Bill's Butterfly Blog

Last Friday night we had an experience we have heard of but not something we had seen before—a group of Monarch butterflies roosted across the street. There were two sections, each on different branches of the same tree. Our next-door neighbors spotted the Monarchs collecting there and called us to come across the street to the lawn of a house that is for sale and has no one living there. Butterflies kept arriving for half and hour and then they all settled in for the night. They sat so still and blended in the foliage so well that you wouldn’t have spotted them if you hadn’t seen them arriving. Evening was darkening so that I couldn’t get good photos.

The next morning I was up early and went across the street followed by my neighbor Ron in his bare feet. At first I thought the Monarchs had gone, but Ron pointed out that they were still there, sitting so still that they were hard to see even in the growing daylight. Another neighbor and her young daughter came to see what was going on. We watched for awhile and then, suddenly, a mass of butterflies arose at the same time from their shadowy roost and began scattering to nearby sunlit trees to warm up. A row of three pecan trees seemed to attract most of them. A few consider landing on a pine but decided not to.

Because of the poor light on the roost itself, I didn’t get any good photos. Ron’s wife, Sue, is a better photographer than I and has promised me a CD with her photos on it. This was truly an impressive sight that I want to view again, many times.

On the home front, our last caterpillar climbed to the roof of the Butterfly Castle and pupated. We also have been releasing one of two adults daily as soon as they emerged and dried off. We haven’t kept count, but we have probably released between 15 and 20 so far.

We have had our problems as well as our successes with raising butterflies. I had always heard that if a pupating Monarch couldn’t get rid of its skin, that Monarch was doomed. We haven’t had a problem with that because I was always there to remove the skin if the butterfly was having trouble. But one caterpillar pupated at night, and I didn’t pull off the skin until the next day. It was too late. The pupa was undersized, and when the adult emerged, it was extremely deformed. I had to destroy it. I sure felt bad. Then the Clouded Sulphur we were raising emerged and promptly died. I don’t know why. It was perfectly formed and, like any Clouded when seen up close, was beautiful. I felt bad about that, too. Then another Monarch pupa apparently died; it turned the color of imminent emergence, but nothing further happened.

But that’s butterflies for you. Most of the time they raise your spirits, but sometimes they break your heart.

My friend Bernie and I went fishing Thursday at Oneida Lake and saw four Monarchs. They appeared to be coming across the lake from the north—heading south. Maxine, ever the skeptic, says that this is too small of a sample to draw any conclusions from. After all, we were fishing along the south shore of Oneida; the Monarchs could have just circled out over the lake from the south. All right, so it’s a small sample. It still looked pretty convincing to me.

I’m trying to get out of the business of raising Monarchs, but I keep finding eggs as I get milkweed to feed my herd. If I see the eggs before I pull up the plant, I just leave the plant alone. But sometimes I don’t see them until I have the plant in the house. We have seven or eight chrysalises and about the same number of large caterpillars that should be pupating soon. I’ll be out of the business in a couple of weeks, I hope.

I visited Wesley Hill Preserve this afternoon. I saw nine species, but there weren’t many of each species. The freshest were three American Ladies and an Eastern Comma, seen in the Anna’s Pond area. The section accessed by Wesley Hill Road had only Cabbage Whites and a lone Clouded Sulphur, plus a Pearl Crescent I saw on the way out.

I had been hoping to see Meadow Frits, but no luck. They must have finished early this year, like so many other species. Flat-topped asters were everywhere, though.

I get the distinct feeling that the butterfly season is winding down. If true, that would be a disappointment.

On Saturday, Maxine and I took our Monarch eggs, caterpillars, and chrysalises to the farmers’ market in LeRoy. We were part of the “entertainment” for the day. The other part was a woman playing sing-alongs on a keyboard.

It wasn’t a really busy market day, but we had a lot of visitors anyway, mostly parents and their kids. Some kids and parents remembered releasing Painted Ladies during elementary school. That used to be part of the third grade curriculum, but was taken out a year or so ago, probably to give kids more time to prepare for the new tests that are restricting the curriculum these days. Along with the Monarch specimens I posted maps of how Monarchs come north in the spring and summer and go back to Mexico in the fall. I also had a poster with photos of some common local butterflies.

The highlight of the day was watching a Monarch in a J shed its skin and form itself into a chrysalis. That’s something you don’t get to see every day. Those who noticed the conversion starting got so excited that eventually a small crowd gathered to watch what was going on. Some of the vendors also came over. It probably helped that I myself got excited and was waving people over. (Yes, I do get excited now and then.)

