Just the back yard!? Nah, I want the front and side yards landscaped in natives too.



Monday, July 18, 2011

A Smattering of Butterflies

I've been meaning to post on this (and so many other things): I've noticed, this year, a huge lack of butterflies. It is not only me, but other members of Wildlife Gardeners have mentioned it as well.

Maybe the tide is starting to turn. Today I saw a tiger swallowtail and what may have been a red admiral. The other day I spotted what looked to be a monarch (finally), but it may have been a viceroy--it fluttered by too quickly for me to attempt an ID.

This time last year, our butterfly weed was full of quite a variety of species. That is one of the main purposes for this blog, for me to be able to look back from year to year and compare what we have and when.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wonder how the heat affects such creatures? Glad you are seeing a few more!

Hedge

Julie Stone said...

I'd just finished my post when I saw yours, I'm starting to see some now also. I'm sure it's not a coincidence, I just don't know why.

David said...

Hiya, Hedgerowe! :)

I'm hoping they are just late in developing...I'm not sure why they are missing.

I'm glad, too. Have you seen any/many butterflies this year?

David said...

Julie,

Interesting that we are both posting about butterflies.

Great photos on your blog--at least, you have pictures to prove you saw yours! :) (I rarely post without pictures, but wanted to document that I've seen them even it they were just passing through when I didn't have the camera with me.)