website for a list of plants we will be carrying this year – if you do not see something you want just send an email.

~We are finally at a point where we can satisfactorily host classes at our farm. Look forward to an announcement in March about what you can expect to learn about in some of our class offerings. Along with that we will be utilizing our social media platforms much more with tidbits and tips on planting, soil health, garden planning, variety differences and general dirt nerd kinds of stuff – so follow us on Instagram or Facebook for those goodies if you don’t already.

~ We have a fantastic program starting at Cedar Rock this spring called farm friends. An amazing mama and teacher, Alyssa Pitman, will be hosting parent/child time at the farm on Fridays with a nature school type curriculum. Stay tuned to our Instagram this week for a way to sign up as space is limited.

~ We are still in the planning process of some pretty cool events and opportunities to celebrate being in business for a decade now.

~If you are growing any of your own seeds, now is the time to start your perennial herbs, flowering sweet peas and parsley!

VISIT CEDAR ROCK GARDENS HERE

Okay now that all that good stuff is out of the way I can dwell for a minute on the fact that we are celebrating 10 years in business this year with a trip down memory lane for anyone that wonders how it all began.

I was just recently speaking to a dear friend of mine who has started a farm in New Mexico. They had an intense year of natural catastrophes between fire and floods on their farm. We were lamenting on the past season and I relayed some advice I didn’t even know I had stored.

‘You have to figure out a way to put the prior season’s emotions and climate induced trauma behind you in order to continue successfully into a new season of growing.”

After the words came out of my mouth I thought more about the statement and realized how often I have done this without realizing it. We definitely keep notes and knowledge on what worked well and didn’t, and why we will continue planting certain varieties over others and what we need to do to successfully grow arugula among a large population of flea beetles. All these things are in our control, and mistakes we make simply because we are human and can forgive ourselves for it and move on. But each year there are things completely out of our control that happen that reduce our ability to grow which in turn has steep effects on our business and naturally effects us emotionally. We need to figure out a way to mitigate the effects of climate and economic changes and then let the emotions and trauma of those things fall off us so we can clearly see forward into doing it all again. Farmers are a crazy sort, but growing food and plants is our life and we have to push forward somehow.

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WINTER ROBINS IN THE HOOD AND BEST PHOTOBOMB!

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The “winter” Robins are all about, some in flocks of only Robins; other flocks comprised of Starlings and Cedar Waxwings. Here in Essex County the flocks are traveling from neighborhood to neighborhood, devouring fruits and berries of the winterberry bushes, holly, crabapple, and cedar trees, before moving onto the next smorgasbord.

American Robins and Winterberry

Read more here – Robins in Winter

 

LINK TO WCVB CHRONICLE PIPING PLOVER AND MONARCH EPISODE! #ploverjoyed #sharetheshore #plantandtheywillcome

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New England residents and nonprofits work to save threatened species

https://www.wcvb.com/article/new-england-residents-and-nonprofits-work-to-save-threatened-species/41915984

Climate concerns growing for the future of many migratory species.

We travel all over coastal Massachusetts to learn about a few local “indicator species,” which can help explain the impact of climate change. Award-winning documentarian Kim Smith tells us the story of piping plovers breeding in Massachusetts.

The City of Cambridge raises monarch butterflies for release.

Every year, hundreds of sea turtles are stranded on the Cape. The New England Aquarium’s sea turtle hospital comes to the rescue.

Meanwhile, terrapin turtles on the Cape are struggling to survive.

In Plymouth at Manomet, researchers monitor coastal health, tag songbirds, and study the presence of a mighty migratory shorebird – the whimbrel.

And scientists at Nature and students at Bristol Aggie examine the health of river herring in the Taunton River watershed.

KIM SMITH FILMS ON CHRONICLE, WCVB CHANNEL 5, “WILDLIFE WORRIES” NOVEMBER 9TH, TONIGHT!

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Hello Friends,

Our beloved Piping Plovers and Monarchs are going to be featured on an episode of Chronicle this evening. “Wildlife Worries” is devoted entirely to indicator species including not only Monarchs and PiPls, but also Whimbrels, tiny terrapins, and more. The show airs tonight at 7:30pm on Chronicle, WCVB, channel 5.

