Ron's 2007 Butterfly Summary
The 2007 butterfly season started out very slow since we had a late spring. My first sighting was the lime green Four Lined Plant Bug. No, it was not a butterfly, but a common sucking pest, which tried to kill my patch of Giant Hyssop. I killed them one by one without spraying. Butterfly sightings picked up in June in my habitat, a full two months later than last year. Overall, I had 31 species for the 2007 season compared to 36 last year. The quantities of butterflies were down as well. The highlight of my season was seeing the Long Tailed Skipper for the 3rd time since I began attracting butterflies in 1994. This butterfly has an iridescent blue-green abdomen & large green eyes. The wings are a rich brown. I have never seen this butterfly in the wild for some reason. Attraction power is so important. This butterfly was seen twice on Verbena Bonariensis & once on Cut & Come Again Zinnias. I saw one Pipevine Swallowtail on July 10th. Last year I did not see any. I did not see any new species this year. Our total remains at 50 since 1994.
The weather did not cooperate in Pottstown this year. It was very dry in August, September, & most of October. I had a very difficult time providing nectar for the butterflies. I actually ran out of nectar in October for the first time ever. Jeff Degler had a fabulous year in Wyomissing attracting butterflies to his urban habitat. Jeff attracted approximately 40 species & had large quantities of butterflies as well. He had a tremendous nectar supply & was able to attract good numbers of butterflies thru the middle of October.
Monarchs had another great year & the migration numbers were very strong. I tagged 50 Monarchs. I am hoping for a tag recovery in Mexico. Janis Good from Boyertown also tagged 50 Monarchs. If you are interested, tags can be purchased from www.MonarchWatch.Org. Does anyone remember the 2004 season when hardly anyone saw a Monarch during the entire season?? How quick we forget!
The Pennsylvania Butterfly Preserve sponsored a butterfly open house at my place on August 11th. 50 people attended the event. We emphasized the plants that attract butterflies. I gave two presentations & Karl Gardner, lepidopterist from Berks County, added his special touch by answering butterfly questions. 16 species were seen during the four-hour event. The temperature was cold that morning which kept the butterflies from hanging out for any length of time. Our best sighting that day was the Red Banded Hairstreak on the Mountain Mint.
The Pennsylvania Butterfly Preserve is asking someone from the private sector to donate 10 – 20 acres of land to build a butterfly preserve in order to educate adults & children about butterflies. Attracting butterflies has become easy for us. We would love to share the experience with you. Thanks to everyone that donated to our fundraiser. Total donations were $1,734.30. The treasury contains $1,324.86 currently. We have enough money to plow the land to get started. We do not expect any expenses for the nectar & host plants plants. On to a great 2008.
Ron Richael