butterflies

Spring Gains Momentum

Rae Spencer9 Comments

Flower April 10

The yard overslept this year and still seems a bit sluggish. Even so, every day brings new manifestations of spring.

Bee April 10

Butterfly April 8

Wednesday was so warm that the flowers wilted mid-day. As sunset neared, the irises and roses wanted watering, so I turned on the hose and started working my way through the beds. Before long, I had company.

Duck April 10

I carried the hose to an area of the yard where water ponds easily and made them a nice puddle. They stayed until the water completely dried up, though the female duck enjoyed her visit more than the male.

Duck April 10

He spent most of the time keeping watch, muttering quiet complaints as she explored the puddle.

Duck April 10

Every year I find myself hoping the ducks will nest in one of our iris beds, but they never do. They prefer our neighbor’s azalea bed, and a quick glance at the sky shows why.

Osprey April 10

I doubt the osprey would bother a nesting duck, but I can’t blame the ducks for seeking denser cover. Perhaps I should go azalea shopping, this weekend…

Frost in the Forecast

Rae Spencer4 Comments

For me, winter starts when I cut the ginger lilies.

So today, even though it was warm enough to open the windows, winter arrived in the yard. Our forecast calls for temperatures near freezing Saturday night, and I didn’t want to risk losing any of the bulbs to frost.

As I worked my way through the tangle of stalks, I recovered three chimes that had broken off of a wind chime and two birdhouses that had fallen during one of the recent storms. Somehow, repairing the wind chime made me feel a little less guilty about the lingering scent of unfinished blooms.

The cats followed my progress, moving from window to window as I moved from bed to bed.

(Please excuse Vanna’s sour expression. She was trying to ignore the fact that there is room for two cats on that perch. Fortunately, a flock of robins arrived shortly after this picture was taken, providing a distraction from the uncomfortable standoff.)

The robins were soon joined by several warblers and a pair of hungry squirrels.

Today’s strangest sighting was this very disheveled red admiral butterfly. It seemed to be heading south, perhaps following the opposite path of spring’s massive red admiral migration.

Wherever it was going, I hope it gets there safely. And I hope it was able to pause, for a moment, and enjoy tonight’s beautiful sunset.

A Drive and A Walk

Rae Spencer5 Comments

It was a beautiful day for a drive. And for a walk through Huntsville Botanical Garden.

Monarch or Viceroy?

Rae Spencer4 Comments

Since monarch butterflies and viceroy butterflies are both rare in the yard, I haven’t had much practice identifying them. So when a gusty headwind forced this butterfly to perch on the deck this morning, I labelled the photos “Monarch” without paying much attention to the details. After a bit of research, I changed the label to viceroy. The broad stripe that crosses the hindwing’s network of other stripes seems to be the key.

What do you think? Monarch or viceroy?

Painted Lady Butterfly

Rae Spencer4 Comments

This Painted Lady butterfly visited the ginger lilies today. It ignored the new blooms, drinking instead from wilted, overripe flowers.

I wondered if the nectar might be fermenting. The butterfly certainly seemed to lose coordination, as it drank.

After fifteen or twenty minutes of steady feeding, the butterfly spent some time coiling and uncoiling its tongue, as if uncertain about what to do next. Then it sat perfectly still for a while.

When I moved to find a new angle, the butterfly startled and fell from its perch, catching itself upside down on a low hanging set of blooms. I would almost swear it hiccuped. Then it dropped into flight, fluttered sideways a few yards, and staggered off toward the north.