HollerPhenology

Citizen scientists can help monarch butterflies -- David Suzuki Foundation

Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) on Echinacea purpurea. Photo by and (c)2007 Derek Ramsey

 

I found an article from the David Suzuki Foundation yesterday that makes a great pitch for citizen science and for helping out the awesome monarch butterflies, so thought I would share it on HollerPhenology.

The article begins with a brief history of Monarch Watch and its effort to engage citizens in tracking monarch migrations. Now, with monarch populations declining due to human activities such as illegal logging in Mexico, herbicide use on genetically modified crops, and impact on climate change, Suzuki and many others have asked citizens and their governments to take action on behalf of these butterflies:

In February, in response to a letter by Mexican poet Homero Aridjis, signed by more than 100 scientists, writers and environmentalists — including Canadians Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje and John Ralston Saul — U.S. President Barack Obama, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper agreed to "establish a working group to ensure the conservation of the monarch butterfly, a species that symbolizes our association."

The letter to leaders said, "As Mexico is addressing the logging issues, so now must the United States and Canada address the effects of our current agricultural policies." Those problematic practices are mainly associated with large-scale planting of corn and soy genetically modified to resist the herbicide Roundup, or glyphosate. It doesn't kill crops — just pretty much everything else, including the milkweed monarchs need to lay their eggs and that is their caterpillars' main food.

The Suzuki Foundation hopes that leaders will honor their agreement, and that citizen scientists will get excited about helping scientists and researchers to better understand monarch life cycles.

Check out some of the "related posts" links below for more information. Or take a look at Monarch Watch's Bring Back the Monarchs campaign page. Another interesting presentation on the monarchs can be found at the website for the film, Flight of the Butterflies.

 

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Help solve an orange-and-black mystery

Out in the holler: Dafodil leaves and tracks in the mud

I know there are lots of animals that move through the holler, but often the only evidence I see of them is in the soft earth or mud on the lane. It's been busy out there lately. In the photo below, the little tracks on the left were made sometime on the 23rd, and the ones going the opposite direction were there yesterday when I took a second photo. The big track (nice for size comparison) belongs to my Walker hound.

Tracks on the lane, February 24, 2014. [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

Here's a closer view of the northbound tracks, with an older southbound track in the lower left corner:

Tracks on the lane, February 24, 2014. [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

Today on my way down the holler, I spotted some dafodil leaves that popped up some time in the past 24 hours -- just in time for the snow tomorrow:

Dafodils emerge in my rock garden, February 25, 2014. [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

On Saturday the 22nd -- a really warm day here -- I saw my first butterfly of the year, and what I think was a honey bee. At first I thought the butterfly might be one of the commas, but I got close enough later to see that it wasn't. It was really skittery. The coloration was suggestive of a comma or crescent, but it was too big for a crescent. I never did get close enough to identify it.

This winter a large group of eastern towhees has inhabited the holler. I have seen one or two of these occasionally in other years, but never so many. They love the winter tangle of sumac, blackberry canes, multiflora rose brambles, and the stalks of lespedeza, milkweed and virgin's bower along the lane. I almost got a good photo of one of the females the other day, but didn't quite get all of her in the frame. There is a female cardinal that has been hanging out with them as well. Within the past week or so I have heard the first distinctly male calls of both cardinals and chickadees in this new year.

Today the blue jay crowd was pretty busy, so I'm guessing the weather people are correct about the snow on the way in. I am so ready for spring!

I did a post at another blog on the holler's seismic neighborhood if you want to check it out. 

 

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The holler's seismic neighborhood

Monarch Butterfly 2013 Migration Smallest on Record | Environment News Service

Great article on Monarch butterflies...new research identifies three conditions operating in Mexico, the United States and Canada that threaten monarch populations: destruction of monarch habitat, loss of milkweed (their primary food source) due to glyphosate herbicides, and trends toward extreme climate conditions that make the entire life cycle more difficult for Monarchs to complete successfully. Read more at the link below.

MEXICO CITY, Mexico, January 31, 2014 (ENS) – Monarch butterflies are vanishing from the Monarch Reserve in Mexico’s temperate forest where they spend November through March hibernating after migrating more than 2,500 miles from Canada and the United States.

Read more at ens-newswire.com

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Monarch Butterfly Migration Patterns Under Threat

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Help solve an orange-and-black mystery | Science Matters | David Suzuki Foundation

This article from David Suzuki has some great info on environmental conditions impacting monarch butterfly populations...also some suggestions for butterfly gardens that may help this species and others.

