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bandjzmom

holy smokes!!! butterfly bonanza!!

bandjzmom
10 years ago

Y'all, I do not know what happened overnight here, but I awoke this morning to a bonafide butterfly bonanza in my Georgia yard! I am talking about more butterflies than I have EVER seen at one time in my yard. There must have been a dozen or more LARGE butterflies, including One Male Monarch, Several Pipevine Swallowtails, Several Spicebush Swallowtails, Several Tiger Swallowtails, and also some Cloudless Sulphurs, Eastern tailed Blues, Snowberry Clearwing Moths, and various assorted Skippers. I've never seen anything like it here! I stood at ONE butterfly bush (Attraction) and watched 3 Tigers, 4 Pipevines, and 2 Spicebush nectar together on that bush, along with 2 Hummingbirds. NIRVANA is what I mean!!!!!! My goodness, I hope this never ends! I am happy happy happy! :0) Still not seeing Fritillaries,Buckeyes, or BSTs here, but I am watching closely today.
Angie

Comments (22)

  • bandjzmom
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Forgive my enthusiasm with the pics. I just want to share what I am seeing today. :o)

  • bandjzmom
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Wow, so thrilling. Sherry, Is this a female Spicebush?

  • bandjzmom
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Look at this poor see-through Spicebush. Those wings are almost transparent.

  • bandjzmom
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Sharing the bush. This one was the Black Knight Butterfly Bush.

  • monkeybelle
    10 years ago

    Would your 4th picture be a dark form Tiger Swallowtail? I've seen my first ones this year and they are also "see through." Gorgeous pics...you're so lucky!

    Sandy.

  • Liz
    10 years ago

    Fabulous! I'm green with envy!
    Liz

  • MissSherry
    10 years ago

    The see through butterfly is a female spicebush swallowtail, as is the one you asked about, Angie. I saw about the same number of butterflies in my garden a little while ago. This time of year, their numbers build. I also noticed a LOT of very tattered butterflies in my garden - they must have all been perching on rose bushes, since some that weren't even faded were already tattered! :(

    I'm So jealous of your female pipevine swallowtail! At least I think she's a female - her wings are going in the typical pipevine whirry blur, so those might be the white spots on the underside of a male. You may find eggs on your pipevine - my miles of pipevines are goin' beggin' as my Grandma would say!

    Sherry

    This post was edited by misssherry on Tue, Aug 20, 13 at 14:23

  • cghpnd
    10 years ago

    Thanks for sharing the pics, they are all beautiful!

    The only butterflies I have seen in the last few weeks are the monarchs I released...(i keep checking for eggs!)

  • bandjzmom
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanks guys! You won't believe it, but it is just getting better! I stepped outside while ago, and I saw my first Gulf Fritillary of the season!!! Then, I saw 3 Dark Form Tiger females nectaring. Wow! This is turning into some kinda butterfly day!
    Angie

  • Rhonda
    10 years ago

    Wow...I'm jealous! Thanks for all the beautiful pics.

  • surya55_gw
    10 years ago

    Awesome shots and your enthusiam is catching!

    Thanks for sharing the shots.

    Nerry

  • Tom
    10 years ago

    Awesome! Three dark form Tigers! Wow! I'm seeing quite a few these days also, but not all in one day like this. It's very special. I'm sure you are really enjoying it and thanks for sharing.

  • bandjzmom
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanks so much. Yes Tom, there were 3 of them on one bush!! That bush was a Nanho Blue butterfly bush. I acutally see the dark form Tiger females pretty often here, so it isn't an unusual sighting for me, except that I haven't seen 3 at once. I have read that the dark form Tigers are most common in my state of Georgia and also in your state Florida.
    Angie

  • tnu07mom
    10 years ago

    Oh, I hope they make their way to NW South Carolina! I was at the Botanical Garden in Clemson yesterday and did see a Gulf Fritallary there and more Eastern Tiger Swallowtails, both yellow and the dark form than I could count. They are beautiful, but I am wanting to get some pictures of something else, too! I think I am going to head over to the science center at Roper Mountain this morning and look for an elusive Monarch. Maybe I will be lucky!

  • Leafhead
    10 years ago

    Holy smokes indeed!! Maybe down South is the place to be...
    I only get occasional visits this year, but things are picking up a little.

  • amerique2
    10 years ago

    Thanks for sharing your beautiful photos! Love the "butterfly bonanza"!

  • hawaiiponder34
    10 years ago

    Gosh!! They are so beautiful !! I wish we have those kind of beauties;-), pls keep posting and thank you;-) this is soo inspiring:-)

  • hawaiiponder34
    10 years ago

    Gosh!! They are so beautiful !! I wish we have those kind of beauties;-), pls keep posting and thank you;-) this is soo inspiring:-)

  • ladyrose65
    10 years ago

    Luv the pictures! Really nice!

  • bandjzmom
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanks guys! I am still seeing lots of big butterflies in the yard. I am seeing more Pipevine and Spicebush Swallowtails than I have ever seen in my life. I am also seeing a lot of Tigers. I have seen one single Gulf Fritillary, and I am still waiting to see a Buckeye this year. Silver Spotted Skippers are in abundance this year in my yard. I am staring to see more Cloudless Suphurs now, but the Sulphur populations have been way down here so far. Had a couple of Monarchs in the yard the other day. That was exciting. :o)
    Angie

  • caterwallin
    10 years ago

    I've been raising Pipevine Swallowtails but don't have as many as I usually do. So far we've released 23 and have at least a dozen chrysalide left and some cats are still eating. The butterflies are probably done laying for the year.

    I see Spicebush Swallowtails flying around just like other years, but alas, I never find any cats on the spicebushes.

    I still have the male Monarch here but no female. So it's probably a bust for this year. I'm still trying to keep the aphids in check though. They are really bad this year!

    I just brought 8 Giant Swallowtail cats in off of the gas plants. It's a far cry from the 21 eggs that my son and I had counted on the plants about a week ago. I'd have brought the eggs in if I wouldn't have such bad luck with them dying as tiny cats.

    I haven't seen any Red Admirals this year and no Common Buckeyes. Like you, Angie, I have a plethora of Silver-spotted Skippers this year. I'd say that it's the most common butterfly that I have here every year, but this year there are just tons of them. At any one time, I could probably count about two dozen nectaring on one of the butterfly bushes. I also noticed today that they also like the ironweed. They've always like the Verbena bonariensis, as do many other butterflies.

    I just planted some crepe myrtle bushes in the yard last year that I had started from seed (daughter got seeds from ebay for me), so I can hardly wait to see if the butterflies will like those blooms. I don't know how many years it takes them to bloom, but right now they're less than a foot tall, so it will probably be quite some time until the butterflies can sample their wares.
    Cathy

  • bandjzmom
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Cathy,
    I just saw my very first Red Admiral of the season in my yard on dog poop yesterday. Yay! The Crape Myrtles will not take long at all to bloom. At least, they don't down here. I don't really see butterflies on them though. The bees love them, and the Goldfinches and Juncos love to eat the seed from the pods during the winter. I don't cut my Crape Myrtles back until February here, and you could cut yours even later.
    Angie

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