Category Archives: #plantandtheywillcome

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.

How to Grow Fresh Flowers All Season! (with a take-home plantng guide)

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Message from my friend Elise at Cedar Rock Gardens –

Planting a cut flower garden: How to have fresh blooms all season with a take home planting guide.

Hello!

As the season winds down on the seedling side of our business – the field and greenhouse crops really start to ramp up. We are currently harvesting cucumbers, eggplant, kale, chard, cherry tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, many greens, onions, herbs and flowers among other things. I am hoping you are all having success with your gardens also despite the blistering heat we have had lately. Heres to hoping this next forecasted rain will actually amount to something??

Most of you know this already but Tucker and I started Cedar Rock Gardens initially as a cut flower farm back in 2014. We had success in that venture but it slowly turned into what it is today which is a robust seedling operation alongside a diversified vegetable, herb and flower farm. The flowers have not been lost on us though. I still find my creative outlet each week lies happily with the small amount of bouquets I get to make for our wholesale accounts and for my own kitchen table. We were selling cut flowers to the Boston Flower exchange as well as to many florists locally and even dabbled in wedding arrangements for a short time. It was a labor of love for a while and then we decided to move in a different direction to focus on edible crops.

Alas, flowers still have my heart and I am very excited to share my knowledge with you. Join me this Thursday evening at Cedar Rock Gardens for a cut flower course sponsored by Gloucester SaLT. We will cover some tried and true varieties from seed to bouquet visiting on succession planting and planting layout. This course is specifically designed for home gardeners who want to make the most out of limited space. You will be able to take home a plating guide and I will do my best to answer any questions you have. The course is free and I am happily donating my time – if you get something out of it or just feel generous you can donate to SaLT Here.

Please respond to this email if you do plan to attend so I can have a better idea on how much I need to psych myself up to speak to a crowd. I also need a general count for hand-outs.

Currently we are open:
Thursday to Saturday 8 am to 4 pm

Hope you are having a wonderful summer!

We will continue to be set up at the Farmer’s Market at Burnhams Field in Gloucester every Wednesday from 2:30 to 6:30 selling our produce.

All the best,

Elise Smith
CedarRockGardens@gmail.com

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.

Beautiful Black Swallowtails!

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These newly emerged Black Swallowtail Butterflies in our garden are both females. You can easily see the difference between Black Swallowtail males and females.

The females have a great deal more of the sparkly blue iridescent wing scales, while the males have many more yellow spots.

 

Female Black Swallowtails

Male Black Swallowtail

Charlotte discovered the caterpillars on fennel plants at Cedar Rock Gardens. Black Swallowtail females deposit their eggs on members of the Carrot Family including dill, fennel, parsley, Queen Anne’s Lace, and parsnips.

No, That is Not a Monarch Caterpillar on Your Fennel! And Happy Pollinator’s Week

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Earlier in the week Charlotte and I stopped by Cedar Rock Gardens for their ongoing 25% off all plants sale. We paused near the fennel plants when Charlottes asked, “is that a Monarch caterpillar on the fennel?” A teeny, tiny yellow, green, and black caterpillar was tucked in, sleeping in the foliage. She found two more so we purchased all three plants. Little did she know, that question is similar to one of the most frequently viewed posts on my website “No, that is not a Monarch Caterpillar on Your Parsley Plant!”

Black Swallowtail caterpillar recently molted with discarded skin

Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) caterpillars, especially in their early instars, are easily mistaken for the yellow, white, and black caterpillars of the Monarch butterfly. Butterflies oviposit their eggs on specific plants to their specific species. These plants are called larval host plants, in other words, caterpillar food plants. Monarchs only deposit eggs on plants in the milkweed family ( Asclepiadoideae) while Black Swallowtail females only deposit eggs on members of the carrot family (Apiaceae). Plants in the carrot family include dill, parsley, fennel, carrots, parsnips, and Queen Anne’s Lace. In days gone by, the Black Swallowtail was commonly referred to as the Parsnip Butterfly.

You will never see a Monarch caterpillar on fennel or parsley. Conversely, you will never see a Black Swallowtail caterpillar on your milkweed plants 🙂

Yellow, white, and black striped Monarch Caterpillar on Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)

Yellow, green, and black striped and dotted Black Swallowtail caterpillar on fennel plant

Cedar Rock Gardens is located at 299 Concord Street in West Gloucester. For more information, visit their website here.

Happy Summer Solstice and Happy Pollinators Week!

MONARCH ALERT! #plantandtheywillcome

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This past week, Monarchs have been spotted at my friend Patti’s garden in East Gloucester, at Wolf Hill Garden Center, and in our garden. I was overjoyed to see she was a female, depositing eggs on the tender new foliage of Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca).