While the future of the monarch looks bleak, we can all help ensure its survival. (Credit: Tin Can Forest)

With a decline of monarchs in Mexico and pervasive threats during migration, it wasn't entirely surprising that they arrived in Canada six weeks later than normal this summer in unprecedented low numbers. Point Pelee National Park in Leamington, Ontario, even cancelled its annual monarch count because of lack of butterflies.

While the future of the monarch looks bleak, we can all help ensure its survival.

Read more of this article at www.davidsuzuki.org

I don't see monarchs here in the holler, but Roundup-free milkweed -- monarch caterpillar food source -- is plentiful. The swallowtails all seem to like it as well...for eating anyway. Here's a recent photo of a bee on some milkweed:

[Photo Credit: Cathie Bird, 5 September 2013]

And an eastern tiger swallowtail:

[Photo credit: Cathie Bird, 31 August 2013]

 

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David Suzuki: climate change and extreme weather

Monarch Butterflies

Out in the holler this week: butterflies, moths and snakes

Lots of critters moving through the holler this past week. I've seen deer tracks down by the apple tree a couple of times. Some of the apples are falling off, attracting birds and at least one whitetail deer. Many other apples remain on the tree and are getting larger. Blackberry bushes are full but they don't have many ripe fruits yet. I've sampled a few on my holler walks though.

My best photographic evidence of wildlife has been of butterflies and moths this week:

Great Spangled Fritillary, July 8, 2013 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

I've seen a male and female Diana fritillaries mixed in with the great spangled ones...no photos of them yet...they seem more leery of me.

On the other hand, this Little Glassywing let me get several shots from different angles:

Little Glassywing, July 8, 2013 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

Last night this awesome Io moth came through the pet door into the kitchen:

Io Moth (Automeris io), July 11, 2013 [Photo credit: Cathie bird]

After taking a few photos I slipped it into a jar and back out through the pet door, but this morning it (or another one) was sitting on a window blind. I managed to get that one safely back into the woods just before I came in to do this post. This was a new moth for me -- always an exciting event.

My favorite photo of the week, though, is this common garter snake:

Thamnophus sirtalis, July 7, 2013 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

I stirred this snake up out of the grass while I was checking out the Echinacea patch...I think I almost stepped on it. It squiggled away from my feet a few inches before curling up to defend itself. I love this photo because it caught the red tongue with its forked black tip.

I heard and saw lots of birds this week also. Just awhile ago I spotted several white-eyed vireos. At least one of them was a juvenile. I'm wondering if some chicks recently fledged. A male was singing outside my window just before I saw several others in the quince and autumn olive bushes along the fence.

Several crows have been making a racket as I'm writing this post. On holler walks I've heard jays, cardinals, yellowbreasted chats and plenty of calls that I can't identify yet.

 

 

Rain in the holler, a new batch of phoebes, and some interesting links

I didn't go out today for the holler walk, so I'm just reporting on what I can see from my window. Around mid-afternoon, both phoebe parents started bringing food to the nest. I saw at least one chick during some of the feedings. I got some video but have not processed it yet...will post later.

Truthout had a couple of good Earth-related articles today. If it's stormy in your neck of the woods and you want to read, check these out:

Monarchs of Life (Tony Pereira)

Chip Taylor, biology professor at the University of Kansas, reports in his latest study that during this year's winter, monarch migration was 1/20 of its normal size, or down to 5 percent of its former glory. This may very well be the last year we see those magnificent beings engage in a most mysterious yearly migration that takes several generations to complete and covers up to 6,000 miles round-trip from central Mexico in early spring to Eastern Canada, in two or three generations, and back in the fall to Mexico to overwinter, in one single generation. Neither generation knows whether their parents were going or coming since they are long gone and dead, where they are supposed to be headed to, or where the final destinations are, but they always find the way to the same roosting places and trees, and back again. It is simply astounding!

Read more...

 

Putting the Culture Back in Agriculture: Reviving Native Food and Farming Traditions (Tory Field and Beverly Bell)

Native peoples’ efforts to protect their crop varieties and agricultural heritage in the US go back 500 years to when the Spanish conquistadors arrived. Today, Native communities throughout the US are reclaiming and reviving land, water, seeds, and traditional food and farming practices, thereby putting the culture back in agriculture and agriculture back in local hands.

Read more...