We also had with us a fairly large caterpillar of a Clouded Sulphur and one of a Cabbage White that had just hatched that morning. A new Cabbage White caterpillar is unbelievably small, and everyone had to stare at the leaf for awhile until they could pick it out.

Our first adult Monarchs had begun emerging several days before this. They belonged to a group that had begun pupating about 10 days before. We had hoped that at least one would wait until Saturday to emerge, but no such luck. Three emerged on Wednesday, four on Thursday, and the last one on Friday. I don’t expect more to emerge until this weekend.

I’m trying to avoid bringing in more eggs, but it seems that every time I get fresh milkweed for our largest caterpillars, at least one egg will turn up on the plants I gathered. Oh well, we’re not planning on going anywhere.

On Monday, August 9 I went to Rattlesnake Hill WMA to scout the area in advance of Wednesday’s scheduled field trip. I mainly wanted to find out if there were any other kinds of fritillaries besides Great Spangleds in what used to be the “frit field” way back on Trail 10. It used to be the only place we could see all four species of the local frits in one place. You may remember that the DEC fixed that field to make way for more wild turkeys, and that eliminated the frits last year. However, the field hasn’t be treated again, and everyone has been wondering if the frits would come back. They have not. I counted 10 frits on the trail and in the field, but as best I could determine, all were Great Spangleds. They were rather worn, though, and there could have been an Atlantis or an Aphrodite in the group, though I doubt it. There definitely were none of the smaller Meadow frits.

That eliminated the need for making the long walk back to the frit field during our field trip on Wednesday. As for what then the group did on Wednesday, I’ll let Mary Jane fill you in because I got there late and left before the others did. I also missed the ice cream.

RATTLESNAKE HILL WMA
August 11, 2010
William McCleary and Mary Jane Proschel

If you’d like a taste of Adirondack scenery but don’t want to travel that far, take a drive about an hour and a half south of Rochester to Rattlesnake Hill Wildlife Management Area. Standing on the dike behind the information kiosk and looking across the pond, you’d think you had been transported to that locality. Of course, the butterflies wouldn’t have been the same and butterflies were, after all, what we were in search of when we started off on our field trip.
The positive change in attitude/approach of DEC staff was evident in the obvious reduction of mowing done in the area. I can recall the feeling of frustration in past years, after having driven there, only to find myself one step behind the mowing crew. That certainly was not the case this year. Paths that had been mowed earlier in the summer were now somewhat grown up and had sprouted a new crop of milkweed that was in flower and was a Monarch magnet. The field at the horse trailer area had also been previously mowed but was now abundant with Monarchs in all stages of development – from eggs to larvae of varying sizes to newly emerged adults that were still drying their wings prior to their inaugural flight. It just goes to show that not all mowing is a bad thing – if done at the right time.
Clouded Sulphurs took the prize for abundance (32) with one white form female being observed laying eggs on clover and twelve others engaged in a puddling event. They were followed in numbers by the second brood of Common Ringlets (24). Least Skippers (11) flitted like fleas through the grass in the wet areas and, of course, the Monarchs (8) are always a joy to watch as they seem to float effortlessly through the air. A total of thirteen species were observed, which wasn’t too bad for the later part of the season. It was only fitting that we upped our count to fourteen (a Black Swallowtail) while enjoying some ice cream at the “giraffe” in Nunda.

The address for the Genesee Land Trust property in Caledonia given in my last blog is slightly off. The house number should be 3728, which is right next door to the one given before. The rest of the directions are accurate. There is a hard-top parking lot at 3728, and the building looks like it used to be a club of some kind.

I spent a couple of hours at the meadow owned by the Genesee Land Trust and saw lots of butterflies, though not as many as Steve Daniels saw. I was especially hoping to see a lot of Giant Swallowtails but didn’t see a single one. I did see a spat over mating among some Spicebush Swallowtails. She was mildly interested in mating, and he was a lot interested. Then another male came along, and the three went round and round. It lasted so long that I was able to get some photos of the goings-on.

The day was partially overcast. There was a lot of action when the sun was out and not so much otherwise. There was even a brief period of rain. This is a good spot maybe to put on our list of field trips next year.

WARNING about Oak Openings

If you go to Oak Openings, be prepared for chiggers. Use insect repellent and seal off your trouser legs. The chiggers are even worse this year than before. I have the chigger bites to prove it!