Several months ago, I met with the outstanding Chronicle producer, Sangita Chandra, and the show’s stellar videographer, Jennifer Platt-Ure. Originally Sangita was looking for footage of Monarchs and PiPls, but then decided to include an interview from a filmmaker’s perspective. The interview was filmed at Winthrop Shores Reservation as it was a convenient location, and also the charming cafe, Piccolo Piatti. It was a joy working with Sangita as she has a keen interest in wildlife conservation. The show promises to be wonderfully educational. I can’t wait to watch the part about the whimsical Whimbrels and turtles, in addition to the PiPls and butterflies!

Chronicle writes, “New England wouldn’t be New England without the shore birds, butterflies, and turtles that spend part of the year here. These and other local creatures are considered ‘indicator species’ that also help us understand the impact of habitat loss and climate change. Tonight we get up close to giant sea turtles and tiny terrapins, whimbrels and piping plovers, and meet the people committed to protecting them.” 
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Included in that group – a park ranger who raises butterflies, a documentary filmmaker, and high schoolers studying river herring. Many thanks to our videography team – Bob Oliver, Jennifer Platt-Ure, and Rich Ward and to editor Ellen Boyce. Hope you enjoy the program! 

Thank you so much for watching!

Warmest wishes, xxKim

 

BEAUTY ON THE WING WINS BEST DOCUMENTARY!

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Dear Monarch Friends,

I am delighted (and very surprised) to share that Beauty on the Wing: Life Story of the Monarch Butterfly has won Best Documentary at the San Diego International Children’s Film Festival. I write surprised as there were many beautiful films from around the world participating in the festival, and also because I wasn’t even aware we had been nominated for the award. My sincerest thanks and gratitude to SDIKFF!

Yesterday there were a number of Monarchs out on Eastern Point nectaring at wildflowers and in my garden. It was magical that we learned of the award on the same day as seeing these stragglers. We were celebrating Dia de Muertos here on Plum Street, and on this very same day, November 2nd, Monarchs were spotted arriving at Cerro Pelon and El Rosario Monarch Butterfly sanctuaries. Joel Moreno and his family at Cerro Pelon JM Butterfly BandB spotted the Monarchs traveling high in the sky in the upper thermals while my friend David Hernandez reports that at El Rosario, they are flying low on the mountain.

The wings of the butterfly in the upper photo appear as though they have been snipped by birds while the butterfly’s wings in the second photo are pristine.

Will the stragglers that we see at this time of year be able to travel the roughly 3,000 mile journey all the way to Mexico? I don’t know the answer to that question but we can make a guess that if a butterfly looks weather worn, with torn and tattered wings, it is unlikely that it will be able to complete the journey. On the other hand, some of these late Monarchs that we are seeing look as though they just eclosed (hatched) hours earlier. Their wings are a vibrant orange and black and are completely unscathed. Some butterflies will be funneled between the Appalachian and Great Rockies while others are destined to follow the Atlantic coastline, traveling towards Florida and the Gulf of Mexico states.Safe travels Monarca, wherever you land!

I hope you are able to get out and enjoy this extraordinarily lovely stretch of balmy weather we are having.

Warmest wishes,

xxKim

 

 

 

WHY NILES POND IS VITALLY IMPORTANT TO CAPE ANN’S ECOSYSTEM AND WHAT IS BEING DONE TO PROTECT THE CAUSEWAY

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Repair work to the Niles Pond/Brace Cove berm was completed last week. Severe storms over the past several years had breached the area of the Pond adjacent to the Retreat House. Sand, rocks, popples, and even boulders have been pushed by the pounding surf into the Pond.

Despite the excellent repairs, this corner of Niles Pond continues to remain vulnerable. The causeway needs not only to be repaired, but to also be rebuilt to withstand future storms and rising sea level.

Why not just let nature take its course and let the sea pour in you may ask? Won’t Niles Pond eventually become a saltwater marsh? Wouldn’t that be a good thing?

The answer is a resounding NO!

For readers not familiar, the very narrow strip of land that runs between freshwater Niles Pond and Brace Cove is interchangeably referred to as a berm or causeway. This narrowest bridge of land plays an outsized, yet invaluable, role in preventing the salty sea of the Atlantic from swallowing Niles Pond.

It is believed that long ago Niles Pond was a lagoon, which was sealed off by rising sand and rock. Over time, it became a freshwater pond, fed by springs and rainfall. The detail of the Mason map from 1831 clearly shows the division between the Pond and the Cove.