 

An auspicious week for wild-thing-photography in the holler

In addition to bird sightings in the holler this week, I happened across some other amazing life forms: a red eft, a resting eastern tailed-blue butterfly, and a rather large colony of violet wood sorrel:

 

Red eft (Notophthalmus viridescens) on 2 May 2013. [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

The red eft is the juvenile land-dwelling stage of the eastern newt. I nearly stepped on this one during my holler walk. The green object to the left of its left hind leg is a needle from an eastern hemlock.

 

Eastern tailed-blue (Cupido comyntas) on 2 May 2013. [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

 

Violet Wood Sorrel (Oxalis violacea) on 2 May 2013. [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

I thought I might be seeing early leaves for this species on several occasions but could never find them again to check it out. This is a very large colony...hard to miss even from a distance. I hope to get some photos of open flowers when the sun comes out again.

I'm guessing all of this rain will bring a new rush of flowers.

Related articles

Herbal Lore: Wood Sorrel, Oxalis, and the Shamrock - Beth Trissel

Wood sorrel: modesty in miniature

Today in the holler: nesting phoebes, eastern tiger swallowtail

I got some video of one of the nesting phoebes today. It's a little hard to see, but the bird in the video has some vegetable matter in its beak. The brighter green colored area at the top edge of the nest is new material placed over the past 3 or 4 days.

 

While I was bird watching from my window today, I also saw my first eastern tiger swallowtail of the season. It was flying erratically and only landed briefly, so no photos yet.

 

November surprise in the holler: a gulf fritillary butterfly

When I caught sight of an orange butterfly visiting my planters yesterday, I assumed it was a Great Spangled Fritillary, a butterfly I see in the holler every year and a species I observe for the National Phenology Network. I grabbed my binoculars to verify the species.

Clearly this was not a Great Spangled Fritillary! It's wings were longer and narrower, its back had more orange and the spots on the underside of the wings were stringingly bright, and its flight pattern seemed different.

Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) on 9 November 2012 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

Through the binoculars I could also see three white spots surrounded by black rings. All of these observations together pointed toward the identity of my visitor as a Gulf Fritillary.

This butterfly and the Great Spangled Fritillary, with which I was more familiar, are members of the same family (Nymphalidae) and subfamily (Heliconiiae). Further down the taxonomic chain, however, each is classified in a different tribe. The Great Spangled is a member of the Tribe Argynnini (the true Fritillaries), while the Gulf Fritillary is a longwing or Heliconian butterfly of the Tribe Heliconiini.

Silvery-white spots on the underside of the hindwing and forewing of the Gulf Fritillary, 9 November 2012 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

According to the guide I use (Glassberg 1999), the resident ranges of the Great Spangled and Gulf fritillaries don't overlap, but the Gulf is known to spread northward as the summer season progresses. Still, I was reluctant to identify this one without careful consideration, since it's November! Is it on its way back south again?

Glassberg's map shows a range for the Gulf Fritillary extending across the southern border of Tennessee, but not up to the northern reaches of the state where I live. On the other hand, Tennessee is a lot skinnier south to north than it is east to west, so maybe it's not all that far for a butterfly to migrate.

Whatever the case, I am totally delighted to have seen one, and glad there were still a few flowers blooming in my planters for it to feed on.

For comparison, here's a Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele) that I photographed  on 25 June 2012 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

I am still seeing at least two of the Sulphur species -- a pair of the smaller, yellower ones have been visiting the planters as I write this blog. I also saw eastern tailed blues (another species I observe for NPN) in late October. Another new species for me in the holler this September was a Checkered White. Unfortunately I could not get close enough to get good images.

Check out this time lapse video of a Gulf Fritillary chrysallis and the emergence of the adult on YouTube:

 

Out in the holler today...

I have not done a good job with posting this summer, but here's what was out today. Over the next few days, I'll post some of the other awesome species that I've seen here and around the neighborhood since my last post.

Horse Nettle (Solanum carolinense) on 9 September 2012. [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

 

Iron Weed (Vernonia gigantea) on 9 September 2012. [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

 

Virgin's Bower going to seed (Clematis virginiana) on 9 September 2012. [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

 

White Wood Aster (Aster divaricatus) on 9 September 2012. [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

 

White Crownbeard (Verbesina virginica) on 9 September 2012. [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

 

Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) on 9 September 2012. [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

 

And a butterfly bonus while photographing the asters: my first gemmed satyr...

Gemmed satyr (Cyllopsis gemma) on 9 September 2012. [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]