Steve Daniels recently sent me a report of his recent (July 29) trip to a Genesee Land Trust preserve in Caledonia, Livingston County. He saw 20 species in that one trip, including 8 Giant Swallowtails, 9 Spicebush Swallowtails and 5 Meadow Frits. I hope to go there sometime this week. Steve sent me the following directions to the preserve:

“This preserve is on Iroquois Road in Caledonia. It is not marked from the road but the land trust has an easement where you can park in the lot of a house for sale at 3742 Iroquois Road and walk back along a mowed path (wetland on your right, mowed yard and then horse pasture on your right). Once you pass the horse pasture, you’ll soon see land trust signs – the field I saw the meadow frits and most of the butterflies is right there, and extends east to a cattail marsh. I saw little in the woods to the south but most of the butterflies were in that small field.”

As for me, I visited Oak Openings in Rush on Saturday. I only saw 10 species, but that’s pretty good for that preserve. I saw an absolutely fresh, gorgeous Viceroy that wouldn’t stay still to have its picture taken. The most abundant were Wood Nymphs and Eastern Tailed Blues. The latter were fresh and did sit for the photographer. I also saw what I think is my first Duskywing for this location. The vegetation of the area behind the main field has changed and is more conducive to butterflies. That’s where I saw the Viceroy. However, it’s still overgrown and hard to walk through in most places.

Yesterday I spent several hours at Rattlesnake Hill WMA intending mainly to look into the milkweeds at the horse camping area, the stinging nettle across the road, and the “frit meadow” on Trail 10.

The milkweeds that had been mowed down just before they flowered at the horse camping area had regrown, presumably in time for the late arrival of the Monarchs. The largest of them were now a foot to a foot and a half tall. On none of these did I find eggs or caterpillars. I did find eggs on the smallest milkweeds—those about 6 inches or less. I would guess that only one or two Monarchs had been through. In fact, I saw two of them, though I was able to determine the sex of only one, which was female.

I was happy to see that the stinging nettle had regrown robustly, although I did not see any Red Admirals around to use them. I looked for eggs, but they are hard to see unless freshly laid, when they sparkle. One potential problem is that a vine has grown over the old patch of stinging nettle. It is so thickly spread that I don’t see how any affected stalks of stinging nettle can survive, although when I tore some of the vine away, the nettle plants looked OK.

Then I made the long trek back Trail 10 to the “frit field” where in the past we have found all four local species of fritillaries: Great Spangled, Atlantis, Aphrodite, and Meadow. As best I could determine, the only species present was the Great Spangled, perhaps a half dozen of them—though it’s difficult to tell, since they don’t stay still to be counted. There were definitely no Meadow Frits. I also saw one each of a Dun Skipper, Pearl Crescent, and Monarch. (Also a fully-grown Monarch caterpillar.)

In general, there weren’t many butterflies anywhere I went. In addition to those in the frit field, I saw 1 Wood Nymph, 1 Least Skipper, 3 Duns, 3 Pearl Crescents, 3 Monarchs, 5 Great Spangleds, and 1 very worn Northern Pearly Eye. Let’s hope some others emerge before our scheduled field trip on August 11.

It’s good that the Monarchs are finally here, though they done’t seem abundant. Also, the lateness makes this the third year in a row that the main body didn’t get here till the middle of July. It does confuse things.

One confusion is about which generation we are getting. When Monarchs arrived in early June, we could assume that they were third generation—counting the one in Texas as the first, and one on the way here as the second. Our initial generation born here would be the fourth, and the next one would be the fifth. The fifth would emerge in early August and would be the one going back south.

Last year, I had the feeling that we had the third generation arriving in mid-July, which would give us the fourth generation emerging in mid-to-late August. This would not be the one going south. That would explain why we found the Monarchs we tagged in August hanging around here instead of going south. If that’s the case, we wasted our tags.

The other issue with late-arriving Monarchs is the condition of the milkweed. By mid-summer, most of it old and tough, and not suitable for egg laying. For instance, yesterday I roamed around the field in back of the Mt. Morris dam visitor’s center. There were only two Monarchs there, one of each sex. The female wasn’t having much luck with laying eggs. Most of the milkweeds had stopped growing and had no tender leaves even in the top of the plant. The female kept testing and testing, but when I went over to see whether she had laid any eggs, she had not. I found only two eggs, both on them on small milkweeds.

The same thing happened today. I visited the dam site at Canadice Lake. There was one female Monarch cruising the field of milkweed, and she was not having any luck. She landed occasionally, but all she did was rest in a bit of shade about a third of the way down the plant. I did find some young milkweeds where workers had been dumping some gravel, but they had no eggs. I guess she hadn’t found them yet, for they were in a field behind some trees.

