Cabbage White on the Red Valerian
Cabbage Whites Pieris rapae are always a joy to observe as they flit through the garden, seemingly weightless. They were introduced to...
Beautiful monarch butterfly
The first of the season to eclose! She started as an egg laid by her mother on one of our potted narrow-leaf milkweed plants. She then...
First Echo Blue Butterfly Sighting
ever! I had never seen an Echo Blue butterfly before, but look who visited our garden yesterday afternoon and lingered for about half an...
Lovely Painted Ladies
Painted ladies Vanessa cardui spend a lot of time in our native garden. This one is sipping nectar from Siskiyou Wooly Sunflowers...
Monarch chrysalides after the rain
As you may remember from posts last month, fourteen monarch caterpillars grew big and plump after devouring leaves on our narrow milkweed...
Backyard Observations
A tree fern's frond slowly unfurling its leaves Meanwhile, nearby, a monarch caterpillar decided to weave its silk pad to attach itself...
Lovely Umber Skipper on a Buddleia flower head
The umber skippers are back! And they are so cute with their large brown eyes and feathery antennae. They are fairly easy to photograph...
Monarch Caterpillars munching and growing
We are no longer raising monarch caterpillars indoors, just letting things happen naturally. Currently there are more than eleven pots of...
The monarch caterpillars are here
...and my have they grown within a couple of weeks! As you may recall from a post last month, I noticed a monarch butterfly circling our...
Welcome Fiery Skipper
My first sighting this year of a Fiery Skipper butterfly Hylephila phyleus in the garden this year. This is a female. Earlier in the...
