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molanic

2014 Recap w/ Photos

molanic
9 years ago

Every winter I like to go through my yardlist and photos for the year to remind me of summer, and make plans for spring. 2014 was a little better than last year, although it was a bit of a slow start. I saw many more monarchs than last year, and raised maybe 50-75 (lost my tally sheet)? I also got to raise a few black swallowtails which was nice.

I apologize in advance... some of these photos I may have already posted months ago.

These three were new species sightings to the yard this year.

Currant Clearwing (Synanthedon tipuliformis)

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Wild Indigo Duskywing Butterfly (Erynnis baptisiae)

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Eastern Tailed-Blue Butterfly - Cupido comyntas

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This year I saw a viceroy, red-spotted purple, and giant swallowtail on more than one occasion which was exciting. Previous years I was lucky if I saw just a glimpse of them one time.

Red-spotted Purple Butterfly - Limenitis arthemis

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Giant Swallowtail Butterfly (Papilio cresphontes)

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Limenitis archippus - Viceroy Butterfly

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I had seen spring azures, buckeyes, and commas before. But this is the first time I have been able to get good photos of them to really see their markings up close. This is also the first non-ratty buckeye I have seen and to me they are now one of the most stunning butterflies.

Spring Azure Butterfly (Celastrina ladon)

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Common Buckeye Butterfly (Junonia coenia)

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Eastern Comma Butterfly

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For some reason this year every time I had my camera there was a lot of hanky-panky going on. I also got a picture of damselflies mating this summer.

Pieris rapae - Cabbage White Butterfly

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Snowberry Clearwing Moth (Hemaris diffinis)

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Peck's Skipper Butterfly - Polites peckius

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Monarch Butterfly - Danaus plexippus

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This year there was also a battle royale between one very determined monarch and a pissy hummingbird. We only ever have one or two female hummers stay for the summer, but they sure are territorial.

Monarch Butterfly & Ruby-throated Hummingbird

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I had a new camera to play with this year which was fun. My optical zoom ability doubled from 12x to 24x and the auto-focus is so much faster which makes thing easier. I'm also now able to do HD video which is sometimes easier for making ids than photos. I also got a cheap led light for the top of the camera too. Next year I would like to use it to photograph moths at night, which I never got around to this year.

Hope we all have a good year for leps in 2015!

Comments (8)

  • Meredith Mays
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Beautiful pics

  • ladyrose65
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Wow...! They seem to like your buddleia bush and Liatris? Is that right? Lovely pictures. What were the best times in the day that you found the most species?

  • kaboehm (zone 9a, TX USA)
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Wow! Thanks so much for posting this recap thread. I am redoing flower beds, and have lots to look forward to!
    Happy New Year!
    K

  • molanic
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Ladyrose, they really do like the butterfly bushes best of all. I have three that I started from seed that get huge. Even though I have plenty of natives that they are supposed to love... they always go for the butterfly bushes. I know b-bushes are not native and invasive in some areas, but I just can't bring myself to get rid of them.

    The liatris spicata I have isn't usually very popular at all. I have been sowing other liatris varieties to try but they are still just tiny seedlings.

    I always see the the most variety from August to early September on the warmest sunniest days between noonish to about 4pm. The worst time of day to be standing out in the sun of course! I think the days leading up to or following a big weather change are good days to spot them just like with birds. When inside I'm always looking out the windows to see if there is something worthy of me dashing out there with the camera.

  • bernergrrl
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Love the pics! You got a nice variety in your yard this year. I understand the desire to keep non-natives around. Though I also plant lots of natives, I do keep Mex Sunflower and zinnias around because they are always a huge draw, and they both offer nectar long after goldenrods and most of the asters are done. Don't have a b-bush, but that's mostly because of the size of my yard and need to optimize space.

    Coneflowers and swamp milkweed are also very popular in my yard too--even had a Mourning cloak this year on the milkweed!

  • Michaela (Zone 5b - Iowa)
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    What beautiful pictures - thank you for sharing. That photo of the hummingbird & monarch is so neat.

    Michaela

  • cottonwood468
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thank you for those wonderful pictures, such a treat on a weekend with a foot of snow predicted. I love those butterfly bushes. I think if you are also growing host plants and native plants, so what if buddleia is non-native? Have you ever had a white butterfly bush?
    In my yard, they seemed to really go for that one.

  • ily68
    9 years ago

    The pictures are beautiful.


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