This all makes me wonder if we shouldn’t rethink the popular prohibition against mowing milkweeds. Since the Monarchs are arriving so late, perhaps it would be good to mow at least half of the crop at the end of June. That would encourage new plants to grow, and they would be just the right size when the Monarchs arrive. I remember last year I couldn’t find many eggs around home, so I checked out the Canadice dam site. The city had mowed several feet along the road right at the edge of the big field of milkweed, and new plants were coming up. I found many eggs on these plants and pulled up a few plants to take home. At Rattlesnake Hill, vehicles had knocked down plants at the edge of the milkweed patch in the horse camping around, and new ones had grown up. Again, I found eggs only on the new plants and took a few of them home.

It doesn’t make much sense to save milkweeds for the Monarchs if the milkweeds are too old to use.

Summer can’t be all about butterflies, you know. Sometimes it’s about dancing at Tom Wahl’s in Avon, and sometimes it’s about fishing. Last week it was entirely about fishing in northern Quebec, so that’s why I haven’t written a blog recently. I had no access to the Internet; I didn’t even have cell phone service. However, I did see a lot of butterflies.

Unfortunately, I didn’t see many of them closely. They were extremely jumpy, so I couldn’t get close. And I had no binoculars along. Most, I’m pretty sure, were anglewings, most likely Eastern Commas. However, I see by my butterfly book that Satyr Commas, Question Marks, Green Commas, and Hoary Commas are also found in that area. The only butterflies I was able to identify were a White Admiral and, probably, a Long Dash Skipper. On the way back, though, I saw a Monarch in Quebec and more Monarchs in Ontario as we went south on Rte. 41.

Here at home, I finally found a few Monarch eggs on very small milkweeds in my back yard. Then I saw a worn female laying eggs, or attempting to. She kept trying out tall, old milkweeds and rejecting them. I kept trying to point out to her all the delectable small milkweeds I have been cultivating just for Monarchs, but she ignored me. After she left, I did find four eggs on one of the larger of the small milkweeds, so maybe she laid them when I wasn’t looking. Because I had been away for a week, I had some serious weed-whacking to do around our pond.

And because I had been away, a local woman whom I have taught to raise Monarchs has moved way ahead of me. She already has caterpillars, while I am just finding my first eggs. And she has enough eggs and caterpillars to give some to her friends. All these ladies, I think, are raising Monarchs with their grandchildren.

That beats other ways of introducing kids to raising butterflies. My wife was in the post office when she saw a little girl receive some chrysalises in the mail (probably Painted Ladies). She has missed out on finding eggs and raising caterpillars.

If it cools down just a little and I get caught up with my yard work, I’ll try to get out to look for butterflies in the next couple of days. In any case, I hope to see everyone at Ganondagan on Tuesday.

Several people have seen a scattering of Monarchs, usually just one at a time. But no one is reporting any egg-laying or caterpillars. I’ve checked my small milkweeds regularly with no results. Doug Holland, an RBC member who lives near Ganargua Creek Meadow Preserve, reported seeing several Monarchs at the Preserve but also no eggs or caterpillars. He did, however, report that the Preserve is “alive” with butterflies and sent me some photos to prove it.

Maxine and I have finished raising Red Admirals. I think the final total was 23. I checked the small patch of small stinging nettles at the Conesus Inlet WMA where I released some caterpillars I could no longer feed. The patch is healthy and spreading, but the caterpillars were gone. Any survivors would surely have pupated by now, and probably not on the nettles. I also checked the larger patch of nettles where I had collected my original Red Admiral eggs. It had been devastated by the huge number of caterpillars that had lived there, but I could see a few new leaves near the bottoms of some stalks. Maybe it will recover.

My advice to anyone who wants to raise Red Admirals in the future is to raise only a few. When the caterpillars get big, they need large amounts of nettle, and it’s hard to find food for them. Also, once they eclose and dry off, they become extremely fast and rambunctious. Keep the cage near a window, so you can capture each one in cupped hands and quickly release it out the window before you injure it. They don’t hold still to be captured by the body the way Monarchs and other butterflies do.

Of course, if there are several females laying eggs, limiting the number of eggs you collect is hard to do. Furthermore, every time you collect nettles to feed your caterpillars, you risk getting more eggs or even some caterpillars.

Anyway, it was fun while it lasted, except for the long trips to get caterpillar food. But I think I’ll try other species before I try raising Red Admirals again.