LIFE ON THE WING......
I'll open this mid July report
with a photo of one of my favorite roadside flowers. There is
something about the blue of this flower that speaks to me! It
is Chicory, and I think I will try to pick up some spent flowers
and shower its seeds in my garden. These were growing, without
help, in Bath on the edge of an abandoned parking area. They were
attracting more attention than mine with bees humming in for a
snac
k. Note the edges of the petals
that have tiny notches on them. This plant is a Dandelion relative
and its leaves are also edible. The thick, deep, root is used
to flavor coffee, or used alone in brewing that drink. I just
like the flowers that mirror the blue sky.
My Milkweed patch is taking over
the small garden in West Point. Yesterday, I found my first Monarch
caterpillar on a leaf, nearing 2 inches in length. It came home
with me along with some tasty leaves for it to chew and grow on.
There were several visiting Monarch butterflies on the flowers,
but a host of other flying insects were enjoying the taste of
Milkweed. There were large Fritillaries and small Pearl Crescents.
Large Tiger Swallowtails cruised in for space, and darting Hummingbird
Moths kept sticking their tongues into the pink flowers.
Here
to the left you see the Fritillary on the Milkweed flower. You
may also notice I caught a small Ladybug beetle near the flower
cluster. I do love the Hummingbird Moth that hovers as it inserts
its tongue down these beautifully shaped flowers. The wings are
"clear", having lost most of their scales after its
first flight. 
They
are very numerous and busy.
Come to think of it as I gaze
at that flower, why don't we see a bunch of seed pods..one for
each of those flowers? I should look and watch more closely as
the pods develop. My memory tells me that only one big pod of
seeds is produced.
The other thing that comes to
mind, is why don't we find the caterpillars of these butterflies
and moths? The Hummingbird moth lays its eggs on plants of the
Honeysuckle family. We should look there for its yellow-green
larvae with darker green lines and red-brown spots on its abdomen.
As for the Fritillary, its caterpillar feeds on the foliage of
Violets. Its caterpillar is black with 6 rows of orange-red and
black spines!
I will close with this magnificent
butterfly, the Tiger Swallowtail. It flies wildly through the
skies and only sits still for a picture while feeding. In this
case, the Milkweed flowers caught its eye. 
I
have found the caterpillar of this butterfly, and it is one of
my favorite. You may find it on leaves of wild Cherry, of which
there are an abundance. The caterpillars are forever imprinted
in my mind because they are green and have eyespots on the front
eating end. What is more, those eyespots have the number 10 inscribed
on them. I did not make this up. See for yourself when you are
out caterpillar hunting!
The week just passed was another
hot and dry one, though winds on Wednesday canceled the sailboat
races. We had another interesting snorkel that produced the usual
and unusual sea creatures. The only drawback was the fact that
the water has turned cold again, and I for one, was slightly hypothermic!
You do need to be careful how long you stay in the cold water.
Sea creatures are too much of a distraction for me.
The fields on the north end of
the island have been mowed and now the deer are eating hay. Turkey
have also been spotted this year, including several families.
So there are plenty of animals enjoying life, including the butterflies.
7/13/08 Ronnie, flying high!