It can’t be overstated enough how uniquely invaluable is the ecosystem created by the causeway, this juncture where Niles Pond meets Brace Cove. Ponds are widely regarded as ecological “hotspots,” for the diversity of life they support. Nowhere is that more evident than at Niles Pond. The sheer number of species of wildlife supported by Niles Pond is simply breathtaking. To name but a few: Painted Turtles, Snapping Turtles, Spring Peepers, American Bullfrogs, Leopard Frogs, Muskrats, Minks, Red Squirrels, Green Herons, Little Blue Herons, Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Great Blue Herons, Black-crowned Night Herons, Screech Owls and Barred Owls, Cedar Waxwings and songbirds of every tune and color, Honeybees and native pollinators, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Coyotes, Red Fox, White-tailed Deer … the list goes on and on.

Common Buckeye drinking nectar from Seaside Goldenrod, Niles Pond causeway

The Niles Pond ecosystem not only supports myriad species of resident wildlife but also hundreds of species of migrating songbirds, waterbirds, raptors, and insects. Eastern Point is an important stopover and staging area for wildlife traveling the Atlantic flyway. Niles Pond provides essential freshwater while both the Pond and Brace Cove provide much needed sustenance. Berries, wildflower seeds, pond vegetation, and the zillions of invertebrates found at the Pond, in the seaweed, and at the shoreline support a wondrous array of travelers; a small sampling includes herons, Merlins, hawks, songbirds, Monarch butterflies, Bald Eagles, gulls and ducks and geese (rare and common), Snow Buntings, Plovers, Whimbrels, and many more.

Monarch Butterfly drinking nectar Smooth Asters Niles Pond

Juvenile Wood Stork

Why, even the wildly-rare-for-these-parts White Pelican and juvenile Wood Stork have stopped at Niles Pond to rest and to refuel!

To lose Niles Pond to some misguided notion that it needs to become a saltwater marsh would be tragic beyond measure. Our nation as a whole is losing its freshwater ponds at an alarming rate. Ponds are absolutely critical to the survival of local and migrating wildlife, especially large scale, healthy natural ponds that are located within the four US Flyway zones. Niles Pond has been a great pond for millennia. The accessibility of the fresh water ecosystem found at Niles Pond is part of the instinctual DNA of both resident and migrating wild creatures.

The Association of Eastern Point Residents has assumed responsibility for the maintenance of the causeway. In the future, the Association needs permission to bring riprap in to distribute at the weakest points of the causeway. Every time the topography of the causeway is redistributed to rebuild the corner where the greatest number of breaches are occurring, the vegetation from another part of the berm is disturbed. This is wholly counterproductive because it is in part preventing a natural succession of vegetation to permanently take hold.

Migrating yellow-rumped Warbler Niles Pond

Niles Pond is enjoyed by dog lovers, ice skaters, ice boat sailors, birders, painters, photographers, joggers, walkers, and more. We can all give thanks to the Association of Eastern Point Residents for the stellar job they are doing in maintaining the causeway. Their time and expense is a gift of the greatest kind to the entire community.

This narrowest of causeways plays the critical role in preventing a freshwater dedicated Massachusetts great pond from becoming a salty marsh or lagoon. Cherished greatly by residents and guests alike for the beautiful, peaceful walk it affords along the banks of the Pond, the preservation of Niles Pond benefits all of Cape Ann, her citizens and wildlife. 

With thanks to Karen Gorczyca, John McNiff, and Mike S. for sharing information about preserving the Niles Pond causeway.

American Bullfrog Niles Pond

Cattails Niles Pond

 

YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS EATING POISON IVY

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All around Cape Ann, from West Gloucester to East, from Cape Hedge to Good Harbor to Cox Reservation, I have been checking out the Poison Ivy patches and sure enough, there are Yellow-rumped Warblers relishing the white waxy fruits at every locale. Who knew it was a thing 🙂 And now I have a new favorite species to add to the long list of beloved wild creatures.

According to Cornell, Yellow-rumped Warblers are the only warbler able to digest the waxes found in Wax Myrtle and Bayberries. This ability to digest waxy fruit allows the Yellow-rumped Warbler to winter as far north as Newfoundland.

Yellow -rumped warblers are versatile foragers. They eat insects in the spring, summer, and when available. You may see them picking at insects on washed up seaweed. During migration and the winter months, their habit is to eat Poison Ivy fruits, grapes, Wax Myrtle, Bayberries, Virginia Creeper berries, dogwood fruits, and Juniper berries. Yellow-rumped Warblers also eat goldenrod seeds and beach grass seed, and if you are fortunate to have them at your feeder, provide Sunflowers seeds, raisins, peanut butter, and suet.

