Chippewa Valley Butterfly Effect: Eau Claire home filled with bu - WQOW TV: Eau Claire, WI NEWS18 News, Weather, and Sports

Chippewa Valley Butterfly Effect: Eau Claire home filled with bu - WQOW TV: Eau Claire, WI NEWS18 News, Weather, and Sports

Once again, Jim has done a wonderful job explaining the native butterflies of Wisconsin!  Love the footage, too!  It documented the Butterfly House to a *T*!  Enjoy!  --LKR

Mom's Virág (Flowers)

Cabbage White with Cleome

When I think of flowers, my earliest memories are of my Grandmother, aunts, and cousins' colorful gardens. Like Hungarian needlepoint, vibrant colors were essential. I learned gardening through both of my parents when we moved to Chatham, New Jersey from a New York apartment and was taught how to put rose slips down. Some of those rose bushes still grow in my mother's yard and are nearly 40 years old!

Hydrangia

Red Hibiscus

Mom with Purple Coneflower

Tiger Swallowtail (and bee!) on Butterfly Bush

Pink Marsh Mallows

Because we didn't stay with my Mom, there was not much time to explore her gardens which are magnets for hummingbirds and butterflies. And shortly after these pictures were taken, it began to rain, thus ending the photo shoot! --LKR

Please, Won't You Be My Neighbor?

Okay, so has this picture of my back yard made you very glad I'm not your neighbor? Well, I'll have you know that my yard is incredibly popular with the insect population! Various bees, butterflies, and ants are flocking on over for a feast. Yup, so that means these dandelions will be pollinated and their seeds viable. ...Um, a note to my neighbors: I will make every effort to get these flowers picked before they go to seed!!! --LKR

Leapin' Lilies!

We've had two of our butterfly gardens for three years, now, and they are looking fuller than ever--even with the bunnies and deer snacking on their stalks--and buds! Oh, and with the moles sometimes chowing down roots, too! --Oy!!!
You know, my once thriving patch of stinging nettle began dwindling, which baffled me. So I camped out in front of that patch and caught those little moles red handed! Well, stinging nettle is high in vitamin C..., but those were meant for our Milbert's Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, and Question Mark butterfly caterpillars, as well as for soups and stews for us in the place of spinach! But, like I said before, the gardens are finally filling in, in spite of things. Because we've moved around enough and have started many perennial gardens at each place, we've had the opportunity to observe and prove this saying is true:

1st year, sleep
2nd year, creep
3rd year, leapOur gardens have indeed leapt, to my delight!!!

Having had such a loooooong winter..., they are a much more treasured sight! --LKR

It's Alive!

I've found it quite difficult to spend much time in our gardens, this year. To remedy this, I resolved to eat lunch being entertained by flora and fauna in one of our butterfly and hummingbird gardens.

Sounds good, huh? The problem with this is I can't sit still long enough to just enjoy watching. I'll spot a weed, and just have to pull it (along with the others that suddenly come into view). Or I'll find an interesting insect and observe it. One of my butterflies will inevitably come into sight, flitting from flower to flower, and I'll grab my camera and start shooting! --Oy!!!

Here are some shots I got, today.

A Milkweed bug dining on the nectar of phlox. They look like Boxelder bugs, don't they?!

This is a Silver-Spotted Skipper butterfly nectaring at Purple Bee Balm. These skippers are larger than most in their family. They have a long proboscis (straw-like tongue) which enable them to draw nectar from deeper-throated flowers.

--LKR

A Strange Summer, So Far...

This has been a really strange summer, to say the least. The locals agree. If it hasn't been wet and rainy, it's been cool and windy. Today's high was only 68 degrees!!! We haven't had to use the air conditioning at all, so far!

Trees bloomed and leafed out later than normal, this spring, but the melodious croaking of frogs seemed to be on time, in spite of the late April snowfalls. --Yes, that's plural!!!

It was also shocking not to see our lilacs swarming with several species of butterflies, especially the emigrating red admiral and American painted lady. Our sweet smelling mock orange bush, also a butterfly magnet, has surprisingly drawn very little outside of the various bees.

But, the flowers are blooming, the grass is once again green, and in spite of the drop in butterfly sitings, I'm finding eggs on their specific host plants. To see photos of butterflies, moths, and caterpillars, check out the posts on my leps blog at: http://lezasleps.blogspot.com/ --LKR

They're Back in Town!

My friend Wynde and I were finishing up on a leisurely lunch when we spotted a beautiful male ruby- throated hummingbird at our feeder. I had set out nectar shortly before we had that last fling of wintry weather that dumped upon us a significant amount of snow.

Then, while out on a walk, we saw around 10 cabbage white butterflies. Checkered whites and mustard whites also fly in our northern climate. White family butterflies over-winter in the pupae stage and are one of the first to emerge, come spring.

Several spring azures, tiny blue butterflies, flitted along the country roadsides around our feet. The first generation of this early emerging butterfly are darker blue in appearance than successive generations.

Why the picture of dandelions, you ask? They are among the few early flowering perennials that are essential for bees and butterflies which bloom before lilacs and mock orange bush, both magnets for these and other hungry insects. --LKR

Shedded Snake Skin

Jake our fox snake shed his skin, today!!! This is always so exciting because it lets us know he's growing and doing well! I'll liken it to all those well-baby visits us moms--and dads--have gone on with a new baby where we've seen our children's growth on charts.

Snakes are still relatively new to our family--at least as pets. And, Jake is still a new baby to me. Kind of like a first-born, too, since he's of a different species!

It's not quite the same, but reminds me how fascinating it was--and still really is--to watch our caterpillars molt (shed their skin) or pupate (shed their skin for the last time revealing their chrysalis). This said after rearing literally thousands of butterflies for well over a decade. It just never gets old, and it'll probably be the same with Jake! --LKR

Jake will be shedding his skin, soon. Notice the dull coloration of his body and cloudy eyes.

These wide scales are from his belly.
Can you see the face--the jaw and eyes? It's very important to make sure that the eye scales are accounted for. If they are still on the eye(s), care must be taken in removing them so the snake can see and no other problems occur.