Royalty has Returned to Fort Morgan!

Backyard Butterflies

The Monarchs have returned, and it is a regal reunion!  Last evening they ‘roosted’ in my backyard, somewhat protected from the cold north gales blowing autumn into Lower Alabama, and I was mesmerized.

I noticed them hovering near the clothesline as I gathered the sheets and towels at dusk, then I realized they were fighting to land in the tufts of new growth at the ends of the pine branches.

Against the wind

Looking closer I saw they were hanging from all the branches between my house and the  trees along the lagoon. They weren’t easy to see in the scrub oak trees, so it’s possible they’ve stopped here in the past and I didn’t notice the Monarch Motel in my own backyard.

Where's Waldo?

As the sun dropped into the bay, they folded their wings and stopped jostling for position. They were almost invisible from the ground.

In for a landing

But I was back when the sun came up this morning and I watched as the rays warmed them, one by one, and they glided from their perches in search of blooms to fuel their long flight across the gulf. It is the most amazing journey.

http://www.monarch-butterfly.com/monarch-migration.html

Morning flight

As I write, there are dozens fluttering across my yard, all traveling to the west. Some pause briefly at one of the few flowers surviving the drought… what I wouldn’t give for a field of milkweed today.

Sun salute

They have only been here for a few days and I’ve already seen many, many more than last fall. Perhaps there are even more to come?

I couldn’t find any parsley plants in town for the Swallowtails hanging around last week, and there’s not much I can do for the Fritillaries that ravaged my Passion vines and left without a ‘Thank You’ back in August.

 

Fritillary by Janice Neitzel from Janice4sandyshores.wordpress.com

The very hungry caterpillars

I wonder what Monarch’s like for breakfast, and I wonder what’s blooming at Lowes?

 

Breakfast?

Not lovin’ those Love Bugs

Love Bugs in Lower Alabama

 

They didn’t visit this spring, kinda surprising because they are generally attracted to exhaust fumes and we did have that little oil spill this year…   But they’re here now. 

I can’t open the front door without admitting a few of the pesky insects and they are messy hood ornaments on my little hybrid because they hover near roads & highways in their blind passionate embrace. Splat. 

But local residents know the real danger from these bugs is in the damage to your car. 

So I ‘Googled’ the bugs to find the best soap to use to wash them away before the goo eats through the finish on the hood of my car, and I found a funny Urban Myth on Snopes.com. Evidently there are people who believe these bugs were accidentally released into the wild by the University of Florida after a mosquito control experiment gone bad. 

But the experts say the Love Bug (Plecia nearctica), is a member of the family of march flies and it is also known as the honeymoon fly. It was accidentally introduced from Central America by boat, much like its’ nasty cousin, the Fire Ant (I have 5 blisters on my foot tonite from a confrontation in the yard yesterday). 

According to the University of Florida’s website, 

Origins. Contrary to popular belief, this insect was not introduced to the state by the University of Florida. Over the course of the twentieth century, lovebugs migrated from Central America, traveling through Texas and Louisiana to get to Florida.

Attractants. Lovebugs are attracted to diesel and gasoline exhaust fumes. Hot engines and the vibrations of automobiles apparently contribute to the attraction of lovebugs to highways.

Active times. Lovebugs are usually active between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., in temperatures above 84°F.

Mating season. Each generation lasts about four weeks in May and September. Typically there are two main generations during this time, but the insects can be seen throughout the summer.

Problems. Large numbers of lovebugs can reduce visibility, etch automobile paint, and cause liquid-cooled engines to overheat.

Solutions. Within about twenty minutes after a lovebug-filled drive, wash your car with water for about five minutes and then scrub it to remove most of the lovebugs without harm to automobile paint. A hood air deflector or screen will reduce the number of spattered lovebugs on your car.

Pesticides. Chemical controls are ineffective, as the lovebug is widespread and continually drifts onto highways from adjacent areas.

Of course this could just be propaganda from the people who genetically engineered and then accidentally released those Love Bugs. They need to talk to the FDA  about that genetically engineered salmon they’re discussing this week…

Monarch Madness

Check your tags!

After banding birds this fall at Fort Morgan, marking monarchs would have been a natural segue. For the past week we have passed three bushes with butterflies hanging, like Tiffany ornaments, from the limbs.