The Yellow-rumped Warblers have been dining on PI fruits for over a month. As autumn has unfolded, I’ve added new clips to the short film below. Filmed from mid-September to mid-October I see no signs of the feast abating as there is still plenty of fruit around. More photos to come when I have time to sort though.

See a story form March of this year, Yellow-rumped Warblers in the Snow.

For more about Poison Ivy, and the myriad species of wildlife this native vine supports, go here:

Leaves of Three, Let it Be

Please join the Town Green and the Save Salt Island Group for what promises to be a fantastic virtual webinar and workshop on the ecosystem of. Good Harbor Beach.

Event: The first of a three-part workshop/webinar series focusing on the Good Harbor Beach ecosystem: Protecting and Preserving the Good Harbor Beach Ecosystem for Current and Future Generations

When: Wednesday, October 26th from 6:30-8:30pm on Zoom (register here) (https://bit.ly/3RBEa3v)

What: An online workshop/webinar with several small group breakout sessions for participants to discuss the issues raised and reflect on the changes that have already happened

Speakers include:

  • Professor Charles Waldheim from the Harvard Graduate School of Design
  • Jayne Knott, TownGreen board member and founder of HydroPredictions
  • Denton Crews from Friends of Good Harbor
  • Mary Ellen Lepionka, local historian

You will learn about:

  • The history of Good Harbor Beach
  • The Good Harbor Beach ecosystem and current climate threats
  • Incremental sea level rise, flooding, ecosystem adaptation, and vulnerable infrastructure
  • The Great Storm scenario based on research from Harvard Graduate School of Design

 The first workshop will be followed by a Good Harbor Beach field trip on October 27th to tour vulnerable areas identified in the workshop. The second and third workshop/webinars will address adaptation options and project planning for the Good Harbor Beach area. The Good Harbor Beach ecosystem workshop/webinar series is a pilot public education program that TownGreen will replicate to focus on climate impacts in Essex, Manchester-by-the-Sea, and Rockport.

Jayne F. Knott, Ph.D.

JFK Environmental Services LLC

https://HydroPredictions.com

jfknott@hydropredictions.com

508-344-2831

BEAUTIFUL BUCKEYES!

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A truly glorious weekend weather-wise with warm sun, mild temperatures, beautiful sunrises and sunsets. There are still loads of butterflies on the wing. Saturday was a five species afternoon, not an everyday occurrence in mid-October on Cape Ann. Monarchs were on the move, along with American Ladies, Clouded Sulphurs, Orange Sulphurs, and one of my favorites, the wholly uncommon, Common Buckeye. The gloriously patterned 3 pairs of eyespots of the Common Buckeye are meant to frighten avian predators, a scary six-eyed monster if you will, but we humans find them enchanting.

Each summer Common Buckeyes emigrate to New England from southern states. Some years we see many more than others. It’s always a delight to come upon one and I typically find them at the edge of a marsh nectaring at Seaside Goldenrod or basking in the sun on a sandy path.

Underwing (ventral) view of Common Buckeye

To see a photo collection and short film of some of October’s most commonly seen butterflies go here –

A MINI- GLOSSARY OF LATE SUMMER BUTTERFLIES

Buckeyes begin around 2:40

Common Buckeye Larval Host Plants

Female Common Buckeyes deposit their eggs on a variety of plants, both native and non-native.

Caterpillar food plants from Mass Audubon –

Many documented. In the Northeast, larvae usually feed on “members of the snapdragon family (and) plantain family” (Opler and Krizek, 1984), including Blue Toadflax (Linaria canadensis); False Foxglove and gerardias (Gerardia, species), plantains (Plantago, sp.), and Snapdragon (Antirrhinum). Buckeye larvae have been observed in Massachusetts on Butter and eggs (Linaria vulgaris) and Slender Gerardia (Gerardia tenuifolia)

And from The Butterflies of Massachusetts

Today, lacking such an abundance of gerardia, Common Buckeye’s most usual host plant in Massachusetts may be Plantago lanceolata, or lance-leaved plantain, a widespread non-native weed introduced with the arrival of European settlers.  The 1990-95 Connecticut Atlas workers observed Buckeye ovipositing on lance-leaved plantain in the wild, and the caterpillars have been successfully raised on it many times, for example by caterpillar photographer Sam Jaffe in July 2011.  Buckeyes have been observed in the wild ovipositing on the native purslane speedwell (Veronica peregrina) (S. Jaffe 6/21/2011), and on the non-native butter-and-eggs (Linaria vulgaris) (M. Champagne 7/14/2008).  They are also reported to use blue toadflax (Linaria canadensis), slender gerardia (Agalinis tenuifolia), and sometimes non-native garden snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus) (Scott 1986).

