Peck's skipper

I believe this to be Peck's skipper (Polites peckius).  Identifying these diminutive little butterflies can be quite the task as most of them are very small and drab brown.  They also do not like to sit still.  Skippers make up more than one third of all butterfly species in Ohio.

Without managing a photo (yes, I thank my wife daily), it is likely that you could see one of these little guys flitting about your garden and think you're looking at the same insect over and over . . . when the reality is that you could be seeing something new!

Monarchs!

After taking note of them flitting about the Habitat for some time now, my wife finally captured one of these magnificent travelers as it visited our seed-grown marsh milkweed (Asclepias incarnata).  After looking at many images of her, it was all too obvious that this one had seen her share of the world.  She had very worn wings that were drab and torn in places.

Nonetheless, we enjoyed watching her glide around our yard for several hours, always coming back to the milkweed.  I mentioned to my wife that we would have to ask our son to be on the lookout for eggs and/or caterpillars.

Later that evening, I noticed that a few of the younger plants displayed signs of predation on the leaves - and sure enough:

that is a monarch caterpillar, looking to be in it's second of five instars (an instar measures the growth rate of the caterpillar).

If you enjoy these magnificent insects then you should not only provide suitable nectar resources for the adults, but Asclepias plants for the young.  You may find that the adult will feed on your Buddleia, but you won't find her laying her eggs on it.

Monarchs (Danaus plexippus) lay their eggs exclusively on Asclepias plants and none other.  The young eat the plant (but not thoroughly enough to kill it) and ingest the poisons found in the plant tissues.  These are then transferred to the adult, making it completely inedible.

In all, we noticed three of the little buggers, and look forward to watching them grow and hopefully develop into adults in the coming weeks.

New Header

The new header image showcases a truly incredible beetle; the reddish-brown stag beetle (Lucanus capreolus).  My wife found this one while messing with the pool cover - and she is so cool that she ran into the house, grabbed a jar and caught him so that we could photograph him!  This is a very large beetle with a very serious attitude.  I was trying to keep him on our dock so my wife could get several pictures and as I tried to corral him with a jar he would grab a hold of the lip of the jar with his mandibles!

The image above shows his wing covers raised and his wings unfurling just moments before he went airborne and into our hawthorn trees at the back of our property.  A truly spectacular insect!

Another Butterfly

Also feeding on the nectar of the mint blooms, this is a cabbage white (Pieris rapae), which may also be the culprit behind the caterpillars munching on my son's school project cabbage plant . . .

Butterflies

Any wildlife habitat *has to* cater to butterflies; it's something of an unwritten rule.  We have a small area in development (mostly first year plants).  It consists of butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa), narrow-leaf mountain mint (Pycnanthemum tenuifolium), dense blazingstar (Liatris spicata), and sweet-scented joepye weed (Eupatorium purpureum maculatum 'Gateway').

Ohio has something in the neighborhood of 144 species of butterfly that can be found in the state.  We've taken note of a half-dozen species so far, like the gray hairstreak (Strymon melinus) pictured above feeding on the mint.

We Have a Frog.

A very exciting moment as my wife startled a frog into the water from the edge of the pond this evening.  I had thought to have seen a head sticking up from the hornwort a few days ago, and tonight my wife noticed him several times.  We were able to see him hiding just below the surface of the water and after a few more images were taken I think it's a male northern green frog (Rana clamitans melanota).  That's his head sticking up out of the water between the two rocks just above the dried piece of iris.

This is tremendously exciting for the Habitat.  As you may know, amphibians are generally in decline around the world and are thought of as an indicator species for the health of an environment.

Very, very cool indeed.

Hamilton County Parks Native Tree Sale

If you click here, you'll visit the order page for a very cool native tree sale.  They are all young trees (and a few shrubs), and they are all $25.  With nearly two dozen species available, there is sure to be something there you need . . . like I need a spicebush!

Frequent Visitor

It's very hard to mistake the call of the Carolina chickadee (Poecile carolinensis), a small bird that will quickly dart in and out from feeders and never displays much fear of people.  In fact, this little bird will readily take seed from your hand if you work with him for several weeks, holding still with your hand outstretched.

Favorite food?  Pretty much anything you could offer, although his favorite is what is seen in the image - black oil sunflower.  They also readily take suet, nyjer and peanuts too.