Monarchs

Monarchs on Palmetto Dr

 It’s a mystery to me why the Monarchs prefer these three plants, identical to dozens we pass on our morning walk.

But it’s a bigger mystery how these great-grandchildren find their way back to their ancestor’s fall migration routes every year.

This is the 2009 Fall Migration map from Learner.Org and we are just past the peak dates for migration at this latitude. So it’s too late for me to tag butterflies this year, but the migration rates and routes can be tracked here.

http://www.learner.org/jnorth/monarch/index.html

 

2009 Fall Monarch Migration Map from Learner.Org

 The process and goals of the Monarch taggers are very similar to that of the Bird/Hummer Study Group, but their volunteers include thousands of teachers, students and gardeners across the country.

Interested individuals can purchase a tagging kit from Monarch Watch with complete instructions for only $15.

http://www.monarchwatch.org/tagmig/index.htm

 

Although rain is in the forecast, it’s dry here so I am watering my garden to encourage my plants to flower, instead of wilt, in hopes of providing some food for the migrating butterflies

And I will dutifully check for tags on the unfortunate butterflies that do not survive the fierce north winds on the Gulf.

Fragile victim of the storm

The Mother of all Caterpillars

Life cycle of the Black Swallowtail Butterfly

A few weeks ago I noticed a caterpillar munching on my potted parsley. After identifying her as Black Swallowtail (how did I survive before Google?) I left her to her alone to graze in the sunshine. Evidently she chose to morph into a chrysalis nearby because only a week later I was privileged to watch as she warmed in the morning sun on bedding I was airing on the deck.

First Swallowtail

 

Days later I snipped some parsley as I prepared for Betsy’s visit, and I noticed little yellow dots on the leaves. I googled again, then tucked the leaves back in the parsley plant among the other Swallowtail eggs.  

Young Swallowtail caterpillars

When they hatched there were dozens of little black & white worms and they grew to fat caterpillars as they devoured the parsley. One evening I counted over 85 growing Swallowtails

 

After a few days I had to drive to town to search out organic parsley for my growing brood.

When I tried to gently transfer them they threatened me with orange forked antennae called osmeterium. (Apparently they smell awful to birds, but it’s not much of a deterrent to a determined ‘grandmother’.)

 

 

 

Swallowtails on parsley

One by one they dropped off the parsley and crawled away.

I was able to find about twenty and monitored them as each transformed into a chrysalis and braved the thunderstorms.

Swallowtail Chrysalis

And then last week they began to emerge – from everywhere!

I had Swallowtails sunning on the deck, on the steps, on the tomato plants, and on the chairs.

 

 So the cycle begins again (and the parsley is recovering nicely).

 

 

 But yesterday I saw little yellow eggs on one of the Passion Flower vines transplanted from Kentucky, and today I identified the hairy little caterpillars of the Gulf Fritillary butterfly…

Earth Day in Paradise!

I captured some images this week illustrating how we celebrate Earth Day every day in Fort Morgan…

Windy day for a walk

A little help in the garden

Water lillies after the drought

Luna rescued from the gale

Marsh hawk?

Prickley pear in bloom

Lizard love

What are you looking at?

 And our sunsets are magnificent…

What’s an Environmentalist to do?

In spite of the fact that Fort Morgan peninsula is famous for the fall migrations of hummingbirds, warblers, and grosbeaks… the mosquito remains our ‘Official Bird’.

The monarch and fritillary migrations are also tourist attractions, but the large population and variety of butterflies doesn’t touch that of the orthoptera here – the loathsome cockroach. I “bombed” the little storage building (where the hurricane shutters and beach toys are stored) for the third time and this morning I still found bugs in various stages of death & dying scattered around the floor. They are evidently immune to all three brands of insecticide sold at Lowes, damn!  And I’m told this mammoth is only one of the varieties we have happily cohabiting here; the Oriental, the German, the American, and the new Green Cuban… damn, again.

But this morning I came up the steps to find Sophie ‘on point’ on the deck. Thinking she was watching one of the migrating doves that have recently discovered the bird feeder, I came around the corner slowly to find she was pointing the window – or rather a 4-inch stink bug sitting on the screen. She gave up eventually and just laid down, and it flew away…. probably down to my little storage building with the roaches so I’ll have to deal with it tomorrow…

Enormous stink bug above Sophie

And those Love Bugs from Florida!!!