Common Buckeye and Painted Lady

RESPLENDENT MONARCH MIGRATION

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Dear Monarch Friends,

This new short, titled Resplendent Monarch Migration, features Monarchs during the late summer southward migration. Also highlighted are some of the more commonly seen butterflies of late summer, including the American Lady, the spectacular Common Buckeye (2:53), Pearl Crescent, Yellow Sulphur, and American Copper. The flora seen includes New England Asters, Seaside Goldenrod, Tall Goldenrod, Smooth Aster (pale lavender), and Common Milkweed. When you plant for the butterflies, they will come!

At 3:30 you can see a small overnight roost beginning to form. As the sun sets, particularly on chilly or windy evenings, Monarchs head for the trees. One by one they fly in, some settling quickly, others restless and shifting to a more preferable spot. By nightfall, all are tucked into the sheltering boughs of the Black Cherry tree. (4:15).

With the warming rays of Sun’s first light, the Monarchs begin to awaken (4:20). If it’s cold and windy they”ll stay a bit longer but typically, the butterflies either float down to the wildflowers in the marsh below, or in the case of this particular roost at Eastern Point, the Monarchs wasted no time and quickly departed. They flew directly south towards Boston by first traveling along the length of the Dogbar Breakwater before heading out to sea (4:30).

It took patience (and a lot of luck) to capture the butterfly heading up into the clouds (5:44). I wanted to share the imagery of the scale of a tiny speck of a creature juxtaposed against the vastness of sea and sky. Imagine, a butterfly that weighs less than a paper clip, journeys 2500 miles to the trans Mexican volcanic mountaintops.

Safe travels oh resilient one!

I have received a number of requests for Monarch footage. I cannot lend the footage from my documentary, Beauty on the Wing: Life Story of the Monarch Butterfly, currently airing on PBS however, this past summer, I spent time shooting butterflies in my garden, butterflies in pollinator gardens that I have designed for clients, and at our local marshes and meadows. All the footage was shot in beautiful 4k, which is what organizations are requesting.

Several weeks ago I posted Monarchs and Friends in the Summer Garden and you can see that here. This short features butterflies you may typically see in mid-summer drinking nectar alongside Monarchs.

Cast, in order of appearance:

Monarch Butterfly

Hoverfly

Clouded Sulphur

Autumn Meadowhawk Dragonfly

American Copper

American Lady

Pearl Crescent

Common Buckeye

 

 

 

GOOD MORNING MONARCHS! – CAPE ANN MONARCH MIGRATION UPDATE

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Monarchs awakening in the morning sun

Compared to year’s past, the 2022 fall southward migration has been a relatively quiet year (so far) for Monarchs traveling through Cape Ann. That is not to say we won’t see another batch or two coming through, but for the most part, we did not have the spectacular roosts that we have seen in some year’s past. We had many travelers flying through during the month of September, but the conditions were favorable and they kept moving along at a steady pace.

I found several roosts in late September. On one evening, the wind was blowing hard from the northwest and the Monarchs were clustered tightly on the east facing side of the tree, to get out of the wind. I didn’t notice the silhouette of Monarch arcs until twilight and counted a dozen or so Monarch arcs.

The golden morning sun revealed several hundred butterflies! It was a joy to see them stirring and fluttering in the dawn light.

Upon awakening, the butterflies didn’t spend any time drinking nectar from the wildflower meadow below as they often do, but headed straight out over the Dogbar Breakwater.

Although Cape Ann has not seen many large roosts this season, two Monarch staging areas, Cape May, New Jersey and Point Pelee, Ontario are both having spectacular migrations!! Monarchs gather at  the Point Pelee peninsula before crossing over Lake Erie into Ohio. Likewise, the butterflies stage at Cape May before crossing the Delaware Bay. The butterflies wait for favorable winds to help carry them across bodies of water.

Point Pelee

Cape May (red star)