Please write and let us know when you see your first Monarch. Thank you!

Wolf Hill is carrying a fabulous array of native plants, including both A. syriaca and Butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa).

Monarch egg – a miniature golden dome, the size of a pinhead

How to tell the Difference Between a Male and Female Hummingbird

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This past week we have had a mini entourage of three male Ruby-throated Hummingbirds vying for the affections of one female.  We think the boys have moved on but she has stayed. This is not unusual behavior. If she mated with one, which I think I saw but it was so fast I am not really certain, she will then build a nest and raise the youngsters all on her own.

In one clip, the hummingbird is cleaning it’s bill, in another, the female is going pooh. As you may or may not know, the male Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are easy to spot as they have the red gorget (pronounced GOR-jit) throat feathers. When light hits the iridescent feathers, the gorget lights up a brilliant red, otherwise, the gorget looks like a deep brown throat patch. The female’s throat is the same color as her breast feathers. You can see the female at 1:05. All the other clips are of the boys.

 

Beautiful, Beautiful Orioles and Don’t Forget to Set Out Orange Halves!

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Currently in our garden and fields we are seeing Baltimore Orioles, Orchard Orioles, and new to my eyes, an immature male Orchard Oriole that has not yet grown into his adult plumage.

Baltimore Orioles finding nectar and insects in the crabapple trees. Love watching them hang every which way to poke at the blossoms.Immature Male Orchard Oriole

Orchard Oriole

Baltimore Orioles (and Catbird) in our garden

 

Tomatoes, peppers and eggplant, Oh My!

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From Cedar Rock Gardens – New Date For Warm Weather Plants Release!

Tomato Release Day with many other warm weather seedlings is now May 18th!
A list of what we will be growing this season is updated on our website

Good morning to all my plant loving friends!

We hope you are enjoying this spring so far. We have had some ups and downs with the weather and we are very skeptical of the night temps as a result of the late frost here last year (May 18th!). It seems though that we have a good run of temps all this week and the soil is beginning to warm substantially – all our crops in the ground have just recently started taking off!

With a very mild winter and a long winded spring it has been a funny season so far in terms of “waking up”. Which has made everything seem to really fly by and here we are already in May! As we hurdle towards Memorial Day we are changing over our cool weather selection of plants to our warm weather selection of plants – TOMATO RELEASE DAY WILL NOW BE MAY 18th. We have volleyed a bit on the date of our warm weather plant release because it really does not do the plants any good to go into the ground too early, in fact sometimes it stunts them or sets them up for unnecessary foliage disease due to being cold and wet. To our happy surprise though the Gingo trees and grape vines are starting to set their leaves and that is a very good indication that we are safe from nights that will be too cold and set our plants back. That being said we will still be holding off planting our own fruiting plants outside for another week or so just as an added precaution but some of you are in warmer micro climates or have raised beds and pots that will have fresh soil/compost in them that will be warmer than the ground so we will be ready for you on Saturday with all our warm weather seedlings.
These include:
Tomatoes
Peppers
EggplantsThe rest of our flowers and herbs

We will be making a game time decision on the zinnias, basil, cucumbers and squash because those guys really can’t do with any chilly weather – so if the 5 day forecast after Saturday looks promising they will be available on the 18th too – otherwise we may wait another week on them.

All will be available on a first come first served basis till we sell out.

After 11 seasons of experience of growing our own food on the farm and selling seedlings to our customers we really try to make sure we stay true to what makes a healthy plant. There is always a huge pull to put plants out earlier and earlier each year and it has become a great teaching moment for new gardeners. Weather and soil temperature play a huge role in a healthy plants and a successful garden. We get asked frequently why we don’t have tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers available sooner in the season and the short answer is because it is bad business. We love what we do and we love the plants we grow and we refrain from doing what “everybody else does” because that is what sets us apart. We truly appreciate that you shop with us and support us in these decisions and continue to trust us to grow the best possible plants to be planted under the best possible scenarios, so you get to reap the best possible rewards! Plants are alive – they do not just come off the shelf for sale because a certain date has occurred – they must be big enough and hardy enough to deal with our New England growing conditions. Our list of available plants is fully updated on our website for you to look through.

We will be closed on Friday, May 17th to haul all the seedlings up to the nursery in preparation for Saturday. We will be opened on Saturday 8am to 4 pm and Sunday 8 am to 4 pm and resume regular business hours the rest of the season till mid-June 7 days a week.

We have our potting station set up at the entrance to the nursery. You are welcome to bring your own pot to fill with soil and plant here or purchase a pot here to fill and plant. We have a great organic soil mix in the bin with a little Vermont compost and pro grow mixed in and you are charged by the gallon.

Online Orders will be turned off as of noon today May 13th. All shopping will be in person only at the nursery during business hours for the remainder of the season. Thank you to all those that have put in pre orders – I would love your feedback on how that worked for you and if you found it convenient or unnecessary. Pick-ups for the warm weather seedling pre orders begins on Monday, May 20th and ends June 10th. We originally slated pick-ups to begin on May 27th but we will move it up a week for anyone that is ready. Again, this option was available so you can get your seedlings at a time when your soil is ready for plants so you do not feel rushed to get here before we sell out of anything you want. If you did pre-order and your soil is chilly or you live right on the ocean please wait to pick up your seedlings and let us keep them warm and happy in the greenhouse a little longer. Remember they are still growing in their pots so you will not miss out on grow time just because they are not in the ground.

We are harvesting spinach and radish from the field today and will have it bagged and washed and up in the check out booth this weekend for sale. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with any questions you have on garden planning or plant varieties.

Wishing you all the best and happy planting!

Elise, Tuck and the Cedar Rock Crew

HUMMINGBIRD ALERT!

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A newly arrived female Ruby-throated Hummingbird has been frequenting our garden since the last day of April! She has been stopping to drink nectar from the flowering Japanese Quince ‘Toyo-Nishiki’ and visiting the hummingbird feeder.

Please write if you have been graced by one of these little beauties yet this spring <3

 

Happy Earth Day feat. the Carolina Wren and why we LoVe leaf litter!

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Joy in the wild garden- What fun to observe our resident Carolina Wren vigorously tossing leaves around while looking for insects. Just one in a million reasons why we leave leaves on the ground, and don’t cut down expired flower stalks. Leaf debris and stalks create the ideal inset habitat, and insects are the number one food for birds during the breeding season. Songbirds need the extra protein to make eggs and keep their young well-fed. 

 

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

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

 

HAPPY BLUE JAY, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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Happy New Year! Wishing you much joy and positivity in the coming year.

While standing stone still filming the ‘winter’ Robins in the garden this morning, our elusive Blue Jay friend stopped by for his usual breakfast of black-oil sunflower seeds. He’s very camera shy and always skedaddles off if he sees me trying to film him. I was standing so still he did not notice me this time and I was able to capture more than just his little butt flying away.

I associate Blue Jays with positivity and think of them as a good omen. Thank you Mr. Blue Jay for making my New Year’s Day. And now you’ll have good luck, too 🙂

 

So interesting, I read that the pigment in a Blue Jays feathers are melanin, which is brown. The blue is caused by scattering light through the surface of special cells on the feather barbs.

Blue Jays at my friend Paul’s sunflower field, at Felix’s Family Farm in Ipswich

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!

 

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.

MONARCH STRAGGLER ON CAPE ANN WHILE BUTTERFLIES ARRIVE TO THEIR MEXICAN WINTERING GROUNDS

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As Monarchs are beginning to arrive at the butterfly sanctuaries in Mexico, one more was spotted in our garden, intently fortifying for the long journey south. I am so thankful to the friend who gave me a clump of these old-fashioned pass-along daisies. The asters and goldenrods have turned to seed but the Korean Daisies are still going strong, providing nectar to the late, late stragglers.

Monarchs oftentimes, but not always, arrive at the sanctuaries around the time when Dia de Muertos is celebrated. In the language of indigenous Purépecha, a group centered in Michoacán (one of the states where the Monarchs overwinter), the name for the Monarch is the “Harvester.”Coronas de flores (crown of flowers) are replaced each year during the Day of the Dead – photo credit from the Moreno Family

Notes from Butterflies and Their People and the Moreno Family, November 3, 2023

We’re so happy to share the good news, just one day after Day of the Dead, It was 12:52 pm when Pato Moreno sent us a message saying they (BTP Guardians and CEPANAF Rangers) spotted the first monarch, and one hour later they’ve counted around 27.
Meanwhile in Macheros, Joel Moreno saw around 8 butterflies while he was staying on the rooftop at the B&B.

Also one of my sisters, Oralia Moreno, went to Zitacuaro and on the way back she saw at least 5 butterflies in a place called Rosa Santa, just like 20 minutes away from us, it was around 12:30 pm. (She came back to the village at 12:58 pm that’s when she told us she saw them).
The temperature right now is 63.8 F / 17.6°C.

Map of the places mentioned